What bullet for 223

[nivlac1960]

I have a Savage Varminter 223 with a 1-9 twist rate and a 26" barrel. What would be the optimum bullet (weight, length and type) for coyote hunting? I would be shooting out to 300yds. at the most. I have quite a bit of H335 powder on hand also.

[wilmsmeyer]

40 Gr Nosler ballistic tip as fast as it can go

[pposey]

I use a Winchester bulk 55 grain soft point flat base,,,, not as high of a BC but they tend to cause massive damage with a full load of varget

you may need a heavier bullet for that barrel,, I have one that loved 60 grain Vmaxes again over varget

[rossman40]

I never had any luck with 40gr out of my 1:9 AR, at least the cheap Wolf and S&B. 55gr flat base is great for 100yds but a 69gr will out shoot them farther down range even more so if there is wind. At least that is my experience.

[wilmsmeyer]

My bud has a 22-250 that will not shoot a 55 grain bullet. It's an old Remington bolt and maybe Rossman knows if they ever had a slower twist then current production models.

However, throw in a 40 grain bullet at 4000 fps and it's a bug hole maker with any powder we've tried.

These 40's won't go thru woodchucks inside 200 yds....or little flecks make it and thats it. Not a bad thing if you plan on skinning and selling the pelts.

[cfvickers]

53 grain Hornady vmax. my opinion at least.

[rossman40]

A lot of the older .22 centerfires had 1:12 or 1:14 twist. Savages factory offering for .223 was 1:12 till like 2003. I have seen a lot of guys buy early model 10FP or 12V Savages in .223 and try to push 69gr SMKs thru them and then stand back claiming the gun won't shoot.

A friend of mine had a Winchester in 220 Swift that was 1:14, as Wilmsmeyer said, pushing a 40gr pill at 4200fps makes up for it (not to mention terminal effects that gives you a woody).

[mike3132]

I use 69 grain Sierra's on top of a max load of Varget. Speed is 3050 fps. Ive seen yotes shoulder shot with the 40's and they limp off. I would shoot 55's or heavier. Mike

[wilmsmeyer]

You must have some tough yotes around there Mike

[mountainam]

Nivlac1960, A 1/9" twist will easily handle a Sierra 65gr SBT. And H335 is the perfect powder for the load. It has a heavier jacket and will carry more FPE at your said range than a 40 or 55gr bullets. Guys with slower twist rifles are stuck with light bullets. You may as well take advantage of your rifle's twist. You are knocking on the back door of a .243 Win. Good Shooting!

[thelefthand]

50~55gr Nosler BT or V-Max. If you hunt open fields in heavy wind, I would go as heavy as I could to comp for the wind. My barrels are both 1 in 8 and on AR frames, and they shoot 40gr to 75gr just fine. Heavy wind at 300 yds gets the 75gr Hdy BTHP. I've fired it at Perry in 35+ mph wind and it still grouped well at the 300 yd rapid stage. The guys on the other half of the relay were shooting 69gr Sierras and they were all over the place. At the time I was unclassified, but my scores were bordering at the bottom end of High Master, and they were Masters.

I've never used H335. I have used RL15, Varget, N140, N540, N530, N133 and Greendot for reduced loads. N540 is my go to favorite for my match loads, but RL15 and Varget also do extremely well with heavy payloads. Varget has done well for me on all bullet weights, and across a very large number of calibers. N540 is scary consistent, and scary hot with for me with 75gr bullets. N530 and N133 will take a 40gr pill up to 3900 fps, and a 50gr pill up to 3600 fps for me. On the light stuff, Varget is a little slower but just as accurate. My best group with it measured about 0.3" at 108 yds.

[nivlac1960]

I just loaded Hornady 68gr BTHP Match and Nosler 69gr HPBT Custom Competition bullets over 23gr-24.5grs of H335. Will be going to the range shortly to see what is the most accurate load in my rifle.

[smokepoler]

Bullets in the 62 to 69 range work best in 1-9 twist .223s.

[slugger]

Oct 31, 2011 17:00:54 GMT -5 nivlac1960 said:

I have a Savage Varminter 223 with a 1-9 twist rate and a 26" barrel. What would be the optimum bullet (weight, length and type) for coyote hunting? I would be shooting out to 300yds. at the most. I have quite a bit of H335 powder on hand also.

We have great luck and save the fur with a V-max 40 gr and under. There is a bit of wind drift out at 300 yards but workable.

[sw]

Generally , as a matter of fact, almost always, heavier bullets do better long range than lighter bullets. However, in a 223, there may be an exception. Years ago, on Varmint Al's website, I read an article comparing max loads with 40,50, and 55g NBTs out of a 223. The 40s won in the less drop(and wind deflection) category than it's heavier siblings. The BC of the 40 is close enough that the extra velocity of the 40 gives it flatter trajectory to 300yds. I have killed coyotes with all 3 bullets as well as 60 VMax, 60 Starke, 68 Hornady, 69 Sierra, 75 Amax(22-250 AK Imp), 80 Sierra and Starke. I personally prefer the 40 NBT . I even shoot these out of the 22-250 AK Imp(4500+'/sec). Red mist!! Out of the 223, the 40s rarely exit , hide is preserved, and they just fall dead(for me). As for 9 twist, the short bullets shoot every bit as well as thru 12-14 twist in 223. My 22-250 AK Imp is 8 twist and shoots in hi .2s and low .3s(3shot gps) with max loads on 40 NBTs. Fast twists shoot long AND short bullets well. When I re-barrel my 223, it will be 8 twist even though it's primary pills will be 40 Vmaxs and 40 NBTs and 53 Barnes. Just ome thoughts.

[olsmokey]

26grs of H-4198 behind a 69gr. Sierra Match shoots great in both my model 12 Savages, with varget being the runner up.