1000 yard 223

So, I have been thinking about trying the 1k yard shot with a .223 rifle. I have heard of a few guys loading up 77-80 gr bullets and doing long range shooting with decent success. I am thinking about trying it with one of these with a 1/7 twist barrel: http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/12LRPVLEFTPORT
It might make for some inexpensive long range practicing fun. What do you think?

Wuuf.

I'm going to assume you're not pulling my leg (a lot.) GunData.org has a .223 55gn ballistic table that goes to 1000 yards. You'll need nearly a 700 inch (~70 MOA) hold over at that range.

You're gonna need a bigger gun. ;^)'

55 gr bullets won't cut it... 77-80 gr would be the bullet choice.

77-80 gr bullets are only somewhat more stable in flight. They won't fly farther. I would expect that you have serious limits to the case in propelling the round that far with anything like accuracy. Remember you need 1400 fps at the target to have a consistently accurate shot. ?How you going to do that with a .223 case.

Very carefully?...  

I think with the longer barrel, 1/7 twist, and some slower burning powder it is doable.  Difficult, but doable.  I know you can't always trust the interwebs, but after doing some searching, it seems like people are doing it.  Some people are even doing 1k yards with service rifles.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/223-1000-yards-20563/index2.html

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2011/05/223-remington-shooter-equals-gb-1000-yard-f-tr-record/

Be interesting to hear how you do. ?You going to be pushing pressure. ?You plan on using a bolt gun.

I plan on using a bolt gun and seating as long as possible to provide a little extra case volume. I will have to work up my loads with a slow powder slowly and carefully. The gun I want to use is the Savage LRPV left port single feed gun. It has a 1-7 twist ratio in a 26" barrel. I also need to get some match grade brass and the right dies/tools to load it. I'm not sure if my hornady/rcbs dies will cut it.

FWIW I found turning out the flash hole (and taking out any extra brass shavings inside the case with that - you would be surprised at just how much junk you find) and uniforming the primer pocket seem to be what gives the most bang for your buck. You can start uniforming the neck, etc, but I would get one of those flash hole drill-things from Sinclair and go through all the cases that you plan on using. Segregate by headstamp - I usually use Lake City brass for my .20 Tactical. Fire form for the chamber with a lesser load, THEN work up the load. Neck size initially, but set up a die with full resizing to bump the shoulders about 0.001 when it becomes necessary. Be careful of loads you worked up in cooler weather - they can often be overpressured when it gets hot, especially if you are at the edge - which you probably will be for the kind of shot you are looking for. If you still can't shoot good groups with that, THEN go to neck sizing, uniforming case, weighing cases, etc.

This is what I was talking about.

http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloading-equipment/case-preparation/flash-hole-deburring-tools/rcbs-flash-hole-deburring-tools-prod54190.aspx

Oh cool and not too expensive either.

No. Pretty cheap. You set the collar so that you don't go too far into the case when you ream out the flash hole. You should look at several of these, as I think there's one that you can chuck into a drill and thereby do a bunch of cases quickly. I did about 1k of .223 mil cases, and you would be shocked at how many of them had brass sprue in the case that comes out when you do this. This makes the cases more even in volume, something you will want if you are loading hot.

And like I said, watch the temp you are shooting at. Hot temps in the mid-summer can easily lead to over pressure. Many powders are not really temp-stable. And some that are won't tolerate as much speed.

An update to this old thread:

Been working up loads now that weather has been quite warm and sunshiney. The 82 gr VLD seems to work the best so far. Here is a picture for size comparison between the 82 gr Berger VLD, the Nosler 77 gr, and a regular 55 gr hornady.

Quick update:  Took the Savage rifle out again and did a little more testing with some loads.  Dialed in the rifle with 5 shots and then hit a steel plate 4 times in a row at 1000 yards before the wind shifted.  I think I found a keeper, but need to test these loads once the temp gets hot out to make sure they are not over-pressurized. I'm using Varget which is supposed to be more temp stable, but from what I have seen, most powders are affected by temp even a little.

This is one case where primers do seem to make a difference. I have always been partial to CCI BR4's, but that's in part because I shoot a custom rifle, so it doesn't beat the heck out of the case with the firing pin.

A chrono would also be helpful. You can get some idea of speed, which will translate into distance. BC is certainly important, but speed can actually make up some of the difference. My lowly .20 Tac will hit with good reproducability to about 750-800yds. You certainly have to hold for wind, but hitting a dog at that distance takes some good ballistic performance.

Yeah, the chronograph was a good purchase for me. I originally purchased it to help me dial my loads up/down in order to reach subsonic speeds for various guns/calibers for my suppressors, but have used it to figure out longer range shooting calculations also. With the long range .223 loads, I have been using the federal match primers and have had good luck. I was hoping to be able to use the cheaper nosler 77 gr custom competition bullets, but started seeing a higher percentage of fliers beyond 800 yards. Those bergers are nice bullets!

Never shot VLD's. Somehow I seem to think you need to do something special to the case mouth. ?Am I right.

Nice looking bullet, though. Bet you can seat it part way into the barrel and still not hit the lands.

BTW, the case size is one of the big reasons the .22-250 was developed. The basic .223 case just isn't all that large - like maybe 27-28 gr max. I get really good distance from my .20 Tactical because I use a small but very fast bullet. Like 33 gr. You can't get the speed out of the 40 grainers so you don't get the distance.