.223 bullet choice 1 in 12 twist

[kraigwy]

I carried a Remington BDL Var. rifle in a 1:12 223 as a counter sniper rifle when I was in LE. I used the 55 gr. M193 Ball and it was quite accurate in my rifle. Sighted in at 250 yards I had to be able to, and was able to make head shots out to 300 years .

I used the military ball for liability purposes.

However, now I use match bullets of the 52-53 gr. since I doubt I'd be sued for using open point bullets on prairie dogs and coyotes.

I bought a Mann Device in 5.56 from the CMP to develop loads. The Army issues Mann Devices to ammo suppliers to test the accuracy of their bullets.

To test the Mann, the Army developed some hand loads, and it appears the 52 gr bullet pushed by 25 grns. of 3031 seemed to be the most accurate. There are other loads that seem more then satisfactory in 223s. Below is a picture of some to the test they did with a variety of loads.

As others have said, rifles vary in what they like but I did find out that all my 223s (5 to be exact) like the 25 gr of 3031 in the 52 gr. bullets. Having said that, 748 works quite well, plenty good enough for varmint hunting and meters a heck of a lot better then the 3031.