Thoughts on a 1:10 twist .223 Remington?

Zastava223rem

Zastava223rem

Member
Recently picked up a Sako A7 Coyote in .223 Remington with a 1:10 twist barrel standard from factory. Too cheap to pass up on it, but after doing a little more digging, it seems to be a pretty rare bird. Anybody have experience with the rifle and/or caliber/twist combo? Ive shot a lot of .223 but all of the have been 1:9 or faster. Just wondering what the optimum bullet weight would be and maybe what powder to start with.

I have just about every popular powder Hodgdon and IMR produce on hand and quite a bit of .224" caliber bullets. Conventional wisdom says 40 to 50 gr Nosler BT with 4198 or Benchmark would do well? Any thoughts?
 
A 1/10" twist in a .223 will handle anything up to 60-63 grain with aplomb. It might be able to accurately shoot even 69 grain bullets but that usually needs a 1/9" twist.

I think that you have a great gun right there. 26.5 grains of CFE 223 and the 60 grain Vmax would be nice load for it I would think. 28 grains of the same powder with a 50 grain bullet should give good results too. I really have taken a shine to CFE 223 and used it with excellent results in my .223 and my .17 Remington as well.
 
I have a Tikka T3 .223 with a 1/10 twist. It should be the same ~22.5" barrel as what you have. With that said, these are loads that shoot extremely well in my rifle:

69 gr SMK (shoots great out to 500 yards)
23.2 gr IMR XBR 8208
LC brass
CCI 400
2.260 OAL
2,705 fps

50 gr Sierra Blitzking
26.4 gr Hodgdon Benchmark
LC Brass
CCI 400
2.250 OAL
3,344 fps

55 gr Blitzking
25.6 gr IMR XBR 8208
LC Brass
CCI 400
2.250 OAL
3,143 fps

Work up to these loads.
 
Your blitz and SX type bullets might shoot real good in the slower twist barrel.
Some 1x9's are iffy with these, the barrel needs very smooth rifling. 1x12 are great for the thin skinned
50 grain bullets.
 
Might try a Berger 52 grain bullet with 27.0 grains of CFE 223 with a Fed 205M primer or 24.5 grains of Vihtavuori N-133 with same bullet and primer.

The larger CFE group was 27.7 grains, which shoots good in one of my AR's - and poorly in the other. just need to adjust powder and primer with CFE and one should find an acceptable load.

These groups were from a Rem 700 in 223 with 1:12 twist 24" SS match barrel. Using a Rem 7 1/2 primer - same powder and bullet - groups were terrible.

Rem 7 1/2 primer gave me bug hole groups with an AR with 1:7 twist and 77 grain Sierras in front of 23.0 grains of Varget, while 205M primers were not acceptable.

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Originally Posted By: dennydYour blitz and SX type bullets might shoot real good in the slower twist barrel.
Some 1x9's are iffy with these, the barrel needs very smooth rifling. 1x12 are great for the thin skinned
50 grain bullets.

That hasn't been my experience. I've shot almost every weight bullet on the market in my 1/7 woa upper and it can shoot every bullet into sub .5 moa groups at short range.

Also, There is a big difference between blitz and blitzking bullets.
 
Now if 100 yards is considered short range to you - then my hats off to you for being a superb marksman, but I'm still a little skeptical.
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I have that same rifle on .243. Have trouble with rounds popping through the feed lips of the plastic and stainless steel detachable magazine in hot weather, and -- at least in this chambering -- I have to let the fluted semi-sporter barrel cool completely after a couple rounds or any subsequent shots will really spread any attempted groups out. (The A7 is the cheapest Sako action, and I'd bet they didn't mate their best line of barrels to it in this series.) I do like the adjustable trigger, DBM, and bedding-block stock; kind of a shame they tried to sell these and their Cabela's-special twins for such high prices originally. Was considering selling mine, but I like the overall package and am looking into putting a nice aftermarket barrel on it, possibly in .22-250.
Regarding your 1:10 twist rate: would definitely try the high-bc Hornady 53 gr. V-Max!
 


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