Sierra versus Hornady

rodmkr

rodmkr

Temecula California
Have all but given up on cast in my 223.
Was going to buy jacketed and decided I didn't know enough about them to make a decision.
Does anyone have a preference and why?

rodmkr
 
Depends on your needs.
I bought a bunch of Hornady 52 gr. match HP on sale at a ridiculiusly low price and shoot them in my AR as practice/blasting ammo. They will hold 1/2" five shoot groups out of my Rock River 16" bull barrel all day.
The 62 and 68 gr. Sierra are accurate and do a resonablly good job on hogs, but I like the Barnes 62 gr. TTSX better.
 
I tried cast in the CZ 527 Varmint, 1:9 and gave up easily and early. It may have worked, but I wanted a 222, so that's what I got for cast and it's been easy.

My 223 is jacketed only, as is my 257 Roberts. Either will shoot same-weight Sierra HPs or Hornady V-Maxs equally well and to the same POI. I even tried to sort out which was better at one point and could not make one shoot better than the other.

I've always had a preference for any Sierra HP in any caliber, but Hornady HPs and V-Maxs seem to shoot as well for me. I've been tempted to try one of those boxes of 500 cheap 224s Midsouth sells but haven't gotten around to it because the couple hundred jacketed 22s will likely last me the rest of my life for no more than I shoot it.
 
Lots of good choices. I like the polymer tipped stuff from Hornady, Nosler, Sierra and the like.
 
Depends on what you want from the bullet. For just plinking and stuff the military surplus is fine.
If it has a 9 twist the 68-69 gr bullets are about max. Need an 8 or faster for the 75+.
The Hornady 52 HPBT can be good but can jam the lands from magazine seat depth so watch for that.
Unless shooting competition or something like that the various 55 gr bullets, soft nose or plasttic tipped, are hard to beat.

Grab any one of a dozen or more powders and load some ammo.
 
Thanks everyone.
Jeff Bartlett has the 55 grain V-Max at $70 for 500 and the 68 grain match at $160 a 1000 so will make a buy and see.
I think I will still tr the cast, maybe a 55 grainer!
rodmkr
 
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My go to bullet in .223Remington for coyote hunting is the 55gr. Sierra BTSP. Accurate, not overly damaging to fur, accurate and flat shooting. I load them to about 3150 fps out of my bolt guns. I run Hornady 60 gr HP's out of my 1-7 twist AR at 2900 fps for the same purposes.

55 gr FMJ Hornady for fun targets (cheap)

I don't think brand makes as much difference as what your individual rifles like. I stay away from the polymer tips in varmint bullets mostly because they cost more and I can't see any performance advantage over the ole style HP or SP. I think it is mostly sales hype. None that I have tried do anything that I can't do with the old style projectiles.
 
Sierra and Nosler have Ruled The Earth for me as far as j-word rifle bullets go--52 grain Matchking HPs and 55 grain Ballistic Tips have done the best work for me in 1-9" 223s. The 69 grain MKs shoot well but cost too darn much money--I don't care about hurling javelins anyway. I will have to switch out to Barnes shortly to hunt anything in my state in about 3 weeks. I have the bullets on the loading bench, but haven't done much with them yet.

My plans are to shoot up most of the jacketed-bullet ammo I have on hand, and convert it to castings for target shooting (95%) and the remaining 5% will be hunting-specific and loaded with Barnes. At times I consider getting out of this hobby entirely, due to the many pitfalls and barriers this State erects to hamstring hunters and shooters. Please don't say "Leave the State"--I can't, not anytime soon.
 
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I have recently had very good field results on ground squirrels with the 50gr flat base Nosler Varmagedon bullets in my .223
You can get a 250 pack for around $40
 
When I used Jacketed in my .223 & .243 ( in the 1980's) Sierra's were my go to! Got my .243 Win up to 4000 fps with their 60 grain HP's at the expense of the barrel throat!
 
Check with your ranges regarding FMJ.
None of the ranges around me will let you shoot them anymore due to possible ricochets.
 
I have a bunch of old Sierra 55 flat base SP that shot very well in a 22-250 .
As far as bullets go I've pretty much stayed with Sierra and Hornady for those that I actually buy .
Dad was a Sierra guy but bought a few Nosler Partitions for his 25-06 .

I'd like to be more helpful but that NOE 225-55 @ 62 gr has been really good to me in 3 223s and a 222 . I'll try it in Mom's 22-250 one of these days , it liked about anything up to 55 gr , 62s were never more than on paper at 100 . Slow twist I guess .

I did a rather long winded inquiry through several manuals at one point to find the "apex" bullet weight at both the muzzle and down range to 500 yd as optimal hunting bullets . The 223 tops out with a 55 gr Sierra SPBT in both available velocity and down range retention . For what that's worth . 62&68 gr retained more but started enough slower that they never made up the difference to pull ahead at some point inside 500 yd . Of course my pencil may have let me down or I may have fat fingered a calculator working from the Hornady and Speer BC/MV tables too . Seems like a lifetime ago ......
 
Depending upon your needs, these might serve for a general purpose 55 grain JSP bullet. This is what the Taylorstown gals are shooting for practice and match ammo.

Varmint Nightmare 22 Caliber .224 Diameter 55 Grain Boat Tail Soft Point 500 Count
Midsouth Bulk Bullets # 22455SP500 | Item # 004-22455SP500

They are presently on sale for just under $40.00 per 500 bullets and are in stock when I checked.
 
The Hornady 55 JSP have been very good for me. Their 55 FMJ seem to be the best FMJ's out there. For long range, the Sierra 69 gr are hard to beat. YMMV
 
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