[johnrhino123]

looking for successful recipies for .223. shooting kel-tec plr-16. mostly want to drive tacks!!
thx

[jjfuller1]

25.1gr of h335 with Winchester 55gr fmj. Cci primer . Does good for me

[JonM]

depends on the twist rate of your barrel. my RRA has a 20inch barrel with a 1:8 twist and it LOVES sierra 69grn hpbt matchkings over 24 grains of varget

[steve4102]

Originally Posted by johnrhino123

looking for successful recipies for .223. shooting kel-tec plr-16. mostly want to drive tacks!!
thx

If you want to "drive tacks" then you have to pay for it. That means quality bullets like Sierra, Nosler etc. Cheap bullets are cheap for a reason and will not drive tacks. I believe your Kel-Tec is a 1-in-9 twist, so it should stabilize most bullets from 50 to 69 grains. For "driving tacks" I would suggest Sierra 53gr Match and 748, CFE223, Tac, X-t/2230 or just about any other powder that works for the 223. What I'm saying is the first thing you need to load tack driving ammo is a tack driving bullet, cheap FMJ's ain't it.

[ryguy00]

if you really want to drive tacks, forget the sierras, noslers, and hornadys. Check out what the benchrest guys are shooting. 1/10th of an inch 5shot groups at 100 yds sound more like what you're looking for? You need to be looking for barts and berger bullets. I'm warning you. Bullets are NOT enough. Properly sized to your chamber LAPUA brass, cci benchrest primers, and some vihtavourhi (spelling?) powder are gonna be what you need. Ohh, and a $5-6k rifle not counting scope will have you there. Pillar bedded and blueprinted stolle or bat action set in a mcmillan stock and piped through a shilen or kreiger barrel and topped with a fixed 36x leupold is what you're gonna be looking for. Don't forget the 2oz jewel trigger too. And you're gonna need a good rest and some sandbags too.

It all depends on what "tack driving" means to you. Sub inch at 100yds? Half inch? Quarter? Tenth? Each has different requirements from gun, ammo, optic, and shooter in order to achieve that level of accuracy.

I'm confident that quarter inch groups and larger can be accomplished with a semi auto if the shooter is willing to put the time and money into it. 1/10th inch is bolt action territory.

[AgentTikki]

And every barrels gonna be different, so you'll have to experiment till you find one that your gun likes.

[Txhillbilly]

I'm sorry,but your Kel-tec PLR-16 pistol will never be a tack driver.You can build some good tailored loads for them,but the short pistol barrel length really affects their accuracy at ranges over 50 yards.
I've had one for several years,and have handloaded many different bullets/powders/primer combinations.If you find a load that shoot's anywhere close to 1moa you have a winner.Most will be around 1.5-2moa with these guns.
They are very fun to shoot,but they are not a "Tack Driver" by any means.

[steve4102]

short pistol barrel length really affects their accuracy at ranges over 50 yards.

Barrel length affects a lot of things, things like velocity, muzzle lift, sight picture, etc., but accuracy is not usually one of them. A quality barrel is a quality barrel short or long and a POS barrel is a POS short or long.

Here is a little test on barrel length, Velocity and Accuracy in 223. As you can see even the shortest barrel was still very accurate. Note even cut to 10 Inches the rifle was still shooting .6 MOA.

http://www.accuratereloading.com/223sb.html

[JonM]

Originally Posted by steve4102

Barrel length affects a lot of things, things like velocity, muzzle lift, sight picture, etc., but accuracy is not usually one of them. A quality barrel is a quality barrel short or long and a POS barrel is a POS short or long.

Here is a little test on barrel length, Velocity and Accuracy in 223. As you can see even the shortest barrel was still very accurate. Note even cut to 10 Inches the rifle was still shooting .6 MOA.

http://www.accuratereloading.com/223sb.html

as velocity decreases so does spin on the bullet. this means that the accuracy envelope greatly decreases as the barrel length decreases. when a bullet drops below the speed of sound it transitions the sound barrier and has a very big destabilaztion effect meaning a huge loss in accuracy when that happens. the heavier the bullet the less effect this transition has.

so yes shorter barrels decrease accuracy but not within that barrel length's envelope

[steve4102]

so yes shorter barrels decrease accuracy but not within that barrel length's envelope

What is a barrel length envelope?