STURDY 55 GR .224 BULLET?

Varmit · Jun 16, 2012

I need to find a 55 gr .224 bullet that will completely penetrate a coyote or cougar when pushed about 3100 to 3200 fps (MV) from an 18" 5.56 barrel. Shots will be under 100 yards. Must be expanding of course and under $25 per 100 would be nice as I do all practice with my hunting load. My gun won't shoot the heavier bullets......

Thanks

PaulZ · Jun 16, 2012

Try Shooter's Pro Shop I have had great luck with their "blems" the "varmageddon" line would suit you.

Varmit · Jun 16, 2012

Perfect! I just ordered 3 boxes Ballistic Tips. They should do the job..

Thanks Paul,
Rany

Spitpatch · Jun 20, 2012

A 55g Nosler Ballistic Tip will nearly always exit a Pronghorn, fired from a .223, and impacting the ribcage (ranges 85-250yds). Certainly, the portion exiting is quite often only the copper base wafer (with a smidgin of jacket attached). This young lady now has seven Antelope to her credit, all one shot kills with that bullet in that cartridge. Her Dad and I have about 4 more between us with that arrangement. Her rifle is a Interarms Mini-Mauser, 20" barrel. You may see some evidence of how particular she is about shot placement at the bottom of the picture.

Varmit · Jun 20, 2012

Thanks for the verification SP. I think this bullet will work for me. Shooters Pro Shop has the 55 gr in "Blems" right now for a great price. I will be using them at short range and at 5.56 velocities from a Mini-14, but a Cougar is lighter than a Pronghorn so I should be good.

Super photo also!!

Darkker · Jun 27, 2012

18" 5.56 barrel.... Sounds like an AR pattern rifle. So with the typical twists, you should be able to shoot heavier stuff with no problems.
One thing to remember with fast twist 223's is RPM, TNT's Varmint Nightmares, Dogtowns don't like much over 260,000RPM.
MV * 720 /twist = RPM.

Varmit · Jun 28, 2012

I have a Mini-14 (Ranch Rifle) loading to 5.56 pressures with 1-9 twist. It just won't group well with the heavier than 64 grain stuff. I guess it comes out when the barrel is in a bad vibration...

50 grain hollow points give me the best accuracy. The 64 gr power points group about 3" and the 55gr ballistic tip about 2.5". The 50gr hollow point will sometimes group 1.5" for 4 shots, but the fouling shot is several inches out of the group, and the main group POI is about 7" low and left of the 64gr bullets normal POI. I have been out testing the 55gr Nosler ballistic tip and the 55gr Hornady A-max and both will group about 2.5 inches including the first fouling shot. I can live with that as I am only using a 4X scope and I will be shooting mostly inside 100 yards.

Darkker · Jun 30, 2012

Gotcha,
Well you can always keep a local PNW guy in business. Gets the rejects from Speer(ATK) over in Genesee.
Rocky Mountain Reloading

Varmit · Jun 30, 2012

Thanks for the link. If they get some bonded core in the future, I will grab come. Years ago, when I lived in Lewiston, I bought Speer seconds from a local shop that had drums of them and sold them by the pound. I shot the 105gr .243 and the 168gr boat-tail .308 and the accuracy was outstanding with both. I did some contract work for Speer/CCI in the 1980's and was always impressed with their professionalism in the way they did business and ran the manufacturing process.

bballer182 · Jul 3, 2012

Hornady Z-Max bullets are really nice and come in a variety of weights. Boat tail and flat back. A box of 500 can be had for around 65-70 depending on where you find them.

bballer182 · Jul 3, 2012

Hornady Z-Max bullets are really nice and come in a variety of weights. Boat tail and flat base. A box of 500 can be had for around 65-70 depending on where you find them.

Varmit · Jul 4, 2012

Varmit said:
I have a Mini-14 (Ranch Rifle) loading to 5.56 pressures with 1-9 twist. It just won't group well with the heavier than 64 grain stuff. I guess it comes out when the barrel is in a bad vibration...
50 grain hollow points give me the best accuracy. The 64 gr power points group about 3" and the 55gr ballistic tip about 2.5". The 50gr hollow point will sometimes group 1.5" for 4 shots, but the fouling shot is several inches out of the group, and the main group POI is about 7" low and left of the 64gr bullets normal POI. I have been out testing the 55gr Nosler ballistic tip and the 55gr Hornady A-max and both will group about 2.5 inches including the first fouling shot. I can live with that as I am only using a 4X scope and I will be shooting mostly inside 100 yards.

I have been back to the range after cleaning out the copper fouling and making a powder adjustment. 55gr Ballistic tips are still grouping about 2.5" at 3200 +/- FPS. I finished dialing in the scope. The next stop is Coyote-ville, OR. I will report the results (if any).

Spitpatch · Jul 5, 2012

That is very consistent with the best I got from an early Mini-14, after tweaking it for nearly a year.

Silver Hand · Jul 8, 2012

- Something must be wrong with my gun 11- 26/82 I have shot a bunch of these and have about run out 200 bullets remain in the locker of 1,000 - Half worried about a new load now. I must of got the Buzzzz Just right
11- 26/82
Primer -CCI Small Rifle 400
Bullet 22 cal. .224 -55 grain sp Hornady
Powder - grains of IMR 4895 work out the amount using a reloading manual
Military case shot 1.75'' @ 75 yards
This is not a big game bullet, But when its in the rack and handy It worked for most things. Not a good deer load.
Do not start loading your cases @ 25.6 grains of power and expect it to shoot 1.75'' groups.
As Always start lower and work up. I like using a color codes on the primers and crawl a grain at a time in some cases / most of the time 3 shot groups then ten shots to to prove a load.
I must be awful lucky - I recall settling on this load in short order. As I [Thought at the time]. I could do better but why for this gun.