Heavier 223/556 Loads Accuracy Pics

General Firearms Reloading & Ammunition
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I am way more Moron than Molon, but I got a bunch of ammo in to see what worked best thru some rifles I have. I’m taking the Magpul Precision class next month and wanted to make sure I had a rifle/round combo that worked well, and hopefully can help buck the winds that I experienced down at Pueblo during the carbine class. I am a novice at shooting with a high-power scope, but I have shot some NRA High-power rifle, so I understand the basics of shooting a rifle accurately. I am way more Special-Ed than Special Forces. Really looking forward to the class to learn.

Here are some pics from the testing I did. The Rifle I used was a:

JP Upper with 18inch with 1x8 twist SS barrel with a Wylde Chamber. I mounted a Premier 3-15 Mil-dot in a Larue SPR mount. The lower was a DPMS with a Geissele Match trigger, PRS Stock with monpod and a Harris HBRM-S bipod with a Larue Mount. Pretty much this rifle here:

The ammo I used was:
Black Hills Red Box 68gr 223
Black Hills Red Box 69Gr 223
Black Hills BLUE Box 77gr 223
Black Hills Red Box 77gr 223
PRVI 75gr Match 223
BVAC 75gr 556(223?) AMM-239
Hornady 8126N 75gt 556
Hornady 80286 75gr 223

I shot the ammo on two days, with some overlap of rounds. About 70 degrees and light winds, though the winds picked up a bit both days as I shot, it actually rained for one string. Sqaures on target are 1inch. Shot sitting on a wood bench. Really didn’t like it much, but that is what the range has. Guy two spots down was fondling his 7mm Magnum-whatsit and he would move the bench a bit. A rubber pad reduced his vibrations, but lead to movement due to variable compression of the matt. Scrambling back from posting targets, I almost tripped over a 6 foot long snake, either king cobra or a milk snake. 10 shot strings. I still have some rounds left of most of these, so if I find someone with a chrono, I’ll try to get some numbers later.

Here are all the targets in one shot:

And the Round I picked: Black Hills Red Box 77gr 223. That is 10 shots. The high left shot is the first round off the mag. Shots 2-7 made one hole, 8 was the low right, with 9 & 10 back home. The 223BH 77 was the only round where I felt like I was shooting a laser. Other rounds would surprise me with their variability, the 223BH77 almost seemed to correct for pulled shots. Makes no sense, I know, but I think the inherent accuracy of the round in my rifle made it so that I wasn’t trying to attribute variation to a certain cause when natural variation was the cause. Got 750 rounds coming to me for the class and some practice.

Here are some close-ups of the individual rounds targets.

I didn’t do as many strings with the 68s and 69s as I did with the 77s. When I have more time I’ll shot some more. I think the horizontal dispersion is more me than anything, so the 69 may end up being a good preformer in this rifle, and a good potential round for more economical shooting than the 77s.

Lucked out and found some 8126N at AmmoToGo. Shot pretty well, not as well to me as the 223BH77 Red Box. I think if I was shooting for serious social work, I’d take the 8126N with its 556 loading and 75gr bullet over the slightly more accurate BH ammo. Tough stuff to find.

PRVI- hard to beat for the buck. Got a few hundred rounds around for three-gun shooting.

BVAC helped me out with some ammo for a class last year, so they are aces in my book. This box of ammo is marked 223 and 556, and the 2600fps mention seems more 223 than 556 loading level. I got this from Cheaper than Dirt and I notice on their site that they have a yellow box version marked 556 and 2750fps, all with the same product number AAM-239. I was hoping this would shoot better, it didn’t shoot badly. If it is true 556 level, I’d like to put it more head to head with the PRVI.

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Strong work!

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Nicely done!

I’m surprised to see that the BH loads were significantly more accurate than Hornady. It seems like Prvi’s QC has gone down in the past 2 years? The 75 gr Prvi ammo I got in 2007 is very accurate. I should have gotten more at $330/case!

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Thanks guys. Like I said, I’m fairly new with this kind of set-up, so I think I am putting some ‘noise’ in the system. I think getting onto a more solid shooting platform and using a real benchrest would help remove some of the noise. I did shoot some other strings with theses same rounds and I also did some thru my BCM 16in SS410 upper also, all with similiar results. I only have about 600 rounds thru the JP and 100 thru the BCM right now, be interesting to see how they settle in. I would have to say that it seems that my JP doesn’t like the 75gr bullets as well as it likes the 77gr (Sierra?) in the BH, and it likes 223 vs 556 loadings.

After taking the class, I’ll probably run the experiment again and see what kind of results I get. I’m guessing I’ll have a chrono by then and try working up my own MK262 clone with the 77gr.

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FULL OF WIN:)

Very nice write up…and this is one of the best threads Ive read in a bit!

I cannot get enough 8126N…luckily my local stores carry a bit and for me its unbeatable on paper:cool:

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Awesome work!

Really curious to see how the performance of the 69gr compares if you shoot them some more. I did something similar to this - almost with the same rounds in fact - and ended up selecting the 69gr red box. Granted that I run a different upper than you but I find it really interesting to see the same round from setup to setup. If I can dig up the targets I’ll post them up.

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Great comparisons. Interesting to note the variation in the groups of both the BH Red 77g and the 5.56 TAP.

But it happens like that sometimes.

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Thanks guys. I meant to shoot some M193 the last time I went, but I ran out of time. I think that would be interesting to see how some ‘bad’ accuracy ammo would look. I think any of these rounds would, for me, be good in anything short of fully supported slow fire. All of the different ammo at one time shot half inch 3 round groups during the strings, that’s why I went with ten.

If I could buy a 1000 rounds of 8126N to put away for a rainy day, I’d do it and not worry about the difference in accuracy. The 556 and terminal effects make it a winner in my eyes.

The Red Box 77gr BH stuff just amazed me. I’m still working up my precision skill set, but that stuff just plan seemed to really like the JP upper. I think next time I’ll blind test the ammo just to make sure I’m not doing anything differently.

Also be interested to see how the BCM runs these ammos.

The other thing I’d like to do is shoot them at 200, or even better 300 yards. I don’t know if the 77s are just settling down faster than the 75 and if that might effect groups at longer ranges.

The horizontal dispersion on the 68 and 69 makes me think I might have had something to do with it.

What are common commercial loads with the 77 Sierra besides the BH stuff?

All I know is people with in a couple hunderd yards of me better watch their manners. :stuck_out_tongue:

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My rifle is a BCM middy. There’s enough info on here on good accuracy with the 77’s to make me think it’s just my particular rifle that likes the 69gr.

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What are common commercial loads with the 77 Sierra besides the BH stuff?

Silver State Armory 5.56 is one. It chronographed at 2,784 fps with a high of 2,804 through my 16" middy 1x7 CL barrel and appears to me to be a tad too hot for a steady diet.