Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Anyone load 80 gr Nosler Custom Competition bullets in a .223?

I bought a bunch of the above to try in a 1-8" twist bolt .223 for LR shooting. Anyone try these?

I'm planning on TAC or Varget, looking for 2700 fps MV, Tikka T3, 22 7/16" barrel.




P

I've run it along with the 80 grain A Max...out of a one in 7 twist, Pac Nor barreled Ruger....

23.5 grains of H 322.....

very accurate and a little faster than 2700 fps IIRC...

Hornady's Manual lists an MV of 2750 with a 22 grain Charge...

23.5 grains was from an older manual... but the extra 1.5 grains doesn't seem to bother the brass or the rifle ( bolt actions)...

That's good news, John, seeing as how I have 250 of the Nosler 80gr and ~2,000 Sierra 80gr BTHP I need to dispose of.

Ed

You need some serious spin for those suckers

Yes, shot both the 80 grn. Nosler and 80 grn Sierra out of my 9 twist Savage Mod. 12 over 23.5 grn, of H4895 at 2900 fps for years.Excellent load in my rifle.

One in 9 in my Savage 223 seems to have NO issue stabilizing them, when you get the velocity up...it does take the one in 8 like in the Ruger Predator, to stabilize them when you slow them down...

I played with a load or two, running them at 22 LR speeds... they were still real accurate in the Ruger Pred...

Those wouldn't be Blue Dot loads would they?

Ed

actually my friend, that was with Unique.. like 5 or 6 grain IIRC....

originally tested those for deFlave, but don't know if I posted the targets ever.... I ran across them the other day trying to clean up around here...

at 50 yds, with a 4 power scope five shots made a 25 or 26 caliber hole...

No TAC or Varget experience? I have Benchmark, too.




P

When i was shooting the national match course i ran 23.5 grains of RL15 in lake city brass with the 80 grain nosler.

I'm finally loading a few rounds to test for velocity and pressure.

The guy at Nosler told me to use the 5.56 NATO data, since .223 Rem didn't include the bigger bullets. DISCLAIMER: the book (#7) states "The data listed in this section is safe for use in both .223 Remington and 5.56x45mm cartridges and chambers."

Nosler lists 23.5 gr TAC and 24.0 gr Varget as max, with identical MV of 2658 fps from a 20" barrel. Add 50 fps or so for the difference in barrel length puts me a hair over 2700.

Ramshot lists 24.3 gr of TAC as max with the 80 gr Sierra HPBT, 2749 fps, 24" barrel. Subtract 30 fps puts me close to Nosler's estimate of 2700, at .8 gr less. Ballpark, anyway.

Ramshot's TAC numbers for 5.56x45mm go up to 25.8 gr for 2903 fps, 1-7", 24" barrel. That's more velocity and pressure than I'm looking for.

Hodgdon lists 25.0 gr Varget as max, but that's compressed. 24" barrel, 2869 fps. That's around 2835 fps from my barrel.

I think I'll work up to 24.5 gr Varget and 24.5 gr TAC as max. Now all I need is a scope.




P

Post a target picture when you get them shot.

I put her together today, full on Pharmseller treatment, including a metal bolt shroud. I wanted a Leupold FX3 12x40 AO like I have on Blue Lightning but I couldn't find one in my price range. I put a Leupold VX2 4-12x40 CDS on her instead, in my last set of milled Talleys. I think she looks pretty good.





The goal is sub-.75 MOA with the 80 grain Custom Competition, I'd be very happy with .5. I'm also trying the established loads using a 50 grain Ballistic Tip or 50 grain TTSX.

I'll post pics if they're worthy. If she shoots I'll flute the bolt and paint the stock.




P

Initial results are promising. I think I need to seat them a little deeper. But not bad, for the first time I ever shot the rifle. Windy as heck, which explains the horizontal dispersion.













P

Late to the party, as usual, but have some experience with this bullet in several rifles.

23.5 gr of TAC and Rem 7 1/2 primers has worked well in two WOA AR15s (1/7 and 1/8) and a savage 1/7 bolt gun. 4" at 600 yards is very doable with all three guns if wind cooperates.

With Rl-15, a variety of charges from 23.5 gr (best) to max shoot very well.

Varget, classic 24grs shoot great in bolt, but nothing special in ARs with varget.

I used to run this back in the!

With Rl-15, a variety of charges from 23.5 gr (best)

double post!