Dbk wrote: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.