.223 Factory Ammo Test Results

I

Indyote

Member
So I finally broke down and purchased 9 boxes of .223 ammo to test for accuracy out of 2 different rifle platforms. This was strictly for accuracy at 100 yards. I didn’t have gelatin molds, so ballistically the evaluation could be different. The ammo tested:

*Hornady Superformance 73 grain
*Hornady Superformance 53 grain
*Hornady Varmint Express 55 grain
*Federal Bonded 62 grain
*Federal Premium 69 grain
*Federal Premium 77 grain
*Winchester Ballistic Tip (silver) 55 grain
*Winchester Ranger 64 grain
*Black Hills 69 grain

I shot the above ammunition out of 2 different rifles. The first was a Rock River Fred Eichler rifle with a 1/8” twist 16” barrel. The second was a Tikka Tactical rifle with a 1/8” twist 20” barrel.

The weather was 50 degrees, winds 10 mph (I had a berm protecting me from the majority of the wind), pressure was 30.32. There was a little mirage, so some groups could've been a little tighter. It was clear that some of the ammunition wasn't going to group out of these rifles regardless of the conditions.

The test was shooting 4 round groups. One target was for the Rock River rifle, and the second target was for the Tikka rifle. My goal was to focus on the overall grouping of the ammunition. Some of the ammunition was a disappointment, while others were clear standouts.

Below were the top 3 standouts that I observed for these two rifles. I hope this helps in possibly determining the best ammunition for your applications.

Rock River Fred Eichler:
1st- Hornady Varmint Express 55 grain
2nd- Federal Premium 69 grain
3rd-Federal Premium 77 grain
rsr1ic.jpg

Tikka Tactical Rifle:
1st-Hornady Varmint Express 55 grain
2nd-Federal Premium 77 grain
3rd-Hornady Superformance 53 grain
10pmvl5.jpg

 
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Well, it appears that you have your coyote load all figured out now, in either rifle. That makes shopping for ammo easy.
 
That's a nice test.. For the first time in over 20 years of reloading, I bought some federal gold medal match 69s and federal gold medal with 73 berger to get a baseline accuracy level out of my AR. The 69's worked similar to yours in your AR. Looks like it could have been a wind condition that got you the left and right with your 69's out of your tikka. Might try it again sometime to check your results again.. nonetheless, nice test. Thanks for posting the results.. I have tried the Hornady custom with 55sp 50 round varmint loads in my factory 22-250 with pretty outstanding results...
 
Thanks BrienM. Ideally I probably should've waited for great weather conditions and not have any time constraints. We were leaving for Oklahoma on a predator hunt shortly after, so I did the testing a little faster than I'd like. I also probably should've done a minimum of 5 round groups, and truncated any 'fliers' to get a better idea.

The test definitely allowed me to eliminate 3 or 4 that weren't acceptable. I will probably spend a little more time with the rounds that were close. For now, I will be using the Hornady Varmint Express 55's, but can't argue that the Federal Premiums are a very respectable round.
 
[beeep], some of those loads are pretty impressive for factory ammo. Better than some of the loads I have worked up.
 
It means something for the rifles it was fired in, but does not necessarily mean anything for different rifles.
 
Nice test sir. I did this same thing for my AR when I swapped the barrel from the DPMS barrel to a 20" 7 twist Yankee Hill Barrel. I test 7 or 8 different factory brands and found that the Federal Premium 77smk shot the best. 55 grain Hornady premiums with the vmax bullet were second best and then none of the others I tried were even worth mentioning. The 77s ended up shooting under 1/2" at 100 yards and the 55 vmax shot just over 3/4". That was all with the nasty trigger too. I've since swapped the trigger but have yet to try another grouping.
 
Originally Posted By: 6724It means something for the rifles it was fired in, but does not necessarily mean anything for different rifles.


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