Bought couple boxes of Hornady 80grain bullets for AR-15, I have a faster twist 1/8, so thought they would be good, looking at box it says for 1/7, didn't realize 80gr might be to much, looking up bullets for 1/8 twist shows 77 is about Max. Now been using 69 grain Hornady hpbt, which are ok accuracy wise but don't think I would buy again, but I look at box on 68gr and it says for 1/9 twist. Is this why they are so so in my 1/8 twist, kinda makes no sense cause they seem kinda heavy for a 1/9 twist. So should I send my 2 boxes of 80gr back to Midway since I have no 1/7 twist as they were not very cheap and don't want to waste components if it's gonna shoot crappy and why would they have 1/9 twist for 68 grain on the box.
To load or not to load 80grain 223
- Thread starter 6pakzak
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Bearing surface determines twist. Weight is secondary. If a manufacturer recommends a minimum twist adhere to it. Others may have faster twist requirements.
xsn10s
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Do you want to single load from the magazine, or fully load up a magazine? Those 80 gr bullets will probably need to be single loaded from the magazine. There is a way to extend a magazine but that requires modification and best done on stainless steel mags. Otherwise I'd send them back and get a known shooter bullet or a 73gr ELDM.
So the 68 grain which says 1/9 twist on box may be better in that twist than in 1/8 twist, may explain why they are so so in my 1/8 twist
They would be out of magazine, that was another concern that I should have thought about before I bought them.
Hor
Hornady eld match
No. If you have a 1/8 twist barrel you can use 1/8, 1/8.5 1/9, 1/9.5, etc. You can't use a 1/7.
Hornady webpage for that says 1/8 twist
xsn10s
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I'm pretty sure those 80 ELDM's will need to be seated long. I haven't handled them but the 75 ELDM needed to be seated out long for AR15's so Hornady made the 73 ELDM just for AR15's. A call to Hornady would clear it up for you.
25-06Stick
Active Member
Hmmm, I'm thinking 80s are going to be way too long to run in a standard AR-15 mag. 77, 75, and the new ELD 73 or 70 RDF bullets are all doable. You might hold on to them in case you get a bolt gun chambered in 223, if you don't already own one. As far as twist goes, I find 1:7 and 1:8 stabilize the medium heavy and heavy bullets quite well. I'm currently running 77gr SMKs almost exclusively in my National match rifle and my SPR Mark 12 Mod 0/1 clone. Both of those rifles are Krieger 1:7 twist barrels. I also have a 16" 1:8 twist Lothar Walther on a carbine that shoots everything from 55gr FMJ to 77gr SMKs with stunning accuracy. Truthfully, you never really know what a barrel is going to like best until you start playing with it. They all have their own personalities.
Kansaswoodguy
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I run a lot of the 75 Hornady match 77 Sierra bullets they are the longest magazine length bullets that can be used. I use them for shooting 500 to 1000 yds with my AR's. I will not fool with anything longer because it can't be magazine loaded I didn't buy an AR to single load it. Maybe if I was completing I would consider playing that game but I do not.
xsn10s
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I didn't get an AR to single load either. 77 SMK are certainly fine for mags. 77 TMK will probably have the same problem. I did cannelure 80 gr SMK once but it's tricky.
