.223 ammo

[The Rog Man]

So i just came into possession of a Savage .223 target rifle.
I have never owned a .223 before and i only plan to have fun with it with gophers and yotes and whatever else.
My question without having to call every store in town, who has the best deal on bulk or mil surp .223 ammo?
I will reload eventually so i will be looking at what powder and bullet combo's also if anyone has some tips there?
Any help / suggestions would be appreciated

Thanx

[FunwithGuns]

Try Crappy Tire. They had 1000 round of American Eagle for $399 in a Ammo box not too long ago. (they market it as Federal Premium).

[Lefty-Canuck]

Most of the milsurp if not all of it will be FMJ bullets....I would use that for target practice and maybe gophers but personally never on a yote or other critter. Also be sure of you backstop and shooting direction...FMJ's will skip and riccochet more often than not.

Inspect the cases of the ammo you purchase and make sure they can be reloaded...some may have crimped primers and you will need to remove that if you want to reload...not tough but makes for an extra step.

Depending on your rifle I have loaded everywhere from 30gr up to 60gr bullets in the .223, the 52gr. A-Max is one of my favorites...or a 50gr. V-Max as well...I like Varget or H-322 for powders.

LC

[Dick284]

You will likely find a good shooting load using bullet weights that are optimum for the twist rate of the barrel.
Eg.
1 in 14" 55gr.
1 in 9" 65-70gr.

Of course lighter than optimum bulet weights often stabilize ok, but over rotation due to too small of a bullet may just cause accuracy issues.

[densa44]

Some of the cheap stuff works just fine but you would need the patience of Job to reload it. Make sure the brass is Boxer primed. I'm not familiar with crimped primers, but I'd take Lefty's advice, He knows.

[elkhunter11]

My 1 in 9" twist CZ527 Kevlar prefers the 55gr ballistic tip over the heavier 60 and 69gr bullets that I tried, but each gun is an individual.

[Lefty-Canuck]

In this picture you will see an "extra" ring by the primer pocket....that is the crimp...



Another pic showing this....



A pic showing a "normal" fired casing...



If you have cripmped cases they are really tough to re-prime after resizing because the chamfered edge around the primer is square....so it will not easily accept a primer.

You just have to "re-make" a chamfered edge in order for the primer to go in easier....a couple turns to remove the "squared off" material with the tool below will do it...



You likely will not run into this...but if you do like I did thats how you fix it.

LC

[The Rog Man]

So how does one find out the twist of a barrel?
Mine is a Savage model 10 heavy barrel accu trigger rifle?

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by The Rog Man

So how does one find out the twist of a barrel?
Mine is a Savage model 10 heavy barrel accu trigger rifle?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq8DM6Do72A

google is your friend.

[Supermag]

My model 12 shoots everything from the 45 gr Winchester white box JHP to 69 gr Sierra Matchking handloads very well

The 69 gr handloads have proven to be a wonder in any gun I've tried them in. I'm getting 3/4" with my Mini 14 target as well.

25.6 grains of Varget in a Winchester case with a Winchester primer. Very nice!

[The Rog Man]

Well according to the interweb i have a 1 in 9 inch twist.
OK great what does that tell me exactly???

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by The Rog Man

Well according to the interweb i have a 1 in 9 inch twist.
OK great what does that tell me exactly???

Tells you that you have a relatively fast twist rate (1 full revolution every 9 inches) and that your rifle will be able to stabilize longer heavier bullets and likely the shorter lighter ones as well.

LC

[Dick284]

You can probably stabilize bullets in the 60 to 70 gr. range.

Try some match grade 62's or 68's and see how they work for you.

The heavier bullets tend to buck the wind better beyond 300 meters.

My last 1 in 9 shot 60 gr V-maxs very well. FWIW.

[The Rog Man]

Okey dokey, thanks for the input guys,
Now all i have too do is get some ammo and go play at the range.
I think it'll be fun working up a load once i see what weight bullets this rifle likes.