SmallCaliberCentral

Touch over 400 yards with the 223 AI and 55 gr Nosler BT.

Nice shooting Acloco! So was there much of a tracking job to find it?

Nice!

Sidewinderwa - well, to tell the truth, when I was less than 100 yards to the hole, I had to pause and decide WHICH mound I THOUGHT the dog SHOULD be next too.... But, I was able to sneak up on it.

I had another drop into the hole and did not retrieve it, due to the rattlesnake roundup last year.

Two other calibers went along for the trip as well - a new to me 220 Swift in a factory Savage BV-S (heavy barrel single shot) and the 6.5x55 AI that I built. The Swift and me need a little more practice at the range, it is not quite dialed in yet.

The 6.5x55 AI is sooooo close. Stupid me only brought 10 rounds with me as I only wanted to shoot 600 yards plus with this rifle. Well, there were numerous targets from 600-800, but the range finder would only range to 650, most of the time. I missed 6 PD's by less than an inch. Such is life!

The AI and the Swift also need the drop charts built and checked for them so that I will be able to "dial-a-rat".

acloco: Excellent performance for 400 yards. I had my 223 Ackley out last week here on rats, and it again confirmed that it will always have a place in my safe. Shooting Nosler 50gr BT's (WS2 coated), it shoots the same velocity (3,680 FPS) as my .223's shoot the 40gr BT, so trajectory is about the same; nice when you have multiple rifles in the cooling rack.

I save my Swift for later in the season when the big squirrels are a bit smarter and stay out of "normal" range, and for rock chucks when I use 55gr BT's. That baby really slams Mr. Chuck big-time. Get those come-up charts done so you can "dial-a-rat"!

My .223 Ackley cooling off in the shade under my canopy, ready for the next string. Skippy hates this baby!

RIO - yep, the AI does rather well.

When comparing the 223 AI actual measured velocity to book loads for the 220 Swift, provides that the 55 gr bullets are nearly identical. So, it does not make sense to me to pour 45-46.5 gr of powder in the swift when I am receiving the same performance from the 223 AI with 15-18 grains LESS powder.

But, in the end, it is ALL fun!

Excuse me boys, you both know I respect you a lot, but somebody has to call B.S. here.
The 223AI will not equall a 220 Swift. A very safe ammount of 4064 will send a 55 grain Vmax or BT at nearly 4000fps and the 60 Vmax at almost 3900 out of a 26 inch tube. H414 and a couple of the Alliant powders might do a little better.

Hotshot wrote:Excuse me boys, you both know I respect you a lot, but somebody has to call B.S. here.
The 223AI will not equall a 220 Swift. A very safe ammount of 4064 will send a 55 grain Vmax or BT at nearly 4000fps and the 60 Vmax at almost 3900 out of a 26 inch tube. H414 and a couple of the Alliant powders might do a little better.

Agreed!! Remember...I put the disclaimer in....CLOSE.....when comparing my chronographed 223 AI loads with BOOOOOK loads of the swift. All of the book loads for the Swift, when using 55 gr bullets, is in the 3600/3700/3800 velocity.

AND......I will be chronographing the swift loads shortly, as I work up.

220 Swift per Hodgdon's website:

55 GR. HDY SP Hodgdon H4831 .224" 2.680" 41.5 3194 36,600 CUP 46.0 3616 46,600 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP Hodgdon Hybrid 100V .224" 2.680" 38.0 3358 44,700 CUP 42.0C 3627 52,600 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP Hodgdon H4350 .224" 2.680" 39.0 3225 42,000 CUP 42.0 3619 50,800 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP Hodgdon H414 .224" 2.680" 40.5 3536 47,300 CUP 44.0 3833 53,700 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP Winchester 760 .224" 2.680" 40.5 3536 47,300 CUP 44.0 3833 53,700 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP IMR IMR 4007 SSC .224" 2.680" 37.0 3286 37,900 CUP 42.0 3771 52,900 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP Hodgdon H380 .224" 2.680" 39.0 3580 45,900 CUP 42.5 3839 53,300 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP Hodgdon Varget .224" 2.680" 34.0 3516 47,000 CUP 36.0 3645 51,900 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP IMR IMR 4064 .224" 2.680" 34.0 3498 46,100 CUP 37.5 3742 52,500 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP Hodgdon BL-C(2) .224" 2.680" 34.0 3426 44,400 CUP 36.0 3682 49,900 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP IMR IMR 4895 .224" 2.680" 34.0 3546 48,500 CUP 38.0 3739 53,000 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP Hodgdon H4895 .224" 2.680" 34.0 3481 45,900 CUP 37.0 3698 52,000 CUP
55 GR. HDY SP IMR IMR 3031 .224" 2.680" 32.0 3490 47,300 CUP 35.2 3687 52,700 CUP

Sierra ballistics info (for whatever it is worth....)

RangeX Velocity Energy Bullet Path

223 AI_________________220 Swift
000x 3550u 1538u -2.4u 3800z 1763z -2.4z
050x 3350u 1370u -0.54u 3587z 1571z -0.7z
100x 3159u 1218u 0.55u 3386z 1399z 0.32z
150x 2973u 1079u 0.77u 3193z 1245z 0.59z
200x 2794u 953.u 0000u 3007z 1104z 0000
250x 2622u 839.u -1.88u 2826z 975.z -1.55z
300x 2451u 733.u -5.03u 2653z 859.z -4.19z
350x 2282u 636.u -9.62u 2482z 752.z -8.06z
400x 2121u 549.u -15.8u 2313z 653.z -13.3z
450x 1961u 469.u -24.0u 2150z 564.z -20.2z
500x 1804u 397.u -34.5u 1990z 483.z -29.0z
550x 1650u 332.u -47.7u 1832z 410.z -40.0z
600x 1507u 277.u -64.0u 1677z 343.z -53.6z
650x 1377u 231.u -84.2u 1532z 286.z -70.3z
700x 1263u 194.u -109.u 1400z 239.z -90.7z
750x 1167u 166.u -139.u 1283z 201.z -115.5z
800x 1092u 145.u -175.u 1183z 171.z -145.7z

acloco:

Do PDs resort to cannibalism? The Townsend ground squirrels around here are omnivorous, and will feed on the carcasses of the ones you have shot. Sometimes, they will drag them into the holes. I used to think that they were behaving like the medic on a battlefield. But, it is not so. They are doing it to feed on them.

Sometimes, you can sit in a spot and shoot, say 15, over the span of an hour, and then go out to try to find them. Many of them will be gone.

steve - yep. And the ground owls, occasional hawk, large owl, and rattlesnakes.