35WLN Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Is there an advantage of the 77's over the 69's? The ranges I shoot are out to 400 and I currently shoot the 77's but a new lower I have is a 1 in 9 twist and I am not sure if the 77's will stabilize. What is your experience? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 all barrels are different...some like 77's, some like 69's...and some like 55 NBT's. try 'em all and find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiCapMag Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 In my 18 inch barrel, the greater velocity I get from the 69's outperforms (less windage) the slightly better bc on the 77's.... and the 69's shoot flatter also. The 77's take over at about 600 yards if I recall correctly. YMMV. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocMcG Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 +1 on the 70's having the bc advantage @ 500+ yards. Also, not mentioned is the additional kinetic energy carried by the heavier bullets at longer distances which assists with "ringing" different target types. Cheers, Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Is there an advantage of the 77's over the 69's? The ranges I shoot are out to 400 and I currently shoot the 77's but a new lower I have is a 1 in 9 twist and I am not sure if the 77's will stabilize. What is your experience? Thanks Try some Hornady 75 BTHP's in the 9 inch twist barrel. They work great in mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35WLN Posted March 12, 2010 Author Share Posted March 12, 2010 So what I am reading is there isn't much difference between the two at up to 400 yards. I ran the calcs on the energy and they are pretty close with 77's at 2700 and 69's at 2850 within 50. The 69's should shoot flatter but not by much. So I guess it comes down to what the barrel likes is the consensus. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 also consider the price difference... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UW Mitch Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Resurrecting Adam's old thread to see if there is any new thinking on this in the last 2 years. I have a prize cert from Sierra, so trying to figure out which to buy 500 of for a 18" 1in8 twist barrel on a DPMS 3G1. ~Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Anderson Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Buy 100 or so of each locally. Work up some loads and see what works best out of the gun. I've got a couple that love one bullet weight and hate the other. But I have yet to find a single bullet that's the best out of all my rifles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjb45 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 i have a 1 in 8 Sabre and has shot a boat load through a 1 in 8 JP. I standardized on 69 gr SMK running between 2850 and 2900 fps using VV 133 powder and LC brass. The Sabre is 1/2 MOA and the JP is 1/3 MOA in a no wind concrete 100yd tube. I run this load through a Valada 1.5-8x scope. I am pretty close on the reticle. I sent the scope back for some minor issues but when it returns I will be developing the actual drops. I am pretty happy with the SMK 69s. I live in the southwest, not known for no wind especially with the afternoon thermals in summer time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KalaniLaker Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Mitch, When I buy in bulk, I prefer the Sierra 69 SMK. It is the only bullet I have been able to get MOA or better results with across of a huge variety of barrels. Every barrel I own prefers a different load, but I can always rely on the Sierra 69 SMK to get decent performance. Kalani Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gose Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Mitch, When I buy in bulk, I prefer the Sierra 69 SMK. It is the only bullet I have been able to get MOA or better results with across of a huge variety of barrels. Every barrel I own prefers a different load, but I can always rely on the Sierra 69 SMK to get decent performance. Kalani Same here. The 69gr SMKs seem to be the most consistent in my various barrels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 69 smk for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskapopo Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 77 grain loads (Sierra, Lapua, and Nosler) have all shot better for me in my guns than 69 Sierra or Hornaday bullets. However the 68 and 69 grainers do shoot well. pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff F Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I have been shooting 69's with great results, I just picked up some Nosler 77's to try with RL-15 and AR-Comp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskapopo Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I have been shooting 69's with great results, I just picked up some Nosler 77's to try with RL-15 and AR-Comp With the 77's also try Varget, N135 and H335. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9X23Guy Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) Those powder recommendations are spot on. Pat has spent alot of time with load development and has good data to back it up. The price difference is something to think about between 69s and 77s. For me 69s will do everything I want to do and at a better price. Both stay supersonic at the ranges you'll shoot them at. Both buck wind and deliver good energy downrange. 69s are a little flatter while a 77 will make a flasher target work a little better. Plus that TOTALLY depends on what YOUR barrel likes. Saying one is better than the other is too broad of a statement. Edited May 20, 2012 by 9X23Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyreb Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 (edited) I am running an 18" White Oak 1:7 barrel. So far after extensive testing with both 69 and 77 SMKs, the 69s shoot tighter groups and are more consistent across the board. 300 yards is the max I can shoot at my range. I am running 22 grains of H335 as my current match load. I am seeing 2580 FPS average velocity with the 69 SMK. I intend to kick this up some more on my next batch as my best load has been 25 grains of RL15 @ 2824 FPS avarage. However, I do not get consistent powder drops on my 550 with RL15. Edited May 21, 2012 by Kyreb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I won't try and compare this with people that have been shooting .223 for quite some time, I'll just put this out there and you can take it for what it's worth. I took my DPMS 18" 5.56 rifle (1:8 twist) to a long range course and was doing fairly well shooting out to 600yds with 69gr SMK's over AA2230 at about 2900fps. Pretty consistent load and the gun shoots better than I do, so I never reached the limit of what it could do. I know that faster twists and 77gr and up bullets are technically better. But until you reach the point where your load is the limiting factor, I think you will find that 69gr bullets do a pretty darn good job. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huck Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Hornady 68's are better than SMK 69's me thinks. I am currently using the Hornady 75's for more ding at distance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UW Mitch Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 When you guys are loading ammo that is for accuracy, are you also loading it on your Dillon 650's or single stage loading (or at least measuring each charge?). My 55gr MG loads with 24.0gr of H335 at 2.260" COL are terrible (3" groups). I don't know if it's my load or my process or my gun or my shooting. For comparison, same gun at the same sitting shoots 52gr BlackHills Match in the blue box at about 2", and with my bolt gun (Kimber 8400 in 308) with my single staged reloads I'm easily around .5". I would hope that with my own 55gr reloads I'd be as good as Black Hills ammo... ~Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 My dillon 550 223 loads are sub moa out to 300 yds. Good enuf for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskapopo Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 When you guys are loading ammo that is for accuracy, are you also loading it on your Dillon 650's or single stage loading (or at least measuring each charge?). My 55gr MG loads with 24.0gr of H335 at 2.260" COL are terrible (3" groups). I don't know if it's my load or my process or my gun or my shooting. For comparison, same gun at the same sitting shoots 52gr BlackHills Match in the blue box at about 2", and with my bolt gun (Kimber 8400 in 308) with my single staged reloads I'm easily around .5". I would hope that with my own 55gr reloads I'd be as good as Black Hills ammo... ~Mitch My dillon. My Dillon has got me groups like this with my precision rifle. Good enough for me as well. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langenator Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 For those of use who don't reload...anyone have any comparison between various factory 69s vs 75/77s? I'm looking hard at the Prvi Partizan 69 and 75 grain match loads, if I can ever actually find some available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushmeat Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 In response to the OP, never got the 77s to shoot tighter than the 69s in any of my rifles. Am told the 77s buck wind better but have been able to shoot 69s out to 700 yards. A buddy got hits on a Larue out to 900 with his 69SMK load. As for the non-reloaders, try BVAC's 69BTHP Match load or Black Hills. Tried Prvi but it was disappointing- >MOA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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