Just became a rifle owner.

[quilbilly]

Have fun with your new rifle. I have had a T/C Venture bolt gun in 223 for a while and have enjoyed the challenge of teaching it to shoot both jacketed and cast accurately. The result has been sub-MOA accuracy with jacketed then getting the right load, lube, alloy, shape and boolit weight for comparable accuracy with CB's at a CB velocity of 1900 fps.. Today, the scope sight settings are 9-clicks difference between 55 gr JSP and 58 gr semi point gas checked boolit with both been MOA. At 300 yards the rifle will scare the heck out of a pop can with the CB's plus will amaze the other shooters.

[kmw1954]

Have fun with your new rifle. I have had a T/C Venture bolt gun in 223 for a while and have enjoyed the challenge of teaching it to shoot both jacketed and cast accurately. The result has been sub-MOA accuracy with jacketed then getting the right load, lube, alloy, shape and boolit weight for comparable accuracy with CB's at a CB velocity of 1900 fps.. Today, the scope sight settings are 9-clicks difference between 55 gr JSP and 58 gr semi point gas checked boolit with both been MOA. At 300 yards the rifle will scare the heck out of a pop can with the CB's plus will amaze the other shooters.

You may have to PM me the lowdown on that CB mold and loading.

[Three44s]

Will it shoot?

Most likely. The question is how well and with what kind of bullet.

With jacketed it will be easier and with cast, more of a chase due to bore size.

Trigger quality in the economy rifles is more tenuous as well.

Three44s

[kmw1954]

Three44s. like any other gun I am sure it will shoot and will shoot better with certain brands and weights of ammunition than others. Like every other gun it is a matter of finding which ones.

Will it shoot like a BR gun? Highly doubtful. But then I never expected it to.

[brown bass hunter]

Great little rifles for the money. My 10 year old nephew shoots one in 223. I load 55 Sierra Game Kings for it. He has killed 3 whitetail bucks with it - all 50 to 75 yards - with neck shots. They dropped in their tracks.

Best of luck with the new adventure!

[Three44s]

You may find that with the economy rifles, just shooting it with j-words for a while and cleaning often helps. Then out of the blue some cranky but promising loads just shrink with a little more fiddling.

[kmw1954]

So folks this past week I have been collecting tools and reloading supplies. Yesterday I found powder and bullets at BPS. Two powders; Ramshot TAC and Hodgdon BL-C2 and the Hornady bullets; one each of 55gr SP with Cannelure and 55gr SP W/O and one Match 68gr BTHP. Seen a box of Nosler 60gr Partition but wasn't prepared to pay $32.00 a box of 100. Also picked up a tub of Hornady Unique Case Lube.

Already have about 140pcs. of PMC brass all cleaned and sorted and waiting patiently to get started.

[tazman]

I use BL-C2 in my 223 Savage bolt actions with great results. I have a model 25 and a model 110. I get my best accuracy with 25.5 grains of BL-C2 with 69 grain Matchkings or Nosler competition bullets in a Hornady case made up to fit in a magazine. This is one grain below the max listing on the Hodgdon data site.
I consistently get around 1 inch at 200 yards with the 25 and about 1.5 inches with the 110. The other boolits don't group as well for me.
You say you are using PMC brass so I can't give a particular recommendation for that brass. It has a reputation for being thicker and needing a reduced powder charge to avoid flattened primers and other over pressure problems.

[kmw1954]

tazman I am getting anxious to the point that my pistol work has seemed to be put on hold.

Not sure which powder to open up with to start my reloading or if I should try a little of each but that may present a confusing start as I am unfamiliar with not just poth powders but this whole cartridge.

[tazman]

I have no experience with Ramshot powders. I use the BL-C2 in both 223 and 308.
I know it to be a good accurate powder.
I would suggest you start with 24 grains of BL-C2 with some of those 68 grain match bullets loaded to 2.260 OAL. Any small rifle primer will do.
Shoot for group and then experiment with slightly higher charges if it is warranted. Keep a close eye on your primers for flattening or piercing.
If you have a chronograph, use that to give you a good idea where you are compared to factory or book loads.
I expect you will find an accurate load very quickly.

[charlie b]

Note that the Hornady 68gn BTHP match bullet (not ELD) is not as accurate as many others. For me they were worse than the cheap bullets. When plinking I use the cheapest Hornady 55gn bullets. Good enough for soda cans at 200yd

I agree with starting using BLC2. I have used it in both the .223 and .308 as well. Never used Ramshot TAC before.

[tazman]

Note that the Hornady 68gn BTHP match bullet (not ELD) is not as accurate as many others. For me they were worse than the cheap bullets. When plinking I use the cheapest Hornady 55gn bullets. Good enough for soda cans at 200yd

I agree with starting using BLC2. I have used it in both the .223 and .308 as well. Never used Ramshot TAC before.

I would agree with that up to a point. I got better accuracy with Matchkings and Nosler Custom Competition bullets. That said, they still shot very well in my rifles.
They are also what the OP has to work with at the moment.
For whatever reason, the other, less expensive bullets just don't shoot all that well in my rifles. Hornady makes a 50 grain and 53 grain V-max bullets that also shoot well for me.

[kmw1954]

They are also what the OP has to work with at the moment..

Exactly what I could find other than one box of Nosler 60gr Partition that I wasn't going to pay their asking price. Besides after 2# of powder and 300 223 bullets my budget was gone. I was only going for 1 powder and 2 boxes of bullets.

[Three44s]

Before you go high or low on bullet weights you should see what your rifling twist rate is.

The 55gr slugs are a safe bet. A crimp cannelure is less helpful with a bolt gun. Some semi autos can use them with better resistance to the bullet getting shoved deeper in the case.

TAC powder was suggested as “the” powder” for ARs. I tried a pound and was not overly enthused but not bad either.

I am a bigger fan of BLC-2 however. I also like Varget and Rl 15. There are a LOT of powders that make a 223 thrive however.

I am more inclined to use the spherical powder such as BLC2 because I can get very nice thrown charges and bypass the scale after the calibration step is performed.

I think you will get a real “kick” out of rifle shooting (not the black and blue kind however). The .233 in a bolt gun equals FUN on a budget!

Three44s

[kmw1954]

Before you go high or low on bullet weights you should see what your rifling twist rate is.

The 55gr slugs are a safe bet.

I have to start remembering to state the rifles twist which is 1:9 and with that I feel I should be looking for bullets in the 60gr to 75gr range for best performance though I read many can still shoot 55gr bullets very well.

I am sitting here chomping at the bit waiting for my stuff to arrive. Figure it won't be here until Wed.

[tazman]

The Savage Axis in 223 has a 1 in 9 twist which is the exact same as my two rifles. 69 grain jacketed is nearly the upper weight limit for good accuracy. Some rifles shoot reasonably well with heavier bullets but mine do not.
Hornady recommends a twist of 1-8 or faster for their 73 grain bullets. Heavier bullets would require an even faster twist rate.
The bullet weights the OP chose should work well for him.
Now, all he needs to do, is develop a couple of loads for them.

[kmw1954]

Over on another forum I'm in a thread on bullets and one response is from a fellow shooting Sierra SMK 77gr. #9377 and Sierra TMK 77gr. #7177 in a Savage 12FV with a 1:9 twist and they shot exceptionally well. If interested I can pm a link.

[charlie b]

Savage Axis, 22" factory heavy barrel, 1:9 twist, 77gn Sierra Match King's, 1000yds less than 2MOA. 600yds MOA. 200yds 1/2MOA.

So, yes, the 1:9 will stabilize the 77gn SMK's and Tipped Match Kings as long as you push them along well. I use 23.5gn of Varget which pushes them at 2800fps (Lapua brass).

There are a few of us on the Savage forum who have used the 77gn bullets and had good luck with them. One has a model 12 (also 1:9) and gets down in the .3's. But, all barrels are different and some may not like heavier bullets. Yes, we are aware that Sierra prints on the boxes that 1:8 twist is required. Just so happens that sometimes a 1:9 works as well.

[tazman]

Savage Axis, 22" factory heavy barrel, 1:9 twist, 77gn Sierra Match King's, 1000yds less than 2MOA. 600yds MOA. 200yds 1/2MOA.

So, yes, the 1:9 will stabilize the 77gn SMK's and Tipped Match Kings as long as you push them along well. I use 23.5gn of Varget which pushes them at 2800fps (Lapua brass).

There are a few of us on the Savage forum who have used the 77gn bullets and had good luck with them. One has a model 12 (also 1:9) and gets down in the .3's. But, all barrels are different and some may not like heavier bullets. Yes, we are aware that Sierra prints on the boxes that 1:8 twist is required. Just so happens that sometimes a 1:9 works as well.

That velocity may be the key. I never pushed them that fast. Might be my mistake.

[charlie b]

I think might be. I also think Sierra printed that due to the AR's. A lot of them are slower twist and will not stabilize. And most are 16" barrels so do not get higher velocities.

Sierra AR data used a 20" 1:7 twist barrel for their data and top out at 2750fps.