I have been testing a new CZ 223 with the Kevlar stock and 1-9 twist. I have tried 335, 4198, Benchmark and 2200 powder. The bedding is fine, and the only load that shoots bug holes is the 40 gr. Hornet Sierra bullet. The rest will be 3/4" which includes the 40 vmax, 50 speers and 55 sierras.

I am satisfied with the 40's but think how ironic it is that the 1-9 shoots best with the 40 Sierra bullets. My buddy has a Ruger Varmint with 1-12 and it shoots bug holes with 55 gr. bullets.

Fred

My Cooper shoots 40 and 50 Vmax's very good with 10X powder. You might give that a go.

If your going to shoot 40's then give Tac or X-Terminator a try.

I am getting good accuracy out of the 40's with 2200, so that is not a problem. What powders are you finding the best in the 50-55 level?

I'm useing Tac with 50gr. V-max's, great accuracey at 3300fps.
My current .223 is the only one I've tried Tac in. This rifle/load shoots 1/4" 3 shot groups at 100 yards consistatly.

Well, at least you found something that shoots. If 335 didn't do it, maybe TAC will...there are so many possibilities.
Try the 50 and 55 VMs with 4895 or Varget, too.

I've burned alot of 335 over the years, It's the dirtiest buning powder I've ever seen.

A buddy has the same rifle and his shoots 55 and 75 Hornadys over H4895 very well.

Thanks guys. I have some 4895 and will give that a try.

Try Vihta Vuori N135.

Here are some targets I shot with my CZ 527 in 223.
The target Red dots are 1" for group sizing perspective.

Don, those are very good groups. Mine is equally capable with the 40 gr. Sierra. Because of he powder shortage and my geography, some powders are in short supply. I have not seen Tac on the shelves in any of my local gunshops.

I will eventually find the right combination so I can shoot the 50-55 grain bullets.

Thanks guys.

Fred,

Steve Timm has done a lot of Coyote hunting with 223's using 40 gn bullets. So, I decided that would be the route I'd go with my 223, and got some good accuracy too. I just never shot bullets heavier than 45 gns in my rifle.
I had to buy TAC from Natchez as no one locally carries it.
It sure works wonders in 223's my two 222's and two 222 Mags.

Don

TAC and H-4895 gave me great accuracy with 50gr V-max's in a Howa 1500 (12 twisted though).

My best mix ever for .223 was a 50 grain Hornady SX and a butt-load of H335. I was shootin' high .3s with a Ruger 77 Mk II RL and a 2.5-8X Leupold.

If you can get Varget or Win 748 they should be worth a try. You might want to try something like the Sierra 52 grain HPBT. Sometimes changing primers makes a huge difference. So can playing with OAL.

Are you using new brass or once fired? I had one rifle (not a .223) that wouldn't shoot better than maybe 2.5 MOA with new cases, but the same loads in once fired brass from it's chamber went half inch or better.

Factory rifle accuracy is a needle in a haystack search. The search with a rebarreled, properly assembled rifle is not guaranteed easy but often more predictable such that a more methodical approach gives satisfying results.

Not .223, but I had a 700 LVSF .22-250. That POS would not shoot under 1.5 MOA with anything I tried 'til I got aggressive and ran 37.5 grains of Varget under a 50 grain SX. 1 to 2.5 grains over max depending on your book. Quarter inch 5 shot groups. WTF? Go figure. Them thar primers were FLAT. Anything downrange got an a$$ beating and it's guts scattered.

Y' just never know what's going to work.

Tom

Don, I doubt I will ever shoot any volume of bullets besides the 40's. The Sierra Hornet bullet shoots small cloverleafs. If the winds come up, I will get the 243 out.

The Kelvar stocked CZ is beginning to come along since I posted this initially. Shot a .6 with 55 Sierra's in windy conditions. I tried something different, like I did years ago with the 22-250 and the swift(4350). I went to a slower burning powder, 4320 and got 3100 fps with it. Sometimes slower powder will tighten up the groups, even though common thought is that the powder is too slow.

Tom, the cases are several times fired and neck sized only. The chamber is pretty tight. I have a 700 in 204 that was a damn nightmare. After recrowning, I changed out the firing pin because of slow fires, changed triggers plus other minor things. I finally put it in a laminated stock and had to apply pressure to the barrel to get it to shoot. Now it just shoots cloverleafs, but it was a major task getting it to shoot.

Every one of the new guns, are individuals or so it seems. Just takes a lot of time to get them tuned. I am like many on this board, I am picky. When a chuck shows only his head out to 200-300 yards, I want a gun capable of making the shot.

Heading out tomorrow to shoot sage rats on saturday. Will give the CZ Hornet and my 204 a workout

Tom, I have had several friends that shot the 22-250 and could not get good accuracy until they dropped velocity to around 3400 fps. The one thing I don't know, is how many different powders they tried.

+1 on N135 with 55 gr. bullets. My rifles like 24.8 gr with about any 55 gr. bullet. Also I have never found a powder that is the equal of N133 with 50 gr. bullets in all of my 223's. It burns very clean as well. Try some where around 25.0 gr. with Rem. 7 1/2 match primers.

Hope this helps some.

PaPa260

Try Benchmark and you may just improve on the groups. Tac is Super but Benchmark is Great

I have found that some rifles can be real fussy about seating depth. Before giving up on the 40 and 50 grain V-Max try playing with seating depth. Load a bunch of rounds seated out as far as you can and take a press and c-clamp with you to the range. Clamp the press with the seating die to a bench then try shooting five shot groups then seat the next batch a little deeper and shoot again. You just might be surprised in your results.

The wife's CZ 223 has shot 3 shot groups smaller than a .500-MOA. This is with factory ammo! I have handloaded some for the rifle and it now gets around the .425-MOA.

I also have a CZ, but it is the American with a 1-12" twist barrel. It loves AA2015. Specifically 25.2grs with a 50gr Speer TNT bullet.

My Kimber is a 223 (Longmaster Classic) witha 1:9 twist 24" barrel. I tried every trick in the book and several different primers, powders, and bullet manufacturers to get it to shoot 55 grain bullets without success. I thought there was something wrong with the gun until I tried a 40 grain Nosler BT, then I couldn't get a bad group no matter what I did. I found the Sierra 63 grain semi point bullets shoot really well too but bullets that are >40 grains, <63 grains no luck at all. Another bullet that shot very accurately in my gun is the Speer 70 grain round nose. My chamber requires it be deeply seated and the powder is compressed but it is an accurate bullet in my gun.

Has anyone actually found anything that will not shoot accurately in a 223 bolt gun, ( with the exception of cheapo 55 grain FMJs from some foreign sources)

I have heard this a lot, but what does a "dirty powder" mean?

Seafire - each gun is a law unto itself. Plus, what is "accurate" to you may not be to me ... and vice versa. I've never had as much success with 55s in general as I have with lighter bullets from 50 grains on down in any of the .22 calibers. .223s with a 1-12" twist are less bad than the bigger cases with 1-14" twists but still not been happy.

MarkD - I don't know about dirty. It's got half again the muzzle flash and shock wave of anything else I've used. You want abuse, try slightly reduced H335 loads in a bigger case like a .22-250. Egad.

It means that there is usually alot of carbon fouling in the barrel, sooty case necks. In an AR, it will clog up the gas tube and bolt carrier. H335 will also throw visible flames, even in daylight.