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Posted: 2/6/2014 8:13:10 AM EDT
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Wither the End is here or in another couple thousand years. I'm looking to start reloading ammo and would like to stick to a specific round. Something I can not only hunt with, but keep up my practice on the range at distances out to 500yrds. I have been told Barnes® Triple-Shock® X-Bullet® - .223/5.56mm .224" 70gr TSX-BT is a good small to mid-range game round.
My eq: 16", 1:7RH Single Cut, 5.56 D |
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There is no one specific round you can stick to. The heavy all-copper Barnes bullets are excellent medium-to-big-game hunting rounds for the .223, but they are seriously expensive as is any premium bullet. You'll find that it's a great bullet for hunting, but a horrible one for practice.
Just like different guns have different uses, so too different bullets. Find inexpensive 55 grain FMJ or varmint bullets for practice. Hunting large game will require a different bullet. 500 yards shots from a .223 will require yet another bullet. |
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Barnes bullets are great game rounds. All the weights perform well in their TSX line, not just the 70gr. You can also look at their TTSX(Tipped TSX) which have polymer tips and boattails. Nosler pofers their 64gr Flatbase Bonded bullet which is great on game. Swift offers two Sirocco bonded bullets, poly tipped and boattailed, that are also excellent.(the 75gr can be loaded to mag length accordding to Swift). All are great bullets that can be purchased as components but they are all going to be expensive; $40-60/100+shipping at Midway. Thats pretty expensive for practice ammo even if you are reloading.
You can also try the Sierra 65gr GameKing. It is not bonded but it holds up pretty well in gel tests. People have been using the Win 64gr Powerpoint on deer for a long time as well. Both of those should be cheaper. You could always buy pulls from some place like Rocky Mountain Reloading. You will need to check in quite often as the good stuff sells out quick but you can find premium .224 pulls for $10-12/100. When you see them, buy a couple thousand as you won't see them again for a long time. Practicing with hunting ammo is going to get expensive. You could always hand load pulled M193-M855s and practice with those. Then sight in your rifle with the good hand loads for the season. |
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This probably needs to be addressed in the Reloading Forum
yeah, it makes me 'that guy" |
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Quoted:
So would you say that a 1:7 would do better at or up to 500yrds with a heavier bullet? There are two issues. 1. Individual guns will like certain bullet/powder combos better. 2. What is your MV and bullet BC. Just because a bullet is heavier(longer) and has a better BC does not mean it will be your best choice for distance shooting. It is the combination of MV and BC and your target distance that you want to balance. You are gonna have to play around with the balistics calculator, like the free one hornady offers on their website. For example: using Barnes max load data and Hornady's Ballistics Calculator: 70gr TSX at 2915fps gives you 59.6in of drop and 31in of wind drift at 500 yards with a 10mph wind. 62gr TSX at 3055 gives you 56.2in of drop and 32.6in of drift. 50gr TSX at 3381 gives 59.6in of drop and 47.6in of drift. At 500 yards, the 50gr with a BC 0.197 and the 70gr with a BC of 0.314 give you the same drop, but not the same drift. The 70gr takes over past 500 yards and doesn't look back. Your gonna have to do some figuring for what you want the bullet to do and what range you want it to do it at. Pick some bullets that will do the job and some powders and start experimenting. |
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OP, I'm just starting to get into reloading myself. My goal is to find a load for my rifles in 55 gr. FMJ, 65 gr Game King, and 77 gr SMK. Obviously will take some work to find the right combo for all of those.
For long range, I think the 77 gr SMK will give you better accuracy than any TSX. The TSX is a great bullet. I wish I could afford a ton of them. But they also aren't match bullets. |
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Again, Thank You all for your input. I'm a Contracter over here in the sand and have a little time to figure out what the best will do before I get home and jump start this. Not really worried on price. So buying a 500 pack box for 180 bucks and make my own rounds far out wieghs just buying crap off the shelf. Oviously I will take more then just one round into consideration. But my main goal is a mid range game hunting round. To accually reload this and make it as accurate as I can. I have never really delt with hunting rounds, but I would have to imagine they need to be quite accurate. I understand I wont be key holling shots at 500 yrds with these. But if I can hit plates with a crap round Green tip on a over used service rifle, then I think a hunting round should do just fine.
After listening to you all and other forums, I might have a lite grasp on it. I'm just curious if I can hunt with a 80gr. Sierra MatchKing BTHP. Again Thank You. |
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Quoted:
After listening to you all and other forums, I might have a lite grasp on it. I'm just curious if I can hunt with a 80gr. Sierra MatchKing BTHP. Again Thank You. Why would you want to hunt with a long-ass match bullet that has to be single-loaded in an AR? If cost isn't an issue, get a bunch of 70gr TSX and you're good. |
| It was more a question of if you could hunt with a 80gr. Sierra MatchKing BTHP, or would it just fragmint out. But if a Barnes TSX or a TAC-X FB or Sierra 65 GR. SBT GAMEKING can reach out to 500yrds and hit plates, then I would roll with that. So guess the question would be can Barnes do it with a 16" 1:7 rifle. |
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Quoted:
It was more a question of if you could hunt with a 80gr. Sierra MatchKing BTHP, or would it just fragmint out. But if a Barnes TSX or a TAC-X FB or Sierra 65 GR. SBT GAMEKING can reach out to 500yrds and hit plates, then I would roll with that. So guess the question would be can Barnes do it with a 16" 1:7 rifle. Generally speaking, the heavier and longer the otm, the more fragments you get and the lower your minimum fragmentation velocity is. The 100gr bh otm load had very good tissue disruption and a lower frag velocity than the 75-77gr otms. You can hunt with any of the otms but with thier lack of penetration, it would be most humane to stick with neck, head, shots or slipping one between the ribs into the lungs. Stick with the barnes or swifts for your long range hunting shooting. They are both great rounds and will hold together fine if you hit some heavy bones. |
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