RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

I used blackhills 52 grain match hollow points in my NEF when I had the poor results. But I use the same ones in my savage and they shoot awesome.

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

.223 can be a picky rifle. Mostly depends on the rifling of the barrel. Post the rate of twist in your barrels and I can recommend what will most likely shoot best in the rifle. Couldn't find a quote on the rate of twist in the NEF rifles? Did find that NEF and H&R are owned by Marlin now, both rifles are produced in the same plant.

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

heres what my savage does at 200 yards with those blackhills 52 grain match hollow points.

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

Nef twist rate for .223 is 1 in 14.

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

youch thats loose rifling no wonder my accuracy sucked with a 52 grain bullet in my NEF handi rifle I should have been using a bullet 45 grains or lighter. My savage has a 1 in 9 twist does awesome with bullets from 50 grains up to 64 grains and someday if I ever decided to shoot even heavier that 1 in 9 should be adequate up to a 75 grain bullet

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

HighDesertWolf is correct, with a 1:14 twist you need to stay at 45gr. or lighter, the advantage with the loose twist is that you can pump up the muz. vel. as much as you dare using the light rounds. This twist will not stabilize the typical 55 or 62 gr. bullets no matter the speed.

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

OK.

I called the H&R customer service today and asked what the twist rate was for the .223 Rifles they put out. It is in FACT 1:12 twist. I also asked for them to send me an owners manual, as I cannot find mine because of the move, I know I have it somewhere, but I just don't know exactly where. If I recall, though, in my original owners manual, it stated that the 1:12 is designed for bullets at 55 grains and lighter.

I must also say that I was pleased with the person at customer service. I asked her if it would be possible for them to send a copy of the manual, which she took my address promptly, and then when I asked what the rifling twist was, she knew the answer without hesitation. I am glad that companies do have representatives that know about the products they market.

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

A 1:12 is a slightly different story than the origional proposed 1:14 rate. The 1:12 will fire 55 gr. bullets OK, but not excellent, especially the longer match type bullets. It is still a little loose to stabilize the longer, heavier bullets. The military M-16's are designed to shoot the NATO 62 gr. projectile, those rifles have either a 1:7 or a 1:9 twist, on the other hand they impose too much spin on lighter, higher speed bullets resulting in very poor accuracy and can possibly cause the bullet to fly apart in the air due to the extreme spin. The best I can tell you is to try out the 55 gr. but make a fair compairson with the lighter faster bullets.

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

well even with a 1 in 12 twist I beleive you should stick with 50 grain and lighter, 55 grainers will still be a little unstable and wont show as good as accuracy as say a 50 grain bullet asfar as the 52 grain MHP I was shooting didnt do very good in the nef handi rifle So I will firmly say stick with 50 grain bullets and lighter. Its not so much the weight of the bullet that matters what twist you have its the length of the bullet or how much of the bullet rides on the rifiling. thats what really matters.

RE: Buying an NEF 223...which one?
 

You're right. I double checked my source on the 1 in 14 twist that I quoted, and ... it was a different rifle.[:o] SORRY GUYS!!!! I'll try to be more careful in the future.