.223 Ammo

[meldino2005 39]

Hi guys, just wondering what other members are using for their .223?

Ive been using homeloads that i purchased with my rifle untill the other day when i bought some 55 grain winchester varmint x

which i zero'd up at 100yds and the grouping was spot on, all within 1/2".

The homeloads were not a tight grouping and noticed some tips were actually bent slightly????

 

Im only using it for fox so what do you guys think of the 55 grain vamint x? Not badly priced either at £18 a box i thought

ATB

[alan81 110]

I use Hornady 53gr superformance and love them. I think almost any ammo you get for the .223 will be more than up to the job. why don't you zero at 200 yards you will have much flatter shooting than a 100 yard zero.

[slipper 116]

Why is it flatter than a 100 yard mate? I, m just looking for any info and tips aswell regarding the 223 atb

[meldino2005 39]

So if i zero at 200yds is it still on at 100yds?

Might be a bit of a dull question but this is my first cf so all the info i get is a great help

[alan81 110]

take the ammo I use Hornady 53gr superformance. when you zero at 200 yards you will be 1.1" high at 100 yards and you will be 5.6" low at 300 yards so that means there is very little adjustment needed out to 300 yards its more or less just point and shoot on a fox sized target. when your zeroed at 100 yards you have to make a lot more adjustment's for 200 yards and 300 yards because after the 100 yard mark the bullet starts to drop fast. A 200 yard zero makes for easier and safer shooting.

There's lots of trajectory charts for the .223 on the net just Google them and Google charts for different ammo they will give you a better understanding.

[charlie caller 3,654]

So just zero it at 1" high at a hundred yards, that will give you the same result, sounds like whoever made the handloads for your rifle did not know what they were doing, as good handloads will out perform factory ammo all day long if loaded and tested correctly, why not get some reloading gear and have a go yourself, it is easy mate if you take your time.

[meldino2005 39]

Cheers for the info guys,great help.

Reloading is something i will do as ive got everything here ready except a press.

Best get out to the field and make a few adjustments now then

[Deker 3,491]

Any .223 ammo will stop a fox easily if you put it in the right place, even FMJ.

What distance are you finding/shooting most of your fox, it they are all 50-150 yards then stick with a 100 yard zero!

[charlie caller 3,654]

Cheers for the info guys,great help.

Reloading is something i will do as ive got everything here ready except a press.

Best get out to the field and make a few adjustments now then

Get yourself a Lee hand press kit, cheap as chips, and brilliant, you can take it with you when you test your loads, and you can load some in the field with it, you can always get a bench mounted press at some point, also make sure you get the Lee factory crimp die as well

[slipper 116]

So the lee factory crimp die goes in a bench mounted press cc? Also which scales would you recommend? I bought the cheap lee balance scales but tbh I'm not that confident in them? Is it worth spending money on a decent set that hold powder in a tube and then trickle the powder out? The ones where you just type in the amount of grains on a keypad?

[charlie caller 3,654]

The Lee factory crimp die goes in any press, including the hand press,not to be confused with the Lee loader, you simply screw dies in the hand press as you would any normal press, if you decide to get a bench press just leave your seating die etc in the hand press and never touch it again(unless you wish to change the setting of course) The Lee balance scales are incredibly accurate, if a little fiddly to set up, just make sure you zero them everytime, follow the instructions and you wont go wrong, a powder trickler is a useful thing, but I dont bother I just trickle the powder off a Lee powder scoop, or a teaspoon if you prefer, take your time, seat your bullet at factory spec, I recommend Hodgdon reloading data centre (if you are using Hodgdon powder) but there are millions of loads out there for .223 whatever powder you use.

[slipper 116]

Ok thanks for that