Bullet Choice for 223

morning, barnes, reminton, lapua all have bullets that
r barrel friendly. with a 1-9 twist u can shoot the heavies.
the heavier bullets seem to stabilize better. the length of
the bullets can alter the flight of the bullet. I like the
Tmk and barnes bullets. I use my 223, full rock river 1,
1-dpms-rock river heavy barrel varminter, 1-rem SPS 700,
left hand, 26in. heavy barrel varmint.
all shoot the Winchester 55 moly bullets barnes,
52gr. tsx. and 55gr. ttsx. very well.
custom 22-250 custom 1-9 twist, barnes and berger
long ogive bullets. I favor ramshot tac. I do use
h-414, rl-15, w-760, 4320, 4064, 4831. heavier
223cal. bullets use slower burning powders. just me gbot tum
 
Definitely 40 grain ballistic tip. I've had good luck with noslers and benchmark powder. 25-400 yards I have never had exit hole.
 
Black Hills 52 gr Hollow Point is super accurate in my Remington LTR and does a great job on coyotes.
 
I've had great results from Hornady 75gr BTHP. They are usually easy to find and usually on the less expensive side for premium bullets. They are what Hornady uses in their TAP ammo. They have good terminal ballistics at 2100fps+. And I believe due to there bearing surface they stabalize well in a 1x9 twist also. However a more knowledgeable member may confirm or correct that. But that has been my experience.
 
I've had better luck with 50 plus grain bullets on coyotes. They seem to kill a bit better for me. I'm shooting the 53gr v-max for a fur friendly load out of a 1-8 twist ar. I've also had good luck with the 50gr z-max at 223 velocities, but not very fur friendly when pushed out of my 22-250 ai at 4k.:D
 
I shoot 45gr hollow point out of my 22-250 and 223 for coyotes kills instantly and no exit hole perfect for hides
 
I shoot 50gr V-Max @ 3310fps from my AR over Benchmark.
Also, 69 SMK over Varget @ 3033.
Both kill stone dead. The 50 V-Max can still leave exits on longer shots, but closer shots are like an internal grenade. The 69 SMKs almost always exit, but only leave a $.25 hole. Dead coyotes.

Don't use a .308 210 VLD @ 3100fps...
 
32 grain v-max at 4090 fps out of a 204 ruger in the first picture. 73 grain berger target out of a 223. Haven't ran that load over the magneto speed yet.
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I've shot quite a few different bullets and find the 52SMK and Hor 55SP to be easy and cheap to load and get good to great groups. The 52's used to give me 1/4-1/2 moa out of a 1/7 and a 1/8 which surprised the hell out of me. I shot the 55SP at 200 the yesterday with a mild load of Tac and they grouped 7 within an inch or so. That was just some random load I worked up for a 3 gun match a few years back. I originally bought them in bulk for 3 gun and positional practice but they really shoot well.

For defense purposes I would stick towards the 69-77 but the price goes up too. Hornady 75 Match are hard to beat for price and long range. Nos 77 are pretty good too and cheap. I have found the 69's to be a little easier to reload in some guns versus the 77's and they will be plenty efficient within 300 yards. For some reason sometimes I found it harder to get great groups at 100 with the 75/77's but they would easily be under 1 moa at 500. I guess maybe due to the bullet stabilizing. You should be fine with 69's in any of your guns and most likely the 75/77s too. Not normally recommended like Sig Marine said but I have heard plenty of good results off 77's out of 1/9. If you're buying that many though the 69s might be the safest bet.

I'm concerned mainly with long range accuracy so I stick with the 75's for that and the 55's for practice due to cost savings and the performance is there for me. If you're not worried about anything past 300 then the Nosler 68/77 are to beat as far as price goes per 1k and they've always shot almost as good if not as good as the better and more expensive 68/69/75/77's. Plus no one seems to like them because they are always in stock. Hornady 68/75's are a great deal too and I tend to stick with the 75's for long range.

For powder unless you have a bunch already try 8208 XBR. I've been getting similar velocities and accuracy in mine since I switched plus its a lot more consistent to drop from the measure. I never vary more than .05 gr out of an old RCBS. I used to load Re-15 or Varget but I don't think I will go back. TAC is real easy out of the measure since its a ball powder and has shown great accuracy but I'm unsure how temperature insensitive it is yet. Gotten great results with it as well. The difference between those and chasing the extra little accuracy in re15/varget is minimal and the time saved from not worrying about charge weights is huge. Plenty of other good powders too.
 
I have tried many different bullets out of the 223 with the term "Fur Friendly" in mind. My goal is little or no fur damage. I can say I have shot around 170 coyotes with this caliber alone. The 60gr Vmax out of a 20" Rock River barrel has been "the" ticket! I would estimate 90 of those 150 coyotes were taken with this bullet. Once I had shot enough coyotes to confirm it was Fur friendly, I stuck with it. Not many exits at all. Of course if you hit spine or lower leg you will have a mess. But to be expected.

If you don't reload, the Ultramax 52gr HP would be my second choice.
 
I don't think the wrenches are going to fix that coyotes back (for predator 22). 52 GRN HP seems to work . One of the better compromise for .223Rem velocities .
 
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