On the off-chance anyone ends up in my predicament then i'll post my load data to date.
I'll also add the loads to the stickies.
Tikka T3 1-8 twist.
.223 Remington.
Fire formed and neck sized.
Rem Brass cut to 1.747"
High spots neck turned off.
Primer pockets uniformed.
Flash holes de-burred.
O.A.L to Ogive 1.903"
Viht N135 Powder
Federal Gold Medal Match sr primers.
Hornady 55 grain V-Max Bullets.
Shot on a nice warm day, but with a slight gusting breeze.
4 rounds of each load.
25.0 grains = .663"
25.1 grains = .446" with flyer .985"
25.2 grains = .710" w/f 1.466
25.3 grains = 1.216"
25.4 grains = .371" w/f .549"
Just to point out that the Lee Reloading Manual does not list Viht N135 for use with Frangible bullets, which I would say V-Max bullets are. They state that 25.6 grains of Viht N135 is the limit for "jacketed bullets".
Each round was visually checked after firing, and were loaded one at a time. The bolt was never stiff to lift after firing, and under a magnifying glass the heaviest load only showed very slight beginnings of the primer beginning to flatten, but no cratering was found on any primer.
Clearly each rifle and loading components are different and loads should be started low and built up checking for problems like over pressure along the way.
As 25.1 grains and 25.4 grains seem the most accurate, i'll be making up some more rounds with this load, along with the use of my chrony and go from there....
