Ruger RAR 223 H4895 77 Sierra TMK's and HDY 75 grain HPBT

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SJB358

Ballistician
Dec 24, 2006
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Well, this little 223 is a fun rifle for me. Seems to be pretty accurate with a thrown together load of 24.5 grains of H4895, CCIBR2's, Lapua cases and either a 77 grain Sierra Tipped Matchking or now a 75 grain Hornady HPBT.. I went to my favorite gun shop to get more Sierras and they were out, but they had these 75's.. Figured, what the heck, maybe I'll get lucky. I think I did, FINALLY!!!

Anyhow, I have been using the 223 to shoot groups in between shooting the big boomers. 24.5 grains of powder "Feels" like I am shooting a 22 LR and I DIG those heavy bullets in this 223.. It is alot of fun. I am actually looking forward to stretching it out a little..

I did capture some speeds, just for my dope chart..





And here are the two bullets shot side by side. Seated with the same exact die position. I just prep the cases, feed them in the seater and voila...









It really is a fun rifle to focus on the fundamentals during a long range session. I didn't have any big hammers out there, but was shooting the 35 Whelen and 7mm MSM so it was nice to monkey around with the little pipsqueak some.

 
Man alive! I'm going to have to spring for a 22 centre fire. I've been thinking along those lines for some time, and that could just push me over the line. That is very convincing, Scotty.
 
If your barrel has a 7.5 twist or faster, you should try some of the 80.5 fullbore bullets from Berger. They shot the best of any bullet in my .223 with 8208 and Varget. Some of the new "tipped" Sierra .224 cal bullets are supposed to be really good as well.

Dr. Mike; everyone should have several 22 caliber centerfire rifles... :mrgreen:
 
257 Ackley":1ebru6iu said:
If your barrel has a 7.5 twist or faster, you should try some of the 80.5 fullbore bullets from Berger. They shot the best of any bullet in my .223 with 8208 and Varget. Some of the new "tipped" Sierra .224 cal bullets are supposed to be really good as well.

Dr. Mike; everyone should have several 22 caliber centerfire rifles... :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

That's what I'm running Joel, the 77 grain Tipped Sierra MKs. It's only an 8 twist.

Mike, you'd love one. So much fun to shoot and with the heavier bullets they are really neat to play around with.
 
Joel, Scotty, a 22 centrefire is on my list to acquire this year. I oscillate between a 222 Rem, a 223 Rem and a 22-250 Rem. I'm reasonably certain one of them will appear in my possession this year.
 
That little gun is doing very well for you, looks like a lot of fun.
 
Scotty I've just started using the 75g Hdy HPBT myself. Using 24.2g of H4895 I'm getting 2715fps from the 18 inch barrel. Accuracy is great from the RAR Compact, three shot groups on or under 1 inch at 125y.

The 65g Sierra Gameking is a fraction more accurate, getting 2900fps.

Further good news both these loads and my 50g Hdy SP load all shoot within 1" of one another at 125y.

Yours is the 22" version I assume?
 
The 75 Hornady's surprised me too for the price.
4 ARs that are 1/8 and a Tikka T3 Lite .223 also 1/8 locked in the safe.
Been loading them on a Dillon 650 with 23 grs of Benchmark and all 5 rifles are under an inch at 100 yards.
Find myself shooting more 223 than anything these days.
Great training aide, sips powder and no recoil.

Oh and Scotty ?
The 69 TMK ain't no slouch either.

 
I dig this little rifle fellas. Bob, it is the 22" barreled version. I like it a lot. Good relief after shooting boomers on the bench.

I might have to give the 69's a try Howard. They were for sale the last time but I grabbed the Hornadys. Maybe I'll grab some 69's and see how they work. Might get a little free speed out of them as well.
 
Must admit it was years since I'd shot a 22 cal CF until I recently restored my Dad's 222 Rem for him.

Got this little RAR Compact since then and am addicted to shooting it! I've tried 5 bullets through it and all but one are in the 0.5 - 0.8moa range except that pesky 53g Vmax.

Just got into 1000 of the Sierra 55g GKs really cheap (for here) which they sell bulk for roo shooters over here. I hear they're a fairly tough bullet so they might get a run on the pigs.
 
Got to love the Economy of the Hornady 75s. I shoot them in NRA/CMP service rifle. They hold up as well as any of the 77BTHPs to 600 yards in the wind. Some of the 80 grain offerings will maybe give you a slight edge at extreme range. At my usual supplier, Grafs, the 77 Nosler is also priced competitively with the Hornadys.

I'm shooting mine over 24gr of Varget LC brass. Also tested 24 R15, 24 IMR 4064 and 25 BL-C2 with equally promising results. 4064 metered poorly and Varget was the first I found in quantity when I geared up to load this round. (also the reason I went with the 75 Hornady, it was available).

Over one season I shot consistently "master" scores and one high master (600 OTC) and nearly racked my first leg points with this bullet. One poor performance on my part kept me from earning my master card with a service rifle this year. Hornady 75 works for me! My rifle is a RRA 20" 1-8
 
Great info fellas. The heavier bullets, 69-77 grain bullets are just a darned blast in the rifle. Turns them into a machine.

Been using the 77 grain MKs in our service ammo for awhile and it makes the 5.56 into a bigger rifle.
 
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