.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

[mtnwrunner]

Take your pick.
Perfect shooting day, minimal wind, 30 degrees.
Factory tikka CTR, 223, trijicon 10 mile and the rokstok. The more I shoot it, the more I like it.

Randy

 

[Moosehunter]

I couldn't get varget and tmks to shoot.
2.5"
Swapped to reloader 15 cause it's what I have. And down to like 1-1.25" 10 round groups. Is mine the only tikka that seems slightly picky?

 

[cowdisciple]

I also got good results with the 75gr Frontier while zeroing for the first time. Here's 20.

 

[SamsonMan22]

I couldn't get varget and tmks to shoot.
2.5"
Swapped to reloader 15 cause it's what I have. And down to like 1-1.25" 10 round groups. Is mine the only tikka that seems slightly picky?

Nope 77 tmk seem to be a little picky with powder for me so far, I haven’t used Varget with them yet but I won’t even bother either. It just has too much case fill for that long of a bullet in my opinion. Some people do fine with it but it’s not a preferred powder of mine in the 223. I ended up around 1.5moa with TAC, both 8208xbr and LVR are showing good results for me and are anywhere from 1-1.3 depending on the load and number of shots in the group 10-30 for me.

I have even had a barrel that hated the gold standard 77tmk/8208 combo but it wasn’t a factory tube. Your RL15 load is the typical accuracy for most loads, I didn’t do all that well with RL15 I only used it with the 75bthp and they were 1.7 for 30 rounds. Typically I end up with a load around 1.3-1.5 for 30 rounds using the 75bthp without much effort.

 

[Moosehunter]

Nope 77 tmk seem to be a little picky with powder for me so far, I haven’t used Varget with them yet but I won’t even bother either. It just has too much case fill for that long of a bullet in my opinion. Some people do fine with it but it’s not a preferred powder of mine in the 223. I ended up around 1.5moa with TAC, both 8208xbr and LVR are showing good results for me and are anywhere from 1-1.3 depending on the load and number of shots in the group 10-30 for me.

I have even had a barrel that hated the gold standard 77tmk/8208 combo but it wasn’t a factory tube. Your RL15 load is the typical accuracy for most loads, I didn’t do all that well with RL15 I only used it with the 75bthp and they were 1.7 for 30 rounds. Typically I end up with a load around 1.3-1.5 for 30 rounds using the 75bthp without much effort.

Thanks! Ya I have a magazine I can load long in and even then varget was not totally ideal. Once again it was a powder I had. I need some xbr but it's not available now. I couldn't afford it a few weeks ago when it was in stock.
I have enough reloader 15 to get me by for a while. Hopefully by then some xbr is in stock somewhere

 

[Moosehunter]

I'm gonna try and whack a Idaho spring bear with either tmks or 80 eldms.
I like the 80 grain bc if u can get decent velocity.
But then again those tmks are quite proven

 

[wind gypsy]

Varget worked decent in my lite barrel but the saami throat is definitely shorter than ideal for 77 TMK and varget.

 

[SamsonMan22]

Thanks! Ya I have a magazine I can load long in and even then varget was not totally ideal. Once again it was a powder I had. I need some xbr but it's not available now. I couldn't afford it a few weeks ago when it was in stock.
I have enough reloader 15 to get me by for a while. Hopefully by then some xbr is in stock somewhere

Get some LVR, I recently bought some XBR because it was an available at a decent price. LVR will replace it for me when I run out of XBR though, I’m not interested in chasing it down and paying high prices for it. The only thing it offered me over the LVR was higher velocity, the accuracy difference is a wash.

If the RL15 is working for you though I wouldn’t be afraid to use it, when you run out and there is no XBR there are some good alternatives out there.

 

[Wapiti151]

Varget worked decent in my lite barrel but the saami throat is definitely shorter than ideal for 77 TMK and varget.

Was it AAC or Stand 1 you were having pressure issues with? I just tried to search the thread for your couple comments on this, but could not find...but I know you were having issues with one of them. Gut tells me it was the S1? I ask because I see S1 in stock, and was going to give it a try if that was NOT the one you had issues with...it's obviously hotter than BH.


**Disregard...found it, sounded like your issues were with AAC

 

[Moosehunter]

Get some LVR, I recently bought some XBR because it was an available at a decent price. LVR will replace it for me when I run out of XBR though, I’m not interested in chasing it down and paying high prices for it. The only thing it offered me over the LVR was higher velocity, the accuracy difference is a wash.

If the RL15 is working for you though I wouldn’t be afraid to use it, when you run out and there is no XBR there are some good alternatives out there.

Does temp stability cause any concern?
First time loading 223 and just had varget and reloader 15 around
Any other stick powders that have less case fill than varget? With better temp stability than some of the ball powders?

 

[HighUintas]

Is the frontier 75gr bthp actually a 5.56? What's the best price commonly available on these? I'm only seeing about 0.90-1.00/round

 

[Lawnboi]

The best sub 400 practice ammo is by far adi 55sbk. Stuff just shoots in everything

 

[wind gypsy]

Does temp stability cause any concern?
First time loading 223 and just had varget and reloader 15 around
Any other stick powders that have less case fill than varget? With better temp stability than some of the ball powders?

H4895, xbr, benchmark. I’m not sure on case fill with Viht powders, n540 is supposed to be a velocity beast but not temp stable.

 

[Lawnboi]

For powder and mag length you want something around xbr or faster. Unless you like crunching powder.

I couldn’t fit enough varget to make pressure in 223 factory chambers.

 

[SamsonMan22]

Does temp stability cause any concern?
First time loading 223 and just had varget and reloader 15 around
Any other stick powders that have less case fill than varget? With better temp stability than some of the ball powders?

I can’t say for sure as I have not used it in super hot temps. I will say at 223 ranges I don’t worry much about velocity variations. I shoot in certain temp ranges and record drops, normally it’s add/ subtract a click or 2 based on a certain temp range and roll. My only concern is not ending up over pressure, in that case just back off a touch and it should be good. LVR being a slow burning powder in the 223 case will likely not show crazy spikes if it’s loaded within reason.

H4895 is really good but as hard or harder to get than xbr, benchmark did well for me with both the 73eld and 75bthp, my only VV powder experience is with n135. It shoots well but it’s a little on the slow side and it too fills the case a lot. At 23g I am getting a light crunch with the 75bthp at mag length, 23.5 is giving a pronounced crunch I have gone to 24 with no pressure signs but 23 or 23.5 has been much more accurate.

I wanted to try the staball match but after the recent price hike I gave that thought up and just went after LVR and TAC.

 

[Castle Rock]

For powder and mag length you want something around xbr or faster. Unless you like crunching powder.

I couldn’t fit enough varget to make pressure in 223 factory chambers.

Don’t worry about the crunch that stuff loves compression, just make sure your neck tension is adequate, I’m using 24.5 with the80 ELDM with great results in my tikka

 

[Pharmseller]

What is Stand 1?





P

 

[Juan_ID]

What is Stand 1?





P

Stand1

 

[Lawnboi]

Don’t worry about the crunch that stuff loves compression, just make sure your neck tension is adequate, I’m using 24.5 with the80 ELDM with great results in my tikka

That’s why I went away from varget, too much crunch causing seating depth issues. I was crunching a lot though.

Xbr meters way better as well, even in a chargemaster/AutoTrickler.

 

[roosiebull]

I also got good results with the 75gr Frontier while zeroing for the first time. Here's 20.