oaken Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 Hello All My first post so a bit about me. I have been an FAC air vermin shooter for many years and last year started centerfire and target shooting, reloading is my latest interest. I recently bought a Sako Vixen L461 in .223, it has 23â€varmint barrel with 1:12 twist. The issue is that it seems to shoot softpoint 55gr (i.e.Samson and remmington) really well at 100-150yds but is lousy with FMJ. On the range last w/e shooting at 200m I could not get it to group at all. I tried some Federal 55gr (best group@6â€), some military stuff(dire) and two different homeloads (both pretty poor) using sierra 55gr – H4895 24gr & 26gr. I was very disappointed, especially with the homeloads grouping as my previous attempts with .308 have been stunningly accurate. Can any one come up with suggestions on how to match the performance of the hunting rounds with fmj – faster powder maybe? I have not had a chance to do a comprehensive load test yet. Or could it possibly be that the barrel (possible excuse to rebarrel with 1:9) is worn out and it wont stabilise out to 200m. So many questions - I am nowhere near experienced enough to know these things. I look forward to any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stirky Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 H335 is a good powder to try or varget, my .223 has a 1/9 twist and shoots well with 26gr of H335 or varget, (50gr bullet) it shoots beter with 75gr Amax bullets and H4895. Vit 135 would also be worth trying, but if your group is about 6" @200yds then it could well be in need of re-bareling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaken Posted June 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 Thanks STIRKY The barrel issue is one that I cant afford right now and I cant throw the gun back at the seller because it does work well (as he stated) with the hunting rounds. The weird thing is that the rifle shoots very well with Remington Express PSP cartridges but………….. I had it in my head that if I can match the velocity and bullet weight with fmj’s, I should get similar accuracy on the range. Correct me if I’m wrong but isnt hunting ammo generally stoked up for use in shorter barrels so mine with a slow twist is probably going to throw the bullet very fast? Am I going to get a similar result if I reload for max velocity with my fmj or am I coming at this all wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter_zero Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Hello All On the range last w/e shooting at 200m I could not get it to group at all. could it possibly be that the barrel (possible excuse to rebarrel with 1:9) is worn out and it wont stabilise out to 200m. There are many factors involved here. Anything from a worn barrel to haze from a hot barrel. What sort of speed are you pushing the bullet? Is the bullet over stabilizing? Was there a high cross wind at the 200 yd mark? The rifle trigger, is it good? Were your action screws over tight? loose? The first step is to have a RIFLE smith (not just a gun smith) run a bore scope down your rifle barrel. Next step is to make sure everything is as it should be then reload a few rounds and get testing. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisv Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Why do you have to use FMJ? Is it a rule at your range? Try Hornady AMax non-expanding target bullets if you can, Hornady make some pretty good .224 bullets. Powders that work well in my .223 12" twist are Hodgdon H335 and Benchmark and also Vihtavuori N133. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter_zero Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Why do you have to use FMJ? Is it a rule at your range?Try Hornady AMax non-expanding target bullets if you can, Hornady make some pretty good .224 bullets. Powders that work well in my .223 12" twist are Hodgdon H335 and Benchmark and also Vihtavuori N133. I used to use BL © with excellent results. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaken Posted June 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Why do you have to use FMJ? Is it a rule at your range? Yes I shoot mainly on military rages - no expanding ammunition at all. John Trigger is spot on and everything is tight - barrel float isgood good. I have just looked on interweb and found that Remmington quote 3240fps for 55gr psp and Federal quote the same for their 55 fmj - no discernable difference. I need to look at my mates reload manuals for the reloads. I think you may be right - I need a gun/riflesmith to cast an eye over and iside it. Can anyone recomend a good riflesmith in between Southanpton, Oxford and Bristol area? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter_zero Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 I think you may be right - I need a gun/riflesmith to cast an eye over and iside it. Can anyone recomend a good riflesmith in between Southanpton, Oxford and Bristol area? Cheers One of the dangers is that you'll lose confidence with the rifle, when / if it happens then you might as well chuck the rifle in the bin. Take it to a good rifle smith, have it all checked over and at least you know the rifle is a good one. Then it's down to ammo and your style of shooting and of course environmental issues. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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