Buffalo Bore 223 Rem 77gr BTHP – Splendid Long Range Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 223 Rem 77gr BTHP is the load to reach for when the distance is long and the wind is blowing. A 77 grain boat tail hollow point at 2800 fps carries about 1340 ft-lbs, the highest muzzle energy in their 223 Sniper line, and the heavy bullet holds that energy and resists drift far better than the lighter weights.

• Buffalo Bore 223 Rem 77gr BTHP Overview
• Heavy 223 Sniper Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 77 Grain Boat Tail Hollow Point Bullet Beats The Wind
• Specifications
• Rifles That Take This 1 In 8 Twist Match Load

Buffalo Bore 223 Rem 77gr BTHP Overview

Buffalo Bore item S22377 is the heaviest load in their Sniper line. The 77 grain boat tail hollow point runs 2800 fps for roughly 1340 ft-lbs. Twenty rounds per box.

Buffalo Bore specifies a 1:8 inch twist barrel. That is the modern AR-15 standard along with 1:7, which means most rifles built in the last fifteen years will shoot this load properly.

It completes a line that runs 55 grains at 3300 fps, 69 grains at 2900 and 77 grains at 2800. The weights are not alternatives so much as three answers to three different twist rates.

The Sniper name is Buffalo Bore’s label for their precision rifle line rather than a claim about tactical use. What it means in practice is match components, tight loading tolerances and velocities taken from real barrels rather than laboratory ones.

Heavy 223 Sniper Ammo Ballistics

At 2800 fps a 77 grain bullet produces about 1340 ft-lbs, from grains times velocity squared divided by 450437. It edges out both the 55 grain at 1330 and the 69 grain at 1288 despite having the lowest muzzle velocity of the three.

Downrange the gap widens considerably. A 77 grain boat tail carries a much higher ballistic coefficient than a 55 grain bullet, so it sheds velocity slowly and arrives at four hundred yards with energy the lighter loads lost a long way back.

Wind drift is where most 223 shooters actually lose points, and this is where the heavy bullet earns its keep. In a ten mile per hour crosswind at three hundred yards, a 1 in 8 twist match load of this weight drifts meaningfully less than a 55 grain bullet at any velocity.

Recoil remains negligible. Heavy 223 Sniper ammo kicks a little more than a 55 grain load and still less than almost anything else you can put in a rifle, which makes it easy to shoot well over a long string.

Why The 77 Grain Boat Tail Hollow Point Bullet Beats The Wind

A boat tail hollow point is a match bullet. The small cavity at the tip is a by-product of drawing the jacket from the base forward, which puts the most uniform part of the jacket at the nose where concentricity matters most.

That manufacturing method is why match bullets group the way they do. Weight, jacket thickness and centre of gravity vary very little between rounds, so each one leaves the muzzle behaving like the last.

At 77 grains the bullet is long for the calibre, and length rather than weight is what drives the twist requirement. A 1:9 barrel will usually stabilise 69 grains and start to struggle at 77; a 1:8 or 1:7 handles it comfortably.

The payoff is ballistic coefficient. Long, heavy, sharply tapered bullets slip through air better, and in a cartridge as small as the 223 that advantage compounds with every hundred yards. For long range AR platform ammunition there is no substitute for it.

For hunting it suits varmints and predators, and the extra weight gives more authority on a coyote at distance than a 55 grain bullet does. It is not a deer load and Buffalo Bore does not present it as one.

It is the specialist of the three, and within its niche it is the clear choice: a 77 grain boat tail hollow point bullet in a fast twist barrel, shot at distance.

Specifications

Rifles That Take This 1 In 8 Twist Match Load

This load suits any rifle chambered in 223 Remington or 5.56x45mm with a 1:8 twist barrel in sound working order. A 1:7 twist works equally well. That covers most modern AR-15 uppers and a growing share of bolt action rifles built for heavy bullets.

A 1:9 twist barrel is marginal and a 1:12 will not stabilise this bullet at all. If your barrel is older or unmarked, the 69 grain or 55 grain loads in the same line are the safer choice.

Magazine length is worth a thought. A 77 grain bullet is long, and while this ammunition is loaded to fit a standard AR magazine, the bullet sits deeper in the case than a lighter one does.

Zero with the ammunition you intend to shoot. A 77 grain boat tail hollow point bullet at 2800 fps lands well below a 55 grain load at 3300 once you get past a hundred yards, and the difference grows quickly.

Long Range AR Platform Ammunition Availability

This Buffalo Bore 223 Rem 77gr BTHP is in stock and ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop. MAG5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer, and orders of this long range AR platform ammunition normally leave within one business day.

For a 1:9 twist barrel see the Buffalo Bore 223 Rem 69gr BTHP. For a slower twist and a varmint bullet the Buffalo Bore 223 Rem 55gr Ballistic Tip is the match, and for a larger bore long range load compare the Buffalo Bore 300 Win Mag 180gr TTSX. Load data is published by Buffalo Bore Ammunition.