.223 1-9 optimum bullet weight

[trigger--gitter]

Have a stevens 200 in 223, 22 inch barrel with 1-9 twist, whats the best projectile weight for this rifle, in terms of accuracy and what do you belive is the minimum and the maximum weight. Please share some experices good or bad with this rifle with certain types of ammo.

[351 power]

i have that same rifle model
     50 gr hornady sp has best accuracy so far
    55 gr rem psp not quite as good but nice to try as they are cheaper
    75 gr bthp hornady bought from a guy with a 1/12 twist rifle. keyholed for him. stable in my rifle to 100 yds. would like to try them farther to see if that makes any difference. would probably try a 75 gr flatbase bullet to get shorter bullet length someday as i don't really see the bt advantage for me in the stevens

[~Ace~]

You will probably find the 50 - 60 grain to be the easiest to make shoot Well. I shoot 55 grain V-Max in my Stevens most of the time (Predator Hunting)

[sdb777]

At what velocity?


Too many variables to accurately answer your question.....





Scott (maybe factory is best?) B 

[Catfish]

A 1 in 9 twist should do well with 50 to 70 gn. bullets. I usually use 55 gn. bullets in my AR with a 1 in 9. and it does real well with them.

[nilescoyote]

I have two with this twist (one AR and the other rem 700). they both shoot 45-69 grain well, the remington  will go up to 77 with out problems. The AR really likes 60 grain v-max and the remington shoots 77 grain noslers the best.

[mountainview]

Ditto on the 55-60 grainers though your rifle may have other ideas. so a bit of testing is in order My Savage 12 has the same twist and works so well with these weights and Win 748 that I have never bothered trying anything else.

[nomosendero]

60V-Max - 68 gr. should be best, but sometimes the lighter ones will do great.

[sdb777]

Guess I'm not going to get an answer about the velocity?  Okay....it'll be a long reply.

Here is the problem:  Given twist rate of rifle is roughly 1:9"  velocity of projectile is _____

Can you get a 40gr projectile to tumble(keyhole) from a .223Rem?  The answer is yes!  If your velocity is not high enough.
Can you get a 90gr projectile to stabilize from a .223Rem?  The answer is yes!  If your velocity is high enough.(Unfortunately, the powder to safely do this is not available).

While working reduced loads with Unique powder and 52gr projectiles in my Savage FV12 .223Rem with a 1:9 twist, I had many keyholes(non-stabilized) projectiles until the velocity was high enough.  Why?  I was trying to keep the velocity under the Mach I(speed of sound) so that the 'can' would be as quiet as possible-and it is!
Standard hunting load for this rifle is a 75grAMAX by Hornady at 2895fps with a charge weight of XX.Xgrs of RL-15 will stabilize out to 500 yards(as far as I could shoot this load during development).


Point of all this rambling?  You can stabilize a given bullet only if the velocity and the twist are adequate....one without the other is useless.




Scott (try it anyway) B

[trigger--gitter]

thanks for all the replies, what about factory load experinces.

[nilescoyote]

You can shoot 45-what ever in a 1-9 twist. I shoot Winchester white box 45 grain to fireform a 223 ackley of mine in 1-9. Before I started reloading my AR was feed a steady diet of 50 grain that has a 1-9. In 223 it's hard to push/shoot fast enough for a bullet to come apart, if you were shooting a 22-250 or 220 swift that would be another story.

[Horn-Harvester]

1-9 twist barrels will shoot 69 sierras real good with varget 25-26 grains. speed is right at 3000 fps. h.h.

[saltydog]

If you don't reload - for the best performance buy Black Hills 55 to 70 grain ammo blue or red box and call it quits. If you reload for your twist rate/caliber the 40 to 80 grain bullets are under the the performance curve. Buy a range of Vmax's and load them in 3000 fps plus velocities. Low to mid 20's of powders such as Varget, H4895, AA2230, H335 and 50 or 55 grain bullets will usually bring out the best in your rifle. Don't expect "cheap" (none of it is cheap anymore) ammo such as Wolf, Winchester white box R code, REM UMC to perform consistantly under moa but groups of 1 1/2 - 2 inches should be realized. 

[SingleShotShorty]

I get my best accuracy out of Nosler 50 gr Ballistic Tips

[rks1949]

68gr. Hornady HPBT Match over 25grs. of Reloader 15,right at 2950,and it very accurate out of most guns using a 1/9 twist barrel's.