60gr Hornady TAP .223 Question...

Hey guy, I need some opinions/advice…

My patrol rifle WAS a RRA carbine with a 1:9 twist barrel. I used Hornady TAP 60gr rounds with it. My question is…

I NOW have a BCM carbine with a 1:7 twist barrel. Can I still use that ammunition with this new rifle? I noticed on Hornady’s site, it state’s:

Intended for use in a 1-7"-1-12" twist barrel.
Performs optimally in a 1-9"-1-12" twist.

I would prefer to use this ammo since I already have several magazines full. But if it isn’t going to be reliable/accurate in the BCM rifle then I don’t want to keep it. I’d probably just sell what I had on here in the EE section.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Yes you can still use that ammo.

But, given that you now have a 1 in 7" twist barrel, this opens up the possibility of using other ammo as well, so the 60 grain TAP may not be the preferred load for patrol use. For that matter, even for 1 in9" twist barrels, there are probably better loads for patrol use. The TAP load isn’t bad, it just doesn’t do as well through barriers that you might encounter in your duties as some other loads do.

The 60gr TAP and 60gr VMAX loaded by others shoots very well in my 1/7s.

We used to issue the 60gr TAP here at my job. It shot fine from my 1/7 guns, no worries with accuracy.

If you have a choice though you’d be better off picking a load that isn’t so prone to shallow penetration.

That’s good to hear and Yeah, I completely agree. Thankfully I do have choice of ammo and have been leaning toward the 64gr Speer Gold Dots. Or maybe the 69 or 77gr Federal TRU. All ammo is at the officer’s expense so price is somewhat a factor.

You have to provide your own ammo? Is there an established list of approved options, with some measure of acceptability/QC, or is it a free for all?

The leading value in decent options right now seems to be the Speer GDSP. There are cheaper, but poorer choices.

Fortunately/unfortunately however you want to look at it… I can choose anything as long as it’s factory new. I am going to suggest a revision of our current outdated patrol rifle policy.

While I’m not a fan of come-as-you-are ammo choices, those that will make good choices will benefit mightily.