I know the lighter the bullet, the less twist you want. Having said that, I would like input on the best choice of light varmint bullet. I'm 99% sure I'll be getting a new Savage FV12 in .223 as a Pdog rig. But I'd hate like he!! to buy a pile of the wrong bullets.
The rifle will have a 26" heavy barrel with a 1 in 9" twist. I was thinking about a 52gr HP.
Thoughts?

PS, my .204 Ruger M77 Mk II Target has a 1 in 12 twist that I fire 32gr from.

You can probably go down to a 40 and up to a 75 or 80 without a problem. But, if you want to shoot 52 gr bullets why are you buying a fast twist barrel? Just curious.

I was on Savages website and under that gun model and caliber that was the only twist rate offered. I take that to mean there is no other rate offered on their factory barrels.

Checked the Savage site. It appears that you are correct. Something else I got behind on.

I don't think you can "overstabilize" a bullet, although you can spin one too fast to stay together. The manufacturers warn which bullets may have a problem with that. I'm thinking of the Speer TNTs in particular. A buddy just shot some Hornady factory loads with a 40 grain V-Max that looked pretty good, around 0.5" groups at 100 yds.

I'm playing with bullets from 55 to 70 grains in a couple of .223s with 1 in 9" twists to try to find a coyote load. Id like to use the heavier bullet for the bigger critter. The 52 grain is obviously plenty for p-dogs.

I shoot the .223 in competition out to 1000 yds. You need at least an 80 gr bullet to shoot really accurately at 600 and 1000. In 2006 I shot a winchester bolt gun with a 1:8 twist at 600 yds with both 77 gr Nosler and 8- gr Nosler match bullets I needed 7 minutes of wind with the 80's and 14 minutes with the 77's . I shot that same winchester rifle with the factory 1:9 bbl with 69 gr Sierra match bullets and it shot great to 300 yds. I was using 23.5gr of 4895. But the 1:9 twist would not shoot the heavier bullets without really upping the powder charge. Now I was shooting open sights, with a scope you get a lot more distance a lot easier. I have never hunted p dogs so I dont know what the normal distance is. For ground hogs which are a bit larger i like shooting the .308 about 500-800 yds. The .223 out to 600 specially with a scope. But again that will have a 1:8 and I'd use the 77 or 75 gr bulets.

Compshooter

Rick, maybe this will answer some of your questions.

www.shilen.com/caliber...wists.html

.224 CF
- 7" for bullets heavier than 80gr.
- 8" for bullets up to 80gr.
- 8"* Ratchet rifled 4 groove
- 9" for bullets up to 70gr.
- 12: for bullets up to 63gr.
- 14" for bullets up to 55gr.
- 14"* Ratchet rifled 4 groove
- 15"* for bullets up to 55gr. driven 4,100 pfs or more
- 16:* for bullets up to 55gr. driven 4,300 fps or more

So from this, a 9" barrel shoots ok up to 70gr. But I want to shoot 52gr HP, doesn't that mean needing a 14"???
I mean, a 52gr will shoot ok in a 9" twist but wouldn't it shoot optimaly in a 14" twist? Jesus...I wish I could understand this!!!

Rick,

Quit overthinkin it!

Shoot the 52's(buy 'em in a small quantity if it bothers you)

Try the 55's if you don't like the 52's

Move up to 62's if needed...


Don't make it more difficult than it needs to be....

Can you still get 62's??

I agree with hunterjoe, try different ones and see how they shoot in your rifle and see what works best. My 22-250 (rem model 788 1-14 twist) loves bullets in the 50gr - 55gr range and that's all I ever use. Why mess with what works great, right.

Twist rates www.exteriorballistics..._Rifle.pdf

Quote::

Quit overthinkin it!

I guess thats what I gotta do. I don't even have the rifle yet. (Theres problems with Savage's importation into Canada for some stupid reason).
I am pretty sure I'm sold on the 12FV in .223, just have to get the gun.

Rick here is another calculator that may be of interest to you.


www.realguns.com/calc/...st?results

Russel Sports or Wholesale Sports in Calgary don't have one?

If it helps, a friend of mine got a new Savage in .223 a couple months ago. It destroyed 50-grain Hornady SX bullets but shot well under MOA groups with 50-grain VMax bullets at the same velocity. Pumpkinslinger is right, it's hard to over-stabilize a bullet other than blowing it up. I've read articles where shooters have used bullets as light as 40 grains in the 1/9" twists and even the 1/8" found in the .223 WSSM and various custom rifles.

Rick65Cat wrote:

I know the lighter the bullet, the less twist you want. Having said that, I would like input on the best choice of light varmint bullet. I'm 99% sure I'll be getting a new Savage FV12 in .223 as a Pdog rig. But I'd hate like he!! to buy a pile of the wrong bullets. The rifle will have a 26" heavy barrel with a 1 in 9" twist. I was thinking about a 52gr HP. Thoughts? PS, my .204 Ruger M77 Mk II Target has a 1 in 12 twist that I fire 32gr from.

In my savage FV12 in .223 I have had great success using 55gr. VMax's on PD's. Very accurate load using Varget.--tr