Hornady 55gr FMJBT just not grouping

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Anyone with a 1:7 twist have any luck with these little buggers? 55gr Vmax work great with sub moa groups but the FMJBT are closer to 6 moa.

i have heavier bullets which work great too but grabbed 500 of the 55gr FMJBT hoping to just make some plinking rounds but not working out.

i know it might be too fast of a twist but there are plenty of 55gr factory ammo that work good. Much less surface area engaging the rifling on these than the comparables I've use which is the only thing that's significantly different.

anyone having luck what recipe are you using?
 
22.4 gr h335, Hornady # 2267b iirc. 16" green mtn barrel 1:7.

Iirc, this is the Hodgdon data, Hornady had a higher max. Do your own due diligence, start low and work up, etc.
 
I found the Hornady 55 grain fmjbt to be the most accurate bulk bullet in my Colt H-bar. I was loading it in front of W748. It shot more accurately with a standard primer than with a magnum primer
 
22.4 gr h335, Hornady # 2267b iirc. 16" green mtn barrel 1:7.

Iirc, this is the Hodgdon data, Hornady had a higher max. Do your own due diligence, start low and work up, etc.

Is 22.4 max?? I still need to test my 55 gr reloads that I made back in December or January. I think I started at like 24.5 and worked up to 25.2 gr? Don't quote me on that. I'll report back later.
 
Is 22.4 max?? I still need to test my 55 gr reloads that I made back in December or January. I think I started at like 24.5 and worked up to 25.2 gr? Don't quote me on that. I'll report back later.

No not max. Middle of the ladder iirc. Like I said, I believe the Hodgdon data was lower than the Hornady though. Im second guessing myself now though. I know one was lower than the other.
 
That is an awful fast twist rate for a 55gr bullet, They are spinning over 330000 RPM, and bulk bullets do not have the tight tolerances that target bullets have. So any imperfection is really going to be exacerbated at that high RPM and they also tend to Yaw in those conditions.

Dean
 
I do pretty well with the Hornady 55 gr FMJBT in front of 22.5 gr TAC. 3100 FPS. 1 in 7 twist 20" SDM bbl.
 
That is an awful fast twist rate for a 55gr bullet, They are spinning over 330000 RPM, and bulk bullets do not have the tight tolerances that target bullets have. So any imperfection is really going to be exacerbated at that high RPM and they also tend to Yaw in those conditions.

Dean

It is but tons of folks shoot 55s out of 1/7s all the time just fine... there is probably some tweaking to be done. I think EddieCoyle has lots of experience with those bulkets so maybe he'll chime in.
 
twist_rate.jpg


images
 
I get 1.25 MOA out of that bullet with 23.1gr of H335.

2750 FPS from a 16" 1:7.

I don't know what you have going on, but that bullet is capable of acceptable accuracy for a bulk bullet.
 
1:7 is fine with the 55 grainers. I do 25.0 of H335.

The hornady book is insanely conservative for this particular bullet/powder combination.

That may be where I got that data. I looked up loads in the Hornady book and on Hodgdons website and one set was quite a bit lower than the other. I loaded up a bunch from the lower set of data and havent gotten around to doing the higher set yet.
 
You won't find a better 55 grain FMJ...look at the 100-count bags of whatever it is they have at Cabelas (Win or Rem), they're not nearly as consistent, especially where the lead core ends at the base of the jacket...ugly!

I have good results with them in 1:8 and 1:9, for what that's worth. Benchmark, Varget, 10X, and WC844 - depending on what I can find, lol.
 
My experience with 55 gr in a 1:7 twist is fair at best. I just started loading heavier projectiles and had no problems. Will be interesting to see if you did find something workable.
 
"The hornady book is insanely conservative for this particular bullet/powder combination."

That applies for all loads from that book.

Dean
 
25.0 gr H335 run beautifully through my 14.5" 1:9, 18" 1:8, and 16" 1:7. I haven't had a reason to tailor the recipe to each barrel. They all group well. The 18" is a tac driver and the other two open to a couple moa at most. If you're getting a 6 moa spread I'd focus on case prep, crimp and o.a.l.
 
Here's a group I shot last week from a brand new build with a 16" 1:7 barrel:

IMG_1972.JPG


Hornady 55gr FMJ-BT w/cannelure, 25.0 gr A2230, Wolf SRM primers, 2.220" COAL.

Note: That flyer was all me. I pushed it.
 
You won't find a better 55 grain FMJ...look at the 100-count bags of whatever it is they have at Cabelas (Win or Rem), they're not nearly as consistent, especially where the lead core ends at the base of the jacket...ugly!

It shows on paper, too.

The Xtreme 55gr FMJs are decent, but overall I think the Hornady's work a little better.

They're my go-to bulk bullet.
 
Here's a group I shot last week from a brand new build with a 16" 1:7 barrel:

IMG_1972.JPG


Hornady 55gr FMJ-BT w/cannelure, 25.0 gr A2230, Wolf SRM primers, 2.220" COAL.

Note: That flyer was all me. I pushed it.

I sort of stumbled across something similar to this. I have some Accurate 2230-s from the 90's. It's pushing below 1/2" MOA for 5 rounds. 24.0 gr of 2230-s, 55 FMJ loaded to mag length in a bull barrel with a 1-8 twist.
 
I too was having issues, Eddie Gave me some ideas, I was using varmint with no luck, I need to dial in but got luck with ramshot Tac, 1.75, hoping to get tighter, I may go back and push it up on varmint, maybe not hot enough.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 
I too was having issues, Eddie Gave me some ideas, I was using varmint with no luck, I need to dial in but got luck with ramshot Tac, 1.75, hoping to get tighter, I may go back and push it up on varmint, maybe not hot enough.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
with my bar bones RRA a2 1/9 nato chamber the hornady 55fmj with WC844 work very well on the lower side of load data but not so much in my 1/8 and 1/7 mtch barrels.
My 20" 1/7 with the closer to max loads of TAC, Varmint, WC844 get down to that sub 1.25" area. I have not spent much time on loads as its mostly plinking ammo I load with 55s. TAC has pushed that 1" mark but I don't know whats going on its not consistent I will get a group or two close to moa then groups will be 1.5+???
 
with my bar bones RRA a2 1/9 nato chamber the hornady 55fmj with WC844 work very well on the lower side of load data but not so much in my 1/8 and 1/7 mtch barrels.
My 20" 1/7 with the closer to max loads of TAC, Varmint, WC844 get down to that sub 1.25" area. I have not spent much time on loads as its mostly plinking ammo I load with 55s. TAC has pushed that 1" mark but I don't know whats going on its not consistent I will get a group or two close to moa then groups will be 1.5+???


Agreed on the TAC for 55 gr: My loads from 25 gr & up were all capable of MOA.

This isn't really trying to group, I was pretty much just making sure they went through the chrono and impacted the target at 100y:
cdb40f0a098cc28cf869673f131aec3c.jpg
 
This reminds me that I need to continue testing to find the right charge of H335 with the Hornady 55s in my 1/8 midstate upper. Though I'm only shooting 120 yards not 600...
 
I've had great results with those using 23gr IMR 4895 and CCI magnum primers.
The boy with his good eyes gets groups constantly like the ones EC posted.
 
I had trouble with 55gr IMI bullets in my 1/8 barrel; 1.5 in for five rounds at 100 yds. A switch to Sierra 69 gr HPBT bullets yielded a .343 in group. The same load is good for a 2.25 in five shot group at 300 yds.
 
I had trouble with 55gr IMI bullets in my 1/8 barrel; 1.5 in for five rounds at 100 yds. A switch to Sierra 69 gr HPBT bullets yielded a .343 in group. The same load is good for a 2.25 in five shot group at 300 yds.
I think IMI and those "milspec" bullets are not very good. I feel the hornady 55fmj is like a Sierra vs those IMI and MilSpec stuff. I have a good amount of the PPU 55s also which do not do as well as the Hornady.
 
27gr of 4320 and I can get 3/4" groups from my 1:7 at 100yds.

If I don't send them down range about to explode, they don't group better than 1.5".
 
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