"O" a little advise here please.......and anyone else with experience in the matter

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Orlando, have you ever done any distance shooting with an AR? You remember the above rifle, well I was loading 55 gr Hornady bullets and it shoots well out to about 250-300 yds. 400 yds group opens up a lot and at 500 ........well it resembles a shotgun pattern more than a group. I can keep 10 rds in a 3'x3' square. I'd like to keep 10 rounds in a 10" circle at 500. So I'm thinking the 'lil 55 gr is losing a lot of stability at the greater ranges, so I've ordered some Hornady 75 gr HPBT match bullets, my rifle has a 1 in 8" twist. If all the stars and planets line up correctly and if I do MY part do you think this could group at 500 yds? Any suggestions, help or comments are welcome. Thanks "O" and the rest of you guys!
Good Luck and Good Shooting! Thomas a.k.a. The Hoser

Heavier bullets is what you need for distance.
I only have acsess to 300 yd range where I shoot but have a bunch of 75 gr Hornady Match that I bought awhile back . Thats what I run in my Armalite 1:8 twist. Would like to shoot longer distances

Thanks "O" , So am I pretty much on track with that? I'm not asking for a load or anything thing, but was gonna start with Varget or IMR 4064? You have any powders that work well for you?

Cant help you with the loads my friend. I have so much ammo stockpiled I havent started reloading yet :)
Yes you are on the right track with heavier bullets

Not "O", but I am a HP competitor...
75 Hornady or 77 Sierra's will get you out there nicely... I load mine over Varget, (with a sane load, see Sierra manual for gas guns). My 20" service rifles will shoot x's and 10s all day long at 600, (though I throw a few 9's... my error, not the rifle!) remember too, that 55 Hornadys are NOT "target" bullets, you want real quality HPBTs for that distance, really.
That being said, for the 600 yard line, I use SMK 80's about 15-20 thou from the rifling in competition.
Mike B

Skeet knows what he's talking about. Everyone is right about heavier bullets for longer distances. I shoot 77 grain Sierra's (no cannelure) with 23.9 grains of RL-15 with a Fed 205m primer. Load 'em to st.d mag length, that's one thing Mike forgot to mention about the 80's, you can't load 'em to mag length and they must be single loaded. Forget the 4064 for the AR and save it for the Garand. Not that it wont work, there is better powders out there. Varget and RL-15 are nearly the same, I think RL-15 burns cleaner though. Others may have varying experiences.

Skeet, Canes....Thanks! The research I've done shows Varget as being a good choice, I just wanted a 'lil "hand holding" confirmation. I still remember back when I got my first AR, Canes you told me to not try and reinvent the wheel where loads were concerned! So I figured I'd start there. I don't have any Reloader 15, but I know where they sell it! Thanks guys I'll post results here in a couple weeks of how things went!

Good Luck and Good Shooting all! Thomas L. James

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Well today I tried my first "test load" with the 75 gr Hornady HPBT Match bullets. As you can see it's back to the bench. It isn't a terrible group, but I think it needs a little bit of tweaking. 6 rounds 1.040" center to center off bags and bench @ 100 yds.
This was 23 gr Varget with Winchester primers, C.O.A.L. 2.25"
Hornady book shows 23.5 gr max, so I'll give that a try and then work down if I still need to tweak a little. Then its off to get some RL-15 if this doesn't produce the desired results!

Good Luck and Good Shooting All! Thomas a.k.a. Hoser

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Originally Posted by tljames

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Well today I tried my first "test load" with the 75 gr Hornady HPBT Match bullets. As you can see it's back to the bench. It isn't a terrible group, but I think it needs a little bit of tweaking. 6 rounds 1.040" center to center off bags and bench @ 10 yds.
This was 23 gr Varget with Winchester primers, C.O.A.L. 2.25"
Hornady book shows 23.5 gr max, so I'll give that a try and then work down if I still need to tweak a little. Then its off to get some RL-15 if this doesn't produce the desired results!

Good Luck and Good Shooting All! Thomas a.k.a. Hoser

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Not bad for 10 yards.HE HE

Yeah Yeah L.P. ............I knew I could depend on you brother! ya turd LMAO

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Originally Posted by LEAD POISON

Not bad for 10 yards.HE HE

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Really! You could have bayonetted th target and saved the ammo!

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The saga continues............................ There has been a load testing session between the last post and now, but.....well let it suffice to say, nothing to write home about came from that trip! Today well this is interesting, will try a few more tweaks here. I also picked up some RL-15, BC-L 2 ,W748 and some IMR 4007 SSC. will work a few test loads from these and see what happens!

P.S. The Hornady 7th Edition manual doesn't list IMR 4007 SSC for use with the 75 gr Hornady HPBT, while the 8th Edition does.
Does anyone here have the 8th? If so would you mind sharing the min to max load data for the Hornady 223 75 gr HPBT? If not I saw a copy at a local gun shop and I can go purchase it, if need be. Just thought someone might have one handy and wouldn't mind posting some "printed data".

Thanks all! Thomas L James a.k.a. The Hoser

oh yeah P.S.S. this is One Hundred Yards off bench and bags! NOT TEN! LoL L.P.

Looks like you are getting on the right track now:)

HOSER. I could never shoot that good.

:) Thanks "O" and L.P.