168's with TAC look promising....

[Jason280]

I loaded up a round robin with TAC behind 168gr Hornady BTHP's, and the results so far look very promising. I tried 9 different loads, and 6 or 7 of the groups were under 1". Two were closer to 1.5", while 4 of them were sub .75" for the three shots. Best thing is, the max loadings were some of the ones that shot the best, with my velocity around 2700fps out of a 24" 5R Remington.

Now, I'll just load up around 10 or so of the better loads, and see how they do.

 

[Guest]

Re: 168's with TAC look promising....

If you are in a 308, you might find Varget to be the gold standard powder for 168s.

 

[Ishallbie O'Cullkillin]

Re: 168's with TAC look promising....

I used to test loads using three shot groups for years, because I am a tight ass, but found I saved in the long run because I could isolate the truly accurate loads, as opposed to the flukes & random exhibitions of .25moa groups that never materialized after testing and after I had loaded in quantity. FAL, Rem700, AR10, I could never get the Tac to Shoot as well as Varget, RL15, or H4895. I want it to though, cuz I bought a little pile of it because it was cheap....

 

[kirkhamg]

Re: 168's with TAC look promising....

I have heard of folks having success with TAC, just never experienced it myself. Tried a number of loads in different cartridges.

 

[wfjames22]

Re: 168's with TAC look promising....

Out of all the loads I've tried with TAC, only one 223 load in one particular AR has been impressive. It would be nice if I could get it to work, since it is cheap and relatively easier to find. I can't get away from Varget and Benchmark. It seems like they work in every instance that I try them, with amazing accuracy. If they were only as cheap and plentiful as TAC!

 

[Jerry m]

Re: 168's with TAC look promising....

What primers are you using with TAC. Also Varget has been hard to find until recently.

 

[SooStan]

Re: 168's with TAC look promising....

Bought tac for the 223 but was disapointed. Put it on the shelf for a while and forgot about it. Needed some plinking ammo for the CETME and figured tac would work well thru the dillon. Shot great in the cetme and shot some thru my friends bolt gun. Sub moa at 100 in the bolt gun. He will stay with varget for the bolt gun but when varget is not available or if you need a ball powder for better metering for bulk ammo it is great.

 

[Jason280]

Re: 168's with TAC look promising....

I've actually been working on loads in both my .223 AR and my .308 5R using TAC, with 77gr and 168gr bullets respectively. So far, I haven't had much trouble getting to 1" in the 5R, but not much better. However, I have to admit, I have not played with seating depth or tried match cases. Right now I am running CCI BR primers in Win cases, with 168gr Hornady BTHP bullets. 44.2gr and 44.6gr have shown promise, and seem to be good MOA loads (just not any better).

Now, my AR is a different story. Its a flat top with a 20" Lothar Walther 1/8 twist heavy barrel, and I am loading 77gr SMK's in WCC cases with CCI #41 primers, and the results have been less than spectacular. I am having a hard time getting to an inch with just about anything I've tried in the gun (including handloads and factory stuff). 24.0gr looked promising on the round robin, so I loaded up around 30 or so with and without crimp (no real change in group size). 1.5" seems to be the norm, but I really want to get this rifle into the sub-MOA range. I thought maybe it was just the load, except I shot two 1/2" and a 3/4" group with the same load out of my Savage 10FP.

Oh well, I guess I need to tweak a little bit...

 

[gnfiter3]

Re: 168's with TAC look promising....

SooStan, I know you guys love the 77's, in .223, but if you put 27.0 of TAC under a 52 Berger Moly's, do your part, you'll need a good spoting scope to find the number of rounds in the hole at 100. DPMS 24" Bull.