Sierra 80gr matchking 223 t3x tikka ctr

[Dbk]

Hi all

Beginner here.

T3x ctr with 20in barrel and 1 in 8 twist 223 rem.

Thinking of reloading 80gr sierra matchking. Realise it is a longer bullet and won't fit in factory mag and will be single loaded.

Has anyone had any success with this combination in a factory t3x ctr. Anyone with some approximate measurements of COAL that worked well

[Lazarus]

G'day Dbk

As one of their test shooters, I'm a little biased, but Rexem Projectiles have managed to fit a 77gn 224 pill into the same jacket as their 69gn.

They're an excellent dual purpose target/hunting round, they arrive like a runaway moon and do immense damage.

Below is a wound track from one of the tests I did late last year

rsz_20231219_114248.jpg (400.58 KiB) Viewed 936 times

rsz_20231219_114042.jpg (393.73 KiB) Viewed 936 times

20231128_170024.jpg (629.58 KiB) Viewed 936 times

As to the Blitzkings, I haven't tried them but haven't heard anyone complaining

[bladeracer]

Hi all

Beginner here.

T3x ctr with 20in barrel and 1 in 8 twist 223 rem.

Thinking of reloading 80gr sierra matchking. Realise it is a longer bullet and won't fit in factory mag and will be single loaded.

Has anyone had any success with this combination in a factory t3x ctr. Anyone with some approximate measurements of COAL that worked well

You'll have to measure your own throat to determine what COAL to load them to.

[Wyliecoyote]

The CTR magazine is considerably longer than factory standard and you should have no issue loading the 80 SMKs in the 223 case and feeding them through that rifle. I run the ELDX which is 60 thou longer than the SMK and have zero issue with length in the magazine to spare. Standard 223 magazine length is 2.240", length on a CTR magazine is 2.560". Just fill the case up with 24 grains of 2206H, load to 2.520" OAL and if it don't shoot sub half MOA, burn it. Just about every FClass shooter in the country that runs a 223 uses that bullet and load.

[Over The Hill]

Just fill the case up with 24 grains of 2206H, load to 2.520" OAL and if it don't shoot sub half MOA, burn it. Just about every FClass shooter in the country that runs a 223 uses that bullet and load.

Which projectile exactly are you referring to

[bladeracer]

Just fill the case up with 24 grains of 2206H, load to 2.520" OAL and if it don't shoot sub half MOA, burn it. Just about every FClass shooter in the country that runs a 223 uses that bullet and load.

Which projectile exactly are you referring to

80gn SMK.

[Over The Hill]

Just fill the case up with 24 grains of 2206H, load to 2.520" OAL and if it don't shoot sub half MOA, burn it. Just about every FClass shooter in the country that runs a 223 uses that bullet and load.

Which projectile exactly are you referring to

80gn SMK.

Cheers for the clarification
I dont have 80's but do have several boxes of 75 Sierra MK and 75 Hornady ELD Match. Tried previously with 2208 but wasnt outstanding and tbh factory MK was better. Might have to try some 2206H then. Also interesting the COAL quoted. Might have to try leaving them further out but another 1/4" is a long way out

[Wyliecoyote]

Fat fingers at play, 2.240 standard mag length should be 2.340" like Howa or Tikka plastic mags. As Blade said check your lands position but my experince with 8 twist Tikka/Sako barrels is they are throated long. 2208 can work in some rifles with the 80 grain bullets but you will run into compressed charge issues earlier.
Below is my own CTR setup for hunting loads, set off the lands at 2.500" and the 80 grain ELDX. As said above they are longer than the 80 MK.

[SCJ429]

I have shot a few thousand of them from a Tikka T3 Supervarmint. Shot a sub three inch group at a 500 metre group at the Flyshoot. Early on I used a COAL of 2.490 and single fed them into the chamber. As the barrel wore I chased the lands.

[Jorlcrin]

Hi all

Beginner here.

T3x ctr with 20in barrel and 1 in 8 twist 223 rem.

Thinking of reloading 80gr sierra matchking. Realise it is a longer bullet and won't fit in factory mag and will be single loaded.

Has anyone had any success with this combination in a factory t3x ctr. Anyone with some approximate measurements of COAL that worked well

??

Not really sure why you'd need to load singles??
I have a T3x CTR .223 with 20" barrel in Stainless, so pretty much the same rifle.
And something of a bugger to load singles, from what I've found.

On my CTR, it isnt the mag that limits my my max. COAL; it's the distance to the Lands (as others have pointed out).

COAL on the factory mag is 2.559" or therabouts.[Likely 2.6" in reality]
COAL on the Waters Rifleman mags (I bought 2 extra) is 2.4"

Using a comparator (measuring to the ogive), For a Hornady 75gn BTHP Match projectile, I get a max cartridge length of 1.881".
I also measured the max COAL at the same time; an average max Cart length[COAL] of 2.2934".
Still around 0.3" shorter than the COAL for the factory mag(and 0.1" shorter than the Waters mags can handle).

I get that the 80Gn Sierra MatchKings are going to be a slightly different profile/shape, but I'm betting you should be able to come up with a COAL that sits them just off the Lands, but still short enough to fit in the factory mag.

I can only strongly suggest you get some calipers, and a OAL Gauge with a .223 modified case to suit (I use a Hornady Lock n Load straight OAL gauge), and take an average of multiple of measurements, to get an idea on the Max length for your rifle.
Until you take those measurements for your rifle, you'll never be certain you have it dialled in right.


I'm also a big fan of the REXEM projectiles, despite having used quite a lot of the Hornady BTHP Match pills and many flavours of the lighter Sierra pills in 55gn.
I just started loading REXEM 69gn Pills for the Howa(1:9" tw), and 75gn pills for the CTR(1:8" tw); both their F-Bomb VLD line.
So far, they have performed well, and I'll be buying more when I'm looking for more projectiles.
Most of our shooting is on pigs etc, so more hunting than target work.
Even the 69gn pills hit a lot harder on hot pork, than we were getting from 55gn GameKings.
I've also seena lot of people use them for punching paper, and had great results.

I havent tried going up to the 80gn pills; I was worried they might be too heavy for the CTR twist-rate.
I'd be interested to see how they perform for you.

[Dbk]

Thanks guys. Very helpful.

Going to try it this weekend

I have 2206h and 2208. Which one seems to have worked better for you fellas.

I'm leaning towards 2206h. For no good reason except I got 2kg of that and 1kg of the other.

[SCJ429]

You will find that 2208 is your friend.

[Jorlcrin]

Thanks guys. Very helpful.

Going to try it this weekend

I have 2206h and 2208. Which one seems to have worked better for you fellas.

I'm leaning towards 2206h. For no good reason except I got 2kg of that and 1kg of the other.

I forgot to mention that all of my heavy .223 loadings have been using 2208.
I do use Benchmark2 for 55gn loads in the .223, but when I started out loading heavier pills, the advice was to move to AR2208, and I'm really happy with it.

But I think either will get you punching holes in paper as a start.
Maybe do some group testing with both?

[Dbk]

So.

I tried 2206h and 2208 with varying powder charges from about midway to max charge varying by 0.4 to 0.5 gt steps

Seated the proj just off the rifling as measured with the oal Hornady gauge. Perhaps around 5 thou-ish

Best result with 2x consecutive 5 shot groups which were sub 1 inch groups at 100m was 2208 with a charge of 24.6gr powder.

No issue with ctr mag fit. Very happy with the outcome.

[Jorlcrin]

Interesting to hear how you got on.

I'm sitting on 24.0gns AR2208 for the Hornady and (Rexem) 75gn BTHP pills for my CTR, and 24.5gns AR2208 for the 69gn pills in both my managers Howa and my CTR.
But I havent tried to seat them out nearer the Lands, and nor have I tried tweaking the loads to get the best from them.

But you've given me some thought to consider doing both for the CTR.

Food for thought, now that my LabRadar is (mostly) operational again..

Many thanks for the feedback/info.

[Dbk]

the length measured with the 22 cal hornady bullet comparator on was 1.900 inch for my CTR.

measured the max length with the hornady OAL gauge.

made a dummy round to see if it would chamber and extract before making a whole bunch of them.