Reloading the 5.56

B

Brutus

New member
Just got into AR's, bought one with a 16" barrel with a 1 in 7 twist.
Going to be shooting factory ammo for awhile until I gather up enough brass to start reloading, already reload for a little over a dozen rifle and pistol cartridges so I'm not in a big hurry, besides part of the reason for getting into it is because ammo is cheap but sooner or later I'll get the reloading bug for it.

Will want to reload primarily for target shooting out to say 200 yards so I'm thinking heavier 79 grain bullets will be the ticket.

Please give this newbe some direction and needed advise.
 
Brutus said:
Just got into AR's, bought one with a 16" barrel with a 1 in 7 twist.

Going to be shooting factory ammo for awhile until I gather up enough brass to start reloading, already reload for a little over a dozen rifle and pistol cartridges so I'm not in a big hurry, besides part of the reason for getting into it is because ammo is cheap but sooner or later I'll get the reloading bug for it.



Will want to reload primarily for target shooting out to say 200 yards so I'm thinking heavier 79 grain bullets will be the ticket.



Please give this newbe some direction and needed advise.
Click to expand...
At 200 69gr will do what you need. They are quite a bit cheaper which is always high on my list haha.

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From what I understand 77 SMKs were designed to shoot at magazine length from an AR, they are real tolerant on seating depths. 80's are used in the single load mode they tend to be pickier in my experience with load depth, they need to be loaded long. Too long for magazine length. I alternated between 69 SMK's and 77 SMK's when I shot service rifle using 77's for 600 yards
 
Seriously, at 200 yards a 52gr match bullet will do you just fine too. Even with a 1-7" twist barrel. Don't buy the "overstabilized" or whatever myth. Those short little match bullets are great for short ranges. You could theoretically spin them so fast the jackets come apart, but it isn't likely with a 16" barrel .223.

I say that having burned out a couple of Service Rifle barrels with a mix of 52, 69, 77 and 80 grain bullets. Don't overthink it. Pick a bullet and go shoot. Except for the Hornady Amax. I've seen too many of those disappear between the muzzle and target to trust them. A missed shot because your bullet disintegrated counts as an M and a 0 on the score card at a Highpower match.

Edited: a 52gr Nosler HPBT over H335 or W748 with a CCI450 primer should shoot knots from any .223 with a decent barrel out to 200 yards. If you want to throw heavier bullets, try a 69gr Nosler HPBT with either RL15 or Varget and a Remington 7 1/2 primer. I won't quote charge weights except to say you'll be near max with the extruded powders.

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I shot a Colt H-BAR with a 7" twist for years over the Nat'l Match Course with 69 gr Sierra HPBT's for the 200 & 300 courses of fire and 77's or 80's for the 600 yd slow fire prone phase. All three bullets would easily hold MOA from that superb Colt bbl. I loaded then and still do, for accuracy first, usually finding it a grain or two below max levels. BTW, the 77's were designed for magazine fed fire from the Colt bbl.

Since then, I've shot a lot of Sierra & Hornady's 52-53 gr HP's out to 250 yds with MOA accuracy. For the 52-69 grainers, 748 worked just fine, though a little temperature sensitive. IMR 4064 is as good as is RE-15. Varget was and still is too high priced for my needs. I shot Master scores with the above when I was having a good eyes day and with iron sights too.

These two lighter weight bullets by Sierra and Hornady occasionally come up on sale here locally,making them especially attractive, and I can attest to their usefulness on the local woodchuck population; target bullets yes, but pinpoint accuracy is also useful when varmints are on the daily docket.


HTH's Rod
 
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I used the 53 VMaxes in my bolt rifle out to 300 with CFE 223 with ok results nothing really special. But that barrel is designed for the long heavy bullets. It did not like 69 SMK' even
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the advantage of the heavier bullets is that they are less susceptible to wind drift?
Around here 20 to 30mph gusts are common, at least it seems that way every time I go shooting. :(
 
Very true.
Usually with calmer winds and you only shooting to 200 yards i would recommend something in the 52-55 gr bullets.
20-30 mph is a different beast altogether.
Probably the 69gr Sierra TMK.

When people think of the heavier, high BC bullets, they are usually shooting 600 yards or better.

Do yourself a favor, and shoot/obtain some LC brass.
 
A friend has a dilemma. He has a rifle (bolt action) that groups better in a calm with light bullets but heavy bullets shoot closer to the wind. I don't know which he settled on, or if he shoots the load that suits the conditions.
 
Jim, your buddy's dilemma isn't unusual. I used to shoot with a very accomplished prone shooter who had a .223 belly rifle he was disappointed with. Turns out he had a fast twist Kreiger or Shilen barrel put on it, that would only hold the X-ring reliably with 52/53 gr bullets. And in his words "Who buys a fast-twist .223 to shoot 52gr bullets?"

Brutus, you are correct about the reduced wind-drift of the heavier bullets. Around where I live one could do reasonably well to 600 yards with a .223 even with 69gr bullets. But they are NOT reliable in any kind of wind conditions. The magazine-length 75/77gr bullets are better, but the sleek 80gr SMK or Nosler Custom Competition bullets were the best. I used to put up with the expense and tricks of loading the 80gr bullets for my 600-yard ammo because it was good to have them out at Camp Perry or Camp Ethan Allen (Jericho, VT).

However, I'm really curious what your 16" 1-7" twist set-up is. If it's something like my Colt 6920, it isn't really a precision instrument anyway. A 69 or 75gr bullet is better in the wind to 200 yards, absolutely. However, shooting in 20-30 mph winds with a .223 carbine at 200 yards, wind reading skills are going to be far more critical than which bullet you pick.

For the record, I currently have 3 .223/5.56 rifles. A 20" National Match AR-15 Service Rifle, with a .223 Wylde chambered 1-7" twist barrel, a 16" Colt 6920 with 1-7" 5.56 NATO chamber, and a 20" CZ527FS with a CIP .223 Remington chamber with a 1-9" twist barrel. I don't load "to the rifle" except for the aforementioned 80gr Nosler CC bullets, which are only for the Service Rifle, single-shot only. I expect any of the 3 to shoot pretty well with everything from the stubby 52gr match bullets all the way up to the 75gr Hornady HPBT. (I don't expect a 77gr HPBT to stabilize well in the 1-9" CZ barrel.)
 
Well P-990 I think that's partially true. I do have experience shooting an old Bushmaster V-match with a 1-9 24" barrel. It shoots 69gr. bullets without a problem but then it does have a 24" barrel.
 
Brutus,
Barrel length has nothing to do with what weight bullet you can shoot.
The twist rate of the rifling is what normally decides that.
The longer barrel allows a little more velocity.
Example, my wife's Savage 110FP has a 24" barrel with a 1:9 twist. Should stabilize up to about a 73gr projectile.
Your 16"barrel with 1:7 twist should stabilize up towards 80 gr projectiles.
If you chose to shoot the 69gr TMK that i use, you just wouldn't have as much velocity as me.
What does that mean at the end of the day?
I turn 12.5 MOA for 600 yards, you turn 13.5 MOA. (Just an example, not actually measured)
No biggie.
 
Well I guess that kinda proves my point in that the 24" barrel doesn't have a problem with 69gr bullets. Have no experience with bullets heavier than that in a 24" barrel length with 1-9 twist and won't have an opportunity to prove otherwise, don't really care as my rifle has a 16" barrel with a 1-7 twist, more interested in powders and bullets that provide optimal performance in that configuration. :)
 
Std 55 gr fmjbt from Xtreme bullets or Hornady with cfe223 has proven a 1” 100 yd load for me....forgot my tip of the day CCI 450 primers.
 
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Well, with your 16" barrel with 1:7 twist, i would definitely try the 77-80 gr weight bullets.
I've tried CFE223. For target shooting at distance it really wasn't optimal. I couldn't get the ES/SD low enough. At further distances would give you verticle stringing.

With heavier bullets i've had good results from Win748, Alliant RL15, ARComp, and my top powder performance wise has been Alliant Power Pro 2000.

All my shooting is using Lake City brass with Federal Match primers.
 
Barrel length has nothing to do with what weight bullet you can shoot.
The twist rate of the rifling is what normally decides that.
The longer barrel allows a little more velocity.
Click to expand...

the extra velocity from longer barrels can have an impact on the twist required to stabilize a bullet.

A good rough example - my .223 bolt varmint rifles with 26" barrels and 1 in 12" twist can stabilize most 69 gr bullets, but a 16" AR-15 barrel will need to be a 1 in 9"or so to stabilize the exact same load.

a fun calculator for you to play with:
http://bergerbullets.com/twist-rate-calculator-3/
 
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