View Full Version : .223 Hornady A-tip 90 gr., anybody?
So, I was grabbing a jug of H322 for good time's sake, some 220 ELD's and stumbled upon these A-tips. Since we just shot 87gr Barnes, what the hell bells. Maybe they work out, maybe not.
Cost prohibitive but one box for shits and giggles keeps life interesting. Cost near what the 220's cost, WTF.
PB
Now I'm curious. I look forward to hearing how these do. Will you use them in a tight twist bbl? 1x7?
So, I was grabbing a jug of H322 for good time's sake, some 220 ELD's and stumbled upon these A-tips. Since we just shot 87gr Barnes, what the hell bells. Maybe they work out, maybe not.
Cost prohibitive but one box for shits and giggles keeps life interesting. Cost near what the 220's cost, WTF.
PB
You running those through an AR?
We will have assembled the most expensive 5.56 ammo possible. :sarcastic:
That's all that matters. Seriously though... I'll have to see that they seat mag length correctly. 80 gr SMKs, don't work like that. If they'll seat mag length, we'll shoot some AR with them.
Our other buddy suggested maybe these were made with that Valkyrie round in mind, but we’ll see.
I hope we can get them in my SR15, otherwise we might have to single feed in my bolt.
PB
what is the recommended twist on those? at AR velocities i wouldn't be surprised if you needed 1-6.5
IMO, that barrel twist story is just part of the story. My reason for saying is my 1/9 bolt gun shoots the 80 gr SMK and those 87 grain Berger’s lights out. But then again they might key hole like a mofo.
Once I got the DOPE on those Berger’s, I went 4/5 at 1000 yards rapid firing. I missed the last one trying to double tap. I digress.
I don’t have anything other than 1/7 twist. Wish I did though.
PB
what is the recommended twist on those? at AR velocities i wouldn't be surprised if you needed 1-6.5
Box says 7 twist. I might line them up next to a regular 77 and an 87gr Barnes just for length comparison.
Interesting. I wonder if hornady subscribes to litz theory about losing Bc when it’s not spun fast enough
Interesting. I wonder if Hornady subscribes to litz theory about losing Bc when it’s not spun fast enough
taliv, can you break that theory down, never heard of it.
Much appreciated.
PB
For the 90 second version read this article
https://bergerbullets.com/berger-bullets-twist-rate-recommendations-by-eric-stecker-bryan-litz/
Basically he contends that just because you twist fast enough to make round holes doesn’t mean you’re achieving max BC.
Benchrest conventional wisdom was often that you wanted to spin the bullet just fast enough to poke a round hole and no more because accuracy. But litz is saying ok you may be accurate but your bc is less than it could be by spinning it faster. So they built a calculator and put it on Berger’s website some years ago.
As an aside that’s when I started ordering gain twists from bartlein starting at the minimum twist and speeding up to litz optimal twist.
No good reason. It just sounded cool. I stopped doing that when impact started the pre-fit craze
Basically he contends that just because you twist fast enough to make round holes doesn’t mean you’re achieving max BC.
That's pretty interesting. But I'm the reloader who NEVER knows the B.C. of any bullet because I literally do not care.
I mean... A nice B.C. is fine, but I'm more interested in the quality and consistency of the bullet. These 90s are probably the best made bullets we'll ever shoot in .223/5.56, but are ridiculously expensive for regular consumption.
I am curious to see the length of both these bullets and the 87 gr Barnes side by side. The 87 looked like a 77 in our buddy's pic.
Due to 116 degree temps this weekend, we won't be shooting any test loads.
i think we're saying basically the same thing. consistency is king. the problem isn't just "max bc" but rather the correct bc. that is, most people enter the bc and velocity in their calculator and then scratch their head when their dope doesn't line up at distance, and wonder if their chrono isn't calibrated or the mfg lied about the bc or maybe their scope isn't tracking. litz is saying maybe you're not spinning the bullet fast enough to achieve the published bc.
Ahhh.. I gotcha.
That would explain the guys who claim the B.C. isn't exactly right on the box/from the manufacturor.
The spin thing IS pretty interesting. I'd never given that thought in the B.C. context.
Yep
So what struck me as odd was that if I remember correctly when Sierra came out with their 90g that were popular in high power where you were required to single feed them anyway, I thought their box said 1-6.5 twist.
63085
It just made me wonder if Sierra and Berger are more aggressive than Hornady in their twist recommendations.
Yeesh. These are LONG bullets. From L to R 90, 80, and 77 gr.
https://i.imgur.com/WzycxFM.jpg
No chance of a safe round in mag length. There'd barely be any neck tension at the base of the neck. The shiny reflection on the bullet is the bearing surface and where the neck needs to hold onto it.
https://i.imgur.com/Y5l5gkB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NS8Qa9R.jpg
Well these things tanked. :sad:
Did not stabilize at all out of the 20" bolt gun. And the SOCOM barrel (7 twist) shot them poorly. 2650 FPS out of the bolt gun, but they yawed and hit all over the paper at 100.
bummer. they sure looked pretty in the stripper clip
no experience with those in 22cal yet, but 90s have historically been pretty jump sensitive. maybe try playing with seating depth on your socom barrel.
Makes me sad. I did wonder about the bolt gun twist.
We did however come up with an 80 grain load that shot great. It was kind of a control group against the 90s. 8 rounds using TAC and Fed AR Match primers.
We might try the 90s in Pappabears Colt 20" AR. It's the longest, fast twist barrel we have.
Bummer to hear they didn't perform well. I'll bet they were made with the .224V in mind, as Sierra has the 90 gr match kings. That being said, the Hornady 88gr ELDMs are incredible bullets, so i wonder what else they were looking to gain with these. The BC is slightly higher, but not by much...
Yesterday we go these to shoot out of a KAC SR-15. I only had a few on a stripper clip, but they made round holes and started to group a little.
And they shot MOA which kinda surprised me. We were going to shoot out of my 20 Colt National Match ( if that’s what it’s called). But I forgot it and it’s a carry handle gun anywho.
PB
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