Whats a better quality 5.56 round 65+ grain?

[riffraff]

Hi,

Been taking my time a little more seeing how good me and my new aero upper can be, 16 inch 1:7 twist 5.56.

Am not interested in getting into reloading, id like to find some middle of the road ammo im happy with and will stock up.

Going from M855 to frontier 75 grain boat tail match (happens to only come in hollow point i think, wish it didnt), which is about .50/round, was a significant improvemen. Ordered some in 68 and 75 grain last night, try those head to head..

What else should i look at in the say, less than .75/shot cost ballpark?

Thanks!

[kymasabe]

Following. I have same barrel and was considering the Hornady T2 Frontier BTHP. Waiting for your test results.

[jmr40]

I've shot some Hornady Steel match from Cabelas that shoots well.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Horn...0.uts?slotId=5

Not 65gr +,but the most accurate 223 ammo I've found for the money is the Fiocchi 50 gr with V-max bullets. It shoots well in all of my 223's. I have some with 7 twist, some with 8.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Fioc...1.uts?slotId=0

[riffraff]

Originally Posted by kymasabe

Following. I have same barrel and was considering the Hornady T2 Frontier BTHP. Waiting for your test results.

I can confirm this 75 grain stuff is much tighter than M855, which I believe is exactly what you are talking about - probably worth trying a couple boxes.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog...roductId/76206

Not sure what the 68 grain or others will do yet but going to put them side by side..

jmr40 - Thanks! When my girlfriend stops giving me the evil eye (or goes to sleep) going to look around for something 5.56 fiocchi in 50 grain. Absolutely need 5.56 though - is not a wylde is a nato 5.56 barrel. Will be a good test, try quality ammo not the heavy grain sort against the others.

I don't know if it makes a difference but wish the Frontier Hornady stuff came in not a HP, but maybe HP doesn't hurt anything accuracy wise and if I'm only punch paper who cares.

[Mobuck]

Yeah, let us know what your actual muzzle velocity is.
As far as I'm concerned, those heavy bullets for a 16" barrel simply "don't have it".

[MagnumWill]

I have primarily started reloading in order to duplicate the IMI Razor Core 77gr 5.56.

It’s reasonably priced, loads perfectly and i’ve shot sub MOA with it.

[kymasabe]

I was under the impression that 1:7 twist likes heavier bullets, that 62 to 75 grain was ideal for that twist, and was too much twist for lighter rounds, like the 50 grain vmax.

[riffraff]

Originally Posted by Mobuck

Yeah, let us know what your actual muzzle velocity is.
As far as I'm concerned, those heavy bullets for a 16" barrel simply "don't have it".

So what would you try?

I don't know from experience but man it seems like anything you read indicates a very small muzzle velocity difference with 5.56 if you compare say a 16 & 20 inch barrel - not your experience basically? This test even used 68 grain stuff. https://rifleshooter.com/2015/12/223...s-to-6-inches/

When I have a day where I can (needs to be a day where I got the pit to myself) I'll make a set of groups at 100 yards and will step it out to 300 yards to see the difference, but my skills really are not there. Will have to get a range finder and order some bigger targets ..

Regardless my groups tightened up by a good 50%, so I feel like trying hard w/ the surplus stuff is counter productive. Maybe what I really need is just better quality ammo, period, and the weight has nothing to do with it.

[riffraff]

Originally Posted by kymasabe

I was under the impression that 1:7 twist likes heavier bullets, that 62 to 75 grain was ideal for that twist, and was too much twist for lighter rounds, like the 50 grain vmax.

Yes me too - exactly why I picked 75 gain.

[Water-Man]

Speer Gold Dot LE 75gr..

[ms6852]

I use Hornady's 75gr. BTHP on my RRA with a 1/8 twist and loves it shooting sub MOA 5 shot groups. The fact that it is a hollow point is what I love as it gives you a better BC.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

52-53gr bullets often do really well in ARs, even in the faster twists. M855 is only required to be 4 MOA ammo by the military and the stuff sold on the commercial market isn’t required to pass the same standards. You’ll often get 62gr ammo that performs better than this (my old Bushmaster loved the Santa Barbara SS109); but it is blasting ammo.

68gr & 75gr Hornady and 69gr & 77gr SMK are all match bullets and will outperform M855 just because it is a better bullet accuracy-wise.

[hagar]

The 60 grain Vmax is the most accurate bullet out to 300 yards I have found, but that may be a handloading proposition only.

[Mobuck]

I use 50-55 grain bullets in 7,8, or 9 twists with similar results.
As for the velocities of 69-77 grain bullets from 16" barrels, let me know your actual velocities not what some chart is claiming. A 2600-2700 FPS .224 caliber 69 grain bullet doesn't impress me much. At that point, the 5.45x39 60 grain V-Max produces less bullet drop at 600 yards by actual testing.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

On velocities, I’m getting 2,632fps out of Black Hills .223 Hornady 75gr in a 16” barrel. Measured by a Magnetospeed v2 chrony on a hot Texas day.

[Kvon2]

+1 on hornady steel match...that stuff has been pleasant surprise

[zukiphile]

Originally Posted by JMR40

Not 65gr +,but the most accurate 223 ammo I've found for the money is the Fiocchi 50 gr with V-max bullets. It shoots well in all of my 223's. I have some with 7 twist, some with 8.

I have a 1:12 twist pencil barrel that shoots the 50gr Fiocchi nicely.

When I had trouble finding Hornandy steel, I bought Tula 75gr for a 1:7 barrel. It stayed within 2 moa in that 20 inch barrel. Yes, Tula is supposed to be rubbish, but for that rifle it was good enough.

[agtman]

5.56 77gn OTM MOD 1.

Shot through about 400-rds of IMI's version of this load during a recent 3-day precision course. Sub-MOA when I did my part.

Obligatory linky:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/20...g-hollow-point

[kraigwy]

I was under the impression that 1:7 twist likes heavier bullets, that 62 to 75 grain was ideal for that twist, and was too much twist for lighter rounds, like the 50 grain vmax.

No Sir: Excluded the light thin skinned Hornet Bullets, 1:7's shoot the lighter bullets quite well as opposed to the slow twist 1:12s shooting heavy bullets.

Here is a chart where the AMU test the 55 vs 62 gr bullets in 1:12 'A1s and 'A2s. The A2's 1:7 shot both quite well.



Along the same likes here is another report of the Army testing different loads in their Mann Devices. The Mann device is a modified Action, with a short heavy match barrel, issued to ammo suppliers to test or make sure their ammo meets the army standard.



As you can see the 52 gr bullets, not only showed they will shoot in the 1:7 barrel, but in the accuracy deptartment, exceeded the heavier bullets. I've pretty much confirmed what the army reports, using my 2 1:7 AR, my 1:12 AR SP1 & Remington BDL Varment 1:12 and my Ruger RAP in 1:8.

Again the Mann Device uses the 1:7 twist barrels.



Mann Device in 5.56



In short, the faster twist will shoot both light (short) and heavy (long) bullets where as the slower twist 1:12s will shoot the light bullets but not the heavy bullets.

[ed308]

Not manufactured loads, but my .223/5.56 ARs get a steady diet of Nosler 69 and 77 gr Custom Comp bullets in my reloads. I buy them in bulk (1000) from Shooters Pro Shop and usually pay around .17 to .20 each. They shoot .5 MOA out of my best barrels. Whether Nosler, Hornady, Sierra or etc, those HPBT bullets in the weights listed shoot about the same out of my ARs.

[riffraff]

Wow this got interesting..

So what is the downside then to a 1:7 twist, or why do they make so many in 1:8, 1:9, etc.. etc.. if you see the same accuracy, seems like there ought to be a downside?

[2ndtimer]

I suppose the downside might be that a 1 in 7" twist barrel might not get a thinner jacketed lighter weight bullet to the target. (I.e. Speer 50 gr TNT, Hornady 50 or 55 gr SX or Sierra Blitz). Also, I have heard that the 1 in 7" twist won't shoot the cheap 55 gr bullets as accurately as a 1 in 9" or 1 in 8" twist. I have two AR's with a 1 in 8" twist and one with a 1 in 9" twist and all of them shoot lightweight bullets fine, even the 40 gr V-MAX and Ballistic Tips. They also shoot 69 gr match bullets fine. I have some 77 gr HPBT Match bullets to try, but haven't worked up loads with them yet. Early attempts implied that the 69 gr bullets might be more consistent in my rifles.

[stagpanther]

If you have to use factory ammo--MO is anything hornady with ELD match is going to be among the best off-the-shelf stuff you can find, as a hand-loader I often have trouble these days equaling the performance of their factory ammo. I think hornady is top of the heap in powder formulation science.

[wild cat mccane]

Fusion or Gold Dot.

The complete AR15 ammo guide says don't throw away your SMK, but bonded is better.

http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Sel...mozTocId803443

[wild cat mccane]

This is supposedly the very best you can buy.

The problem is, people also say it is very inaccurate

https://www.eagleeyeguns.com/product-p/xm556sbct3.htm