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Matched to the right loads, an AR15 can be incredibly accurate. Layne is here to give you a few pointers on how to build
super-accurate handloads for America's longest-lived battle rifle.
By Layne Simpson
The AR15 and the Ruger 10/22 have something in common other than the fact that both are
semiautomatics. Both can be transformed into precision shooting machines by simply upgrading various
parts. Hang a match-grade barrel on either rifle and you will likely be rewarded with a noticeable
improvement in accuracy. Switch out their triggers and you should be able to shoot them more accurately.
With such a wide variety of bullet weights available, selecting the right bullet
for the intended purpose is critical in building good .223 Remington
handloads. (From left to right) Hornady 40-gr. V-Max; Nosler 50-gr. Ballistic
Tip; Nosler 55-gr. Ballistic Tip; Nosler 60-gr. Partition; Sierra 69-gr.
MatchKing; Berger 73-gr. Match; Swift 75-gr. Scirocco; Hornady 80-gr. A-
Max; Sierra 80-gr. MatchKing; Berger 90-gr. VLD.
Shoot match-grade ammunition rather than the mart special stuff and group size will likely shrink even
more. A big difference between the two rifles is you can handload ammo for the AR15 but you can't for
the 10/22, which brings me around to what this report is all about: handloading the .223 for the AR15.
Not too many years ago I spent a bit of my time shooting super-accurate bolt guns chambered to 6mm BR
Remington and 6mm PPC in registered benchrest competition, and my averages for five five-shot groups
at 100 yards were always well inside half an inch.
I was impressed with the performance of those rifles back then, and I am even more impressed with the
accuracy of top-level AR15 rifles being built today. When fed decent ammunition a really good AR will
keep five bullets inside half an inch at 100 yards with boring regularity. To me, this is remarkable
considering the fact that it was designed for use on the battlefield rather than at the target range.
When handloading for the AR15, a relatively quick burning powder such as
Reloder 7 (L) is ideal for bullets weighing up to 55 grains, and a slower
burning powder like Reloder 15 (R) is more suitable for heavyweight bullets.
Getting Started
The Super Varmint from Les Baer Custom I recently shot is an excellent example of how accurate a
really good AR15 can be. But some effort is required on the shooter's part in order for this to happen. For
starters, handloads put together haphazardly are good for making noise, but when it comes to ammo for
feeding a super-accurate AR you need the best available in order to realize its full accuracy potential.
As odd as it might sound in a report on handloading, shooting factory ammo in a new rifle is a good place
to start simply because doing so gives you a baseline for comparing the accuracy of your handloads. This
applies more to the .223 Remington than to many other cartridges due not only to the excellent match-
grade ammunition available from Federal and Black Hills, but super-accurate varmint loads offered by
those two companies as well as Remington, Winchester, and Hornady. Really good match ammo is
capable of sub-half-minute-of-angle accuracy, and some of the varmint loads are almost as good.
Next comes the matter of choosing the right bullets for handloads. As a rule, those weighing 40 to 55
grains are the best bets when the .223 is used for varminting and in action rifle competition. Moving up in
weight to bullets designed specifically for use on deer-size game we come to the 60-grain Nosler Partition
and the 75-grain Swift Scirocco.
Even heavier match-grade bullets, such as the Sierra MatchKing, Berger VLD, and Hornady A-Max, are
commonly used for long-range competitive shooting, most commonly out to 600 yards but more and
more frequently out to 1000 yards. I also know a few groundhog shooters who shoot the heavy match
bullets in quick-twist rifles. Then comes the rifling twist rate issue.
The first M16 rifles built by Colt many years ago had barrels with a rifling twist rate of 1:14 inches.
While that was quick enough to stabilize 55-grain bullets at what we consider normal ambient
temperatures, bullets became unstable when the mercury plummeted well below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
This prompted the Army to switch to a slightly faster 1:12-inch twist, and then later when the 62-grain
SS109/M855 bullet was adopted the specified twist became an even faster 1:7 inches.
The typical factory varmint rifle in .223 Remington has a rifling twist rate of 1:12 inches. This is a good
compromise since it is quick enough to stabilize the long 60-grain Nosler Partition and Hornady softnose
bullets of the same weight as well as those weighing a tad more, with the 62- and 64-grain bullets from
Berger being excellent examples. And yet the 1:12 twist is not too quick to deliver excellent accuracy
with various 40-grain bullets.
Super-Accurate .223 Handloads
POWDER
BULLET VELOCITY (fps) OVERALL LENGTH (inches) DATA SOURCE
(type) (grs.)
NOTES: All loads with bullets up to 80 grains delivered sub-MOA, five-shot accuracy in the Les Baer Super Varmint with most averaging either close to or
less than half an inch at 100 yards. The Berger and Sierra 90-grain bullets are too long to stabilize in a 1:8 twist and are shown for reference only.
Winchester cases and Federal Gold Medal 205M primers were used in all loads. Velocity is the average of 20 or more shots measured 12 feet from the gun's
muzzle. Maximum overall cartridge length for the AR15 magazine is 2.275 inches; loads shown with greater overall lengths are intended for single-shot
loading directly into the chamber of the AR15.
NOTE: All load data should be used with caution. Always start with reduced loads first and make sure they are safe in each of your guns before proceeding
to the high test loads listed. Since Shooting Times has no control over your choice of components, guns, or actual loadings, neither Shooting Times nor the
various firearms and components manufacturers assume any responsibility for the use of this data.
There are, however, flies waiting around to drop into the handloader's bowl of soup. Through the years I
have worked with several 1:12-twist .223s that refused to deliver decent accuracy with any bullet
weighing more than 55 grains. The only way to know for certain is to give it a try. If I were to have a rifle
rebarreled specifically for use with bullets in the 60- to 64-grain weight range I would hedge my bet by
specifying a 1:10 twist. Then there would be no question of stability with those bullets, and the barrel
should still deliver acceptable accuracy with bullets as light as 50 grains and probably those weighing 40
grains as well.
Match rifles in .223 Remington, the AR15 in particular, are available with barrels in a variety of rifling
twist rates. Making proper choices among the various bullet weights boils down to a simple matter of how
slow or quick the rifling pitch is. As a rule, optimum twist rate for bullets weighing 40 to 55 grains is 1:12
inches--although as previously mentioned, some rifles with that twist rate will handle some bullets as
heavy as 64 grains.
Moving on up in weight (and more importantly, in length) the Sierra 69-grain MatchKing requires no less
than a 1:10-inch twist while 1:8-inch is the slowest twist that will stabilize the 77- and 80-grain
MatchKings and the 75-grain Swift Scirocco. The incredibly long 90-grain MatchKing and the even
longer 90-grain VLD (Very Low Drag) from Berger require a 1:7-inch twist, and some long-distance
competitors are shooting them in barrels as quick as 1:6 and 1:6.5 inches. The rifling twist rules-of-thumb
I have mentioned also apply to other bullets of similar lengths available from not only Sierra and Berger
but from Hornady and other makers as well.
I have yet to work with a barrel with a rifling twist rate quicker than 1:8 inches, but those who have tell
me that while the occasional rifle will shoot 80-grain bullets quite accurately, most rifles prefer 90-grain
bullets only and will seldom deliver acceptable accuracy with anything lighter. A twist rate of 1:8 inches
is the best compromise for those who wish to shoot reasonably light and reasonably heavy bullets in the .
223 Remington, and it is what I prefer for all-around use.
Some bullets weighing less than 50 grains will absolutely not work here simply because the centrifugal
force tears their thin jackets apart in flight before they reach the target. This is of no consequence to me
since I prefer 50- and 55-grain bullets when shooting varmints with this cartridge. On the opposite end of
the bullet weight range, the 1:8 twist is just about perfect for the long 80-grain Sierra and Berger match
bullets that many competitors have proven to be entirely adequate for shooting out to 600 yards--a few
more are using them successfully at 1000 yards. That's as far away as I intend to shoot at anything with
any rifle in .223 Remington. In other words, if it can't be done with the 80-grain bullet, I probably won't
try doing it with one weighing 90 grains.
When choosing bullets to shoot from your AR15 don't overlook the fact that the extremely heavy-for-
caliber bullets are intended for single-shot loading only and they were designed to be seated out to a
greater overall length than the magazine box will handle. Maximum overall cartridge length for the
magazine is around 2.275 inches, and with some of the heavyweights seated to that length, part of the
case neck is out over the ogive of the bullet rather than over its shank with the result inadequate case neck
tension on the bullet. On top of that, they would extend quite deeply into the case and use up a lot of what
is already a fairly small powder space. As a rule, the Sierra 77-grain MatchKing and Berger 73-grain
VLD are the longest bullets that should be seated deeply enough to feed from the magazine. All the others
should be seated out of the case for single-shot loading.
Some of the powders that have proven to be ideal for use in the .223 with bullets in the light to medium
weight ranges are a bit quick in burn rate for the heavyweights. For example, Reloder 7 is an excellent
choice for bullets weighing anywhere from 40 to 55 grains, but the slower burning Reloder 15 is a better
choice for those weighing 60 grains and up. The same applies to other brands of propellants. For 40-grain
bullets Sierra recommends powders such as VihtaVuori N-130, IMR-4198, and Hodgdon H322 whereas
slower burning powders such as VV N-550, IMR-4064, and H4895 are recommended for the 90-grain
MatchKing.
Regardless of bullet weight, most of the powders suitable for use in the .223 are ignited quite uniformly
by standard-force primers. I am partial to the Federal Gold Medal 205M; the Winchester WSR is quite
popular among those who shoot the AR15 in Service Rifle competition.
One of the reasons I was able to shoot the Super Varmint so accurately is its trigger. Of two-stage design,
it is from Jewell; the trigger finger first takes up the initial stage with 34 ounces of pull and then suddenly
at the 42-ounce mark it breaks cleanly. AR triggers don't get any better than this. The barrel is benchrest-
grade 416R stainless, and its size accounts for a good bit of the overall weight. The 24-inch barrel has a
muzzle diameter of .925 inch. The Super Varmint is also available with 18- and 22-inch tubes, and rifling
twist rate options are 1:7, 1:8, 1:9, and 1:12 inches. Upper and lower receivers are precision-machined
from forgings, and the former is available with or without forward assist. These and all other parts, such as
the chromed bolt and carrier, extractor, aluminum gas block with Picatinny top rail, and the free-floating
tubular handguard, are manufactured in house by LBC. Accessories included in the package are quick-
detach Versa Pod, 20-round magazine, padded rifle case (with side pockets big enough to hold lots of
stuff). Like several other AR15 variants offered by LBC, the Super Varmint comes with a half-minute-of-
angle guarantee. Believe me when I say it is no brag.
Any good brand of case will do for target practice and varmint shooting, but Winchester brass is probably
the most popular among competitors due to its hardness and excellent weight uniformity. For trouble-free
chambering in the AR15, cases should be full-length resized rather than neck sized. Top-quality, out-of-
box components properly assembled on any good single-stage or progressive reloader will produce
ammunition capable of half-minute-of-angle or better and that's good enough to satisfy most of us. I am
sure it is also far better than the original designer of the M16/AR15 rifle ever dreamed of achieving with
what went on to become America's longest-lived battle rifle.