Quote Originally Posted by The Surgeon View Post
Is the bullet key holing past 300 yards or oval hits? This will tell you if the bullet is being spun to slow.

If the bullet is spun to slow you will see key holing. To fast and the bullet will spin across the lands, shearing the bullet. To fast and you will see larger amounts of copper deposits in the barrel and larger groups down range. In your case you are not spinning the bullet to fast.

Due to air density the 223 has a very poor BC to begin with. Sorry, but the 223 was not designed to be a long range caliber. The environment exhibits a lot of havoc on the bullet once it leaves the barrel due to the 223 aerodynamic qualities.

Can longer ranges be achieved with the 223? Yes, but it will be more susceptible to the environment making it much more difficult to accurately hit.

The ideal range for the 223 is around the 300 - 400 yard mark. The 1:12 twist is fine for the caliber You can go to a faster twist to get to longer ranges but the 223 just does not have the BC to play at longer ranges consistently.

If you want to play out past 500 yards, accurately, I would say go to a larger caliber with a better BC.
I agree with the above, I would love to be able to go 600 yds. It's not key holed at 300 yds. Seems that with the investment though I could just step up to a .308. I really appreciate the response, I think my decision is made to just keep it stock.