Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Long range shooting with a .223

Ok, Im gonna start loading my AR-15 for long range. (up to 1000 yds)

I have shot at 800 with it but with 55 grain NBT's and want a better bullet for that distance as it is really affected by the wind.

What bullet/powder combo would you choose? right now I'm leaning toward getting the 69 grain SMK and the powder????

Just started delving into this as a friend has a 1000 yd range and wants to get together and have some shooting fun.

Oh, my twist is a 1/9"

Will your barrel stabilize 77gr SMK's? If so it's got it all over the 69's.

From what I read I would need a faster twist.

69gr SMK and some accurate 2520 in your 1/9 should be a winning combo.Or get a 1/7 bbl and shoot 77g smk. They sure are fun to shoot at distance.

accurate 2520.....I will keep that in mind.

Thx

I'd try single loading the 75Amax. Gonna be hard to beat that bullet.

Not necessarily. I've had quite a few 1/9's that shot 77's very well. It'd be worth it to get a few and see WTF....

You also might look at the Hornady 75gr BTHP. Better BC than the 77s, magazine friendly, and works in a 1/9 twist.

Like Brad says, the 75 AMax will be your best option in a single load round, if it will fly in your 1/9 barrel.

77s shoot ok in my 16" 1/9 AR.

They went through a 100yd target at about a 45 degree yaw out of a 1 in 9 20in Bushmaster I had, this at 400ft MSL. Factory Remington Match.

Well it can't hurt to try the 77's....I'd rather be there anyway.

Keep em coming.

Thx

My plan this offseason is to teach myself turrets with an SPS Tactical in 223. I've got a VXII 3-9x40 with M1 and a stash of 68 BTHP, 69 SMK, 70 VLD, 75 BTHP, 75 A-Max, and 77 SMK to try. Thinking the A-Max and 77 SMK may be marginal but we'll give 'em a go. Should be fun

I shoot an AR-15 in .223 at 1000 yards. I shot it in FTR, F-class competition for a few years and reached Sharpshooter status with that setup.

Originally, I had a 24 inch barrel, 1:8 twist and was using the 75gr A-Max. I could push it fast enough to reach 1000 yards supersonically, but when it got cold (in south Texas), the bullets would come in right at or just below sonic speed. They did not keyhole, but they got a little uncontrolable and scores suffered.

My next barrel (the current one) is a 26 inch 1:7.7 twist Krieger and I switched from the 75gr A-Max to the 80gr JLKs. It was easy to keep the bullets solidly supersonic at 1000 yards and my scores increased and I reached SS, but that was it. These F-class targets are very small and even with the fairly high BC of the 80JLK, the bullets are a toy in the wind.

I also moly-coat the bullets and I have a CWS in the carrier, with the heavy insert. The charge is 25.5gr of Varget and I get about 2900FPS of MV.

There are ways to reach 1000yard supersonically with 80gr bullets in a 20 inch barrel, but that's usually a single use of the case. The USAMU calls that their V8 load.

In my experience, the 77gr SMK will not reach 1000 supersonically out of a .223 Remington/5.56 NATO. The BC just is not there, unless you are at 5000 feet altitude or it's 120 degrees outside in 100% humidity and the wind is at your back and you are shooting downhill.

The 75gr Amax or Berger VLD is a better bet, but the 1:9 twist is working against you.

The 69gr SMK is a fine bullet but will simply not make 1000yards. It was not designed for that.

Thanks you just rained on my parade.

I apologize. I didn't mean to mess you up, I just wanted to pass along some of my findings. A couple years ago, I switched from .223 to .308 in FTR competition and reached the next classification. 1000 yard is a challenge for the .308 and more so for the .223.

Tom264,

I fired the Sierra 80 grainers and Hornady 75 A-Max from my Savage .223 with a 9 twist. In fact the longest rock chuck with the 75 grainer was 527 yards. It was feeding straight away. The bullet enterd centered on the butt and exited below the chin.

Oh dont worry about it....I was just joking.

Thats the reason I started this thread.....to get into your guys heads that have BTDT.

Thanks for the info.

Tom264,
After reading this thread this is the most amazing thing, "800 with 55 grain NBT's".
Even out of a swift there is no group with 55grNBT's at 800yds, would love to see the target

Tom-lot's of good .223 info here. Scroll down to the AR section.

http://www.6mmbr.com/223Rem.html

How about a description of this high perf .223 AR? Details, man, details.