Bullet Weight ? for 1-9 twist Contender

Have cases and dies. Fixing to order bullets for new 223 AI in a Contender. It was made by OTT. Not sure of the twist rate (bought it used). Just checked the twist with cleaning rod and it appears to be 1 in 9 . The barrel is now 20 inches long but I may shorten. I will shoot it at this length for a while first. What bullet weight should it shoot best and what bullet weghts (if any) should I stay away from? Just wanting to punch paper now, but have a couple of coyotes in my future plans. Any and all advice will be appreciated.

Thanks for reading
Doug

I've used everything from 35gr VM's to 69gr SMK's without a problem in 9" twist barrels.

Agree a 9 is plenty quick for most anything, yet not too quick for anything else.

Sounds like a good excuse to try a lot of different weghts and see what it likes.

Thanks
Doug

Personal tinkering proved that 1-9" will handle up to Hornady 75gr BTHPs. With that said 75 Amaxes are a no go. My targert loads are generally Sierra 69gr Match Kings and 62gr Barnes TSXs for meeting critters larger than yotes. Many times the Barnes has taken the air out of deer here in MS without a single failure.

Take a look at the JLK Low Drag bullets for some super accuracy (at least in 90% of the guns i've tried and seen them tried in). Also i'm becoming pretty fond of the 65 SGK recently.

I've tried the heavies in my TC'and they dont stabilize. The 65gr Hornady shoots great out of my M70, but TC's love 55's and lighter best. 75's keyhole at 50....if they hit the target backstop.