ncwg2boatguy
Well-Known Member
Looking to reach out to 600 yds with my Tikka T3 Tactical bull barrel 223. Anyone wanna share some data more mag length or single shot reloading? thanks
Jim
Jim
.223 bolt action 600 yd
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J E Custom
Well-Known Member
Depending on the twist rate of your barrel, this is where the heavier bullets are needed. Something in the 69 to 90 grain works best as long as you have a twist rate of 1 in 7 for the 80s and 90 grains.
The i in 8 twist is recommended for the 55 to 70 grain and depending on the bullet design will sometimes work for the 75 grain.
If your twist is more than 1 in 8 you will probably need to shoot bullets lighter than 55 grains and load to max for maximum performance at 600 yards. you may have to seat long (Single load) to gain more powder capacity and use secant ogive bullets to reach the lands or come close to them with less bullet body encroachment in the cases.
I rechambered to 223 AI to get enough velocity for longer distance with a 1 in 8 twist and gain a little more powder capacity (it shoots very well using the 69 grain bullets).
The 223 is very capable at 600 yards as long as conditions are good or you are good at reading wind and mirage.
J E CUSTOM
The i in 8 twist is recommended for the 55 to 70 grain and depending on the bullet design will sometimes work for the 75 grain.
If your twist is more than 1 in 8 you will probably need to shoot bullets lighter than 55 grains and load to max for maximum performance at 600 yards. you may have to seat long (Single load) to gain more powder capacity and use secant ogive bullets to reach the lands or come close to them with less bullet body encroachment in the cases.
I rechambered to 223 AI to get enough velocity for longer distance with a 1 in 8 twist and gain a little more powder capacity (it shoots very well using the 69 grain bullets).
The 223 is very capable at 600 yards as long as conditions are good or you are good at reading wind and mirage.
J E CUSTOM
I picked up some Lapua factory 223 ammo with the 69 grain Scenar to try out in my Tikka varmint with the 8 twist barrel. Will post results but won't be for about a month.
ncwg2boatguy
Well-Known Member
Sweet. Looking forward to it. With factory 75gr Amax I'm printing 1/2"@300 yds. I will stretch them out this weekend. I have some 77gr smk BTHP I'm considering as an option for 600 to do load development.
ncwg2boatguy
Well-Known Member
ncwg2boatguy
Well-Known Member
To be specific mine is a 24" heavy 1-8 twist. Should have mentioned that.
benchracer
Well-Known Member
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With an 8 twist, you are fine for just about everything short of the 90's. IMO, 75 AMAX/ELD-M is an excellent choice for .223/5.56 out to 600 yards. You need to measure the distance to the lands with your chosen bullet, so you can figure out preferred seating depth and determine how much case capacity you have to work with.
I recommend LC brass (you can buy it already prepped almost anywhere), CCI 450 primers, and IMR 8208 XBR, along with the 75 AMAX.
My rifle has a 5.56 chamber (with a long throat) and a 9 twist, 24" barrel. It holds very close to 1/4 MOA vertical out to 500 meters (about 550 yards), launching a 75 AMAX @ 2830ish, using the above components. From there, it is all about reading wind and making the proper corrections.
I recommend LC brass (you can buy it already prepped almost anywhere), CCI 450 primers, and IMR 8208 XBR, along with the 75 AMAX.
My rifle has a 5.56 chamber (with a long throat) and a 9 twist, 24" barrel. It holds very close to 1/4 MOA vertical out to 500 meters (about 550 yards), launching a 75 AMAX @ 2830ish, using the above components. From there, it is all about reading wind and making the proper corrections.
Hand Skills
Well-Known Member
Good looking rifle! I have a 1-8 tikka t3 in .223 (stainless sporter barrel). At mag length, it really likes 60gr nosler Ballistic tips. I've been dabbling with heavier projectiles, but my feeling thus far is they probably need to be seated beyond mag length for best accuracy.
With this twist rate, it seems 69-75gr offers the best combination of Ballistic coefficient and stability.
Lots of powders work well, I'd start with H4895 if running <2.28" oacl, if you are seating to lands, varget might give a little more velocity. Haven't tried CFE-223 or 8028XBR, but hear good things.
As far as bullets, 75gr ELD-M (replaces AMAX) is a good place to start. I've been meaning to try some nosler 70gr RDF, but have not got to it yet.
This is a handy accessory to make single shot loading much less annoying;
https://tikkaperformance.com/index.php?_route_=tikka-t3-accessories/tikka-sled
Whichever combo you start with, I'd suggest shooting a ladder to start. Just get a starting load from your manual of choice, and load up in .2gr increments.
Here is a good thread on ladders;
https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/tuning-for-long-range.192998/
With this twist rate, it seems 69-75gr offers the best combination of Ballistic coefficient and stability.
Lots of powders work well, I'd start with H4895 if running <2.28" oacl, if you are seating to lands, varget might give a little more velocity. Haven't tried CFE-223 or 8028XBR, but hear good things.
As far as bullets, 75gr ELD-M (replaces AMAX) is a good place to start. I've been meaning to try some nosler 70gr RDF, but have not got to it yet.
This is a handy accessory to make single shot loading much less annoying;
https://tikkaperformance.com/index.php?_route_=tikka-t3-accessories/tikka-sled
Whichever combo you start with, I'd suggest shooting a ladder to start. Just get a starting load from your manual of choice, and load up in .2gr increments.
Here is a good thread on ladders;
https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/tuning-for-long-range.192998/
L/C brass with Berger 80.5 Fullbore seated .015 off the lands with between 24.0-25.0 grains of Varget, depending on the barrel, shoots very well at 600 and further. For mag length ammo, the 77 Sierra or Lapua Scenar shoot very well using that same powder and charge weights.
Hand Skills
Well-Known Member
@TMill308 Interesting, I didn't realize 77gr smk was designed specifically with mag length in mind. That's good to know. They list a relatively low BC of .362, so I never considered them. By comparison, 75gr ELD-M has a BC of .460.
It's always windy here, so I've been focusing on 'heavies' w/ BC's >.400, but I should have qualified my previous post with that.
@ncwg2boatguy It's great that you are shooting factory the amax that consistently. At mag length I haven't got them to group better than ~1moa. I'm considering a couple of modified mags so I can use ~2.47 oacl.
Out past 300m, the BC really makes a difference. Here is my range card with 75gr ELD-M (verified)
Here is my calculator's guess for a 77gr smk at the same velocity, in the same conditions (unverified);
My data is metric, but comparing the two at 550m (~600yd) a 10mph crosswind moves the smk's POI 30% (roughly 12") farther than the ELD-M.
It's always windy here, so I've been focusing on 'heavies' w/ BC's >.400, but I should have qualified my previous post with that.
@ncwg2boatguy It's great that you are shooting factory the amax that consistently. At mag length I haven't got them to group better than ~1moa. I'm considering a couple of modified mags so I can use ~2.47 oacl.
Out past 300m, the BC really makes a difference. Here is my range card with 75gr ELD-M (verified)
Here is my calculator's guess for a 77gr smk at the same velocity, in the same conditions (unverified);
My data is metric, but comparing the two at 550m (~600yd) a 10mph crosswind moves the smk's POI 30% (roughly 12") farther than the ELD-M.
When I refer to mag length I'm talking about 2.26 inches. We shoot a lot of those bullets at 2, and 300 in high power competition for rapid fire. Some folks shoot them at 600, but a lot of us like to shoot the 80 grainers for the better performance at 600. If your rifle allows you to load the 80's at a longer usable length for mag length thats a great advantage. The Berger 82 grain is not picky about jump so that's another good option. The 75 and 80 grain ELDM look to be another good option, I just don't have any personal experience with them. I shoot a 223 Palma rifle for a lot of 600 yard matches and it performs very well with most any of the 80-82 grain bullets.
thatguyshm
Well-Known Member
What's your max mag length? I'm not familiar with Tikka actions, but you should be able to seat the bullets out pretty far. My Remington with 70gr RDF's ends up being around 2.335 to get close to the lands and it has quite a short throat.
How are you measuring to the lands?
How are you measuring to the lands?
lancetkenyon
Well-Known Member
We shoot our 24" ARs out to 850, and on occasion 1000 with the 69SMKs @ 3033fps.
LC brass
CCI BR4
25.0 Varget
69SMK
Max mag length
3033fps.
LC brass
CCI BR4
25.0 Varget
69SMK
Max mag length
3033fps.
gohring3006
Well-Known Member
I have a 20" Colt H-bar with a aftermarket 1-8 5r barrel.
I have been running the 73 ELD with RL 15. I shoot to 550 yards easily, so your bolt gun should be a cake walk.
I have been running the 73 ELD with RL 15. I shoot to 550 yards easily, so your bolt gun should be a cake walk.
