.223 load data

[kbfife]

Hi Im looking for a load for .223

Using hor 55g sp and hor 52g amax.

powders are h-varget and h-322

COL needed aswell Looing for max and min loads.

 

Cheers

Keith.

 

P.s already tried the 55s with varget 27g (compressed) and over the crono i only

got about 2850fps and i cant get any more powder in supposed to get about 3200fps, hense i have some

H322 to try.

[silentsoulsleave308holes]

benchmark

[6mmBR]

P.s already tried the 55s with varget 27g (compressed) and over the crono i only

got about 2850fps and i cant get any more powder in supposed to get about 3200fps, hense i have some

H332 to try.

Sounds like there may be something a miss with your chrono or your running a very short barrel with that varget load.

Quick load is giving over 3300 with a 24 inch barrel at SAAMI cartridge length 2.260"

 

Cartridge : .223 Rem.

Bullet : .224, 55, Hornady SP 2265

Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.260 inch or 57.40 mm

Barrel Length : 24.0 inch or 609.6 mm

Powder : Hodgdon VARGET

 

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,

incremented in steps of 2.0% of nominal charge.

CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

 

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time

% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

 

-20.0 91 21.61 2640 851 29571 5541 81.8 1.280

-18.0 93 22.15 2706 894 31641 5732 83.2 1.245

-16.0 95 22.69 2772 939 33865 5921 84.7 1.211

-14.0 98 23.23 2839 984 36253 6105 86.0 1.178

-12.0 100 23.77 2906 1032 38826 6285 87.4 1.143

-10.0 102 24.31 2974 1080 41593 6459 88.7 1.109

-08.0 105 24.85 3042 1130 44577 6627 89.9 1.075

-06.0 107 25.39 3110 1181 47796 6789 91.1 1.043

-04.0 109 25.93 3178 1233 51278 6943 92.2 1.012

-02.0 111 26.47 3246 1287 55036 7089 93.2 0.982 ! Near Maximum !

+00.0 114 27.01 3315 1342 59127 7227 94.2 0.953 ! Near Maximum !

+02.0 116 27.55 3384 1398 63561 7354 95.1 0.925 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+04.0 118 28.09 3453 1456 68386 7471 96.0 0.898 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+06.0 120 28.63 3522 1515 73647 7577 96.8 0.872 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+08.0 123 29.17 3592 1575 79395 7671 97.5 0.846 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+10.0 125 29.71 3661 1637 85682 7753 98.1 0.821 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Something doesn't sound right there?

Dave

[kbfife]

I was actually hoping to get some benchmark, but she shop had none,

I will try to use up the h-322 first before moving to benchmark.

 

I dont know why the Varget load is so slow, I use R>P brass CCI Magnun small rifle primer 55grn sp and 26.2 grns Varget this fills the case level

shot through a tikka m595 with a standard barrel and a T8 moderator. 5 shots on the crono was about 2850fps.

 

Any Ideas for the H332??

 

Thanks

 

Keith

[TC]

Your Varget results sound very odd.

 

I get 3200fps from a 52g Berger over 26.5g of Varget in a 22inch barrel. COAL is to SAMMI max.

 

TC

[kbfife]

I dont know why its so slow unless the crony is on the blink,

I should add that the crony was about 10 meteres from the shooting platform.

[Guest varmartin]

If you want more Velocity try a hotter cam......a piper 285 3/4 race should do,

 

a Holden Distributor without vac advance works well.

 

Advance the timing 3 deg and use a higher octane fuel.

 

Shave 400 grams from the flywheel to give better throttle response , install a quaife limited slip diff for better cornering and your good to go..

 

Yokohama A509`s should provide all the traction needed for local meetings as long as its 20 deg ambient outside....

 

 

.........Sorry just posted in the wrong forum

 

Its the red wine you know.....

[kbfife]

Yeh Good one...

[MarinePMI]

BL©-2...I have tried all the powders mentioned, switched to BL©-2 last year, and have never looked back. It has worked that well (55gr Sierra HPs).

 

1 1/2" groups at 300yds is not uncommon with a Savage 10FP. JMHO...

[grahamfarmer]

you say your using small rifle magnum primers they could be to hot .

 

I personally use cci br4 for my 223 loads .

 

dont know what brass make your using but 26 .3 grains of varget dose not fill my federal or winchester cases much above the bottom of the neck and thats my 55grn bullet load seated 1.8600 to the olgive

[kbfife]

Ok I have started over

 

.223 cal

 

New Lapua Match Brass

CCI Magnum small rifle primer

25grns H322.

52grn H A-Max

COL 2.230"

 

Have not tested these yet, Hodgdon website says there over max, but some american sites were recomending 25grns of H322 for a 52grn head.

 

Whats the general thoughts, Safe ???

 

regards

Keith

[PeteL]

Hi kb,

In a CZ527 in 223 with T4 mod:

Sako brass

55 gn VMax

Federal Match Primer

24.5 gn VV135

Velocity: Average 3149 fps, Extreme Spread 23, Standard Deviation 12.

Kills foxes very dead, centre chest shots do not exit.

Usual cautions apply, start low and work up.

Peter

[Redfox]

You dont say what rifle you have and / or what twist is in the barrel, generally speaking you will do better with 50gr Vmax or Sierra blitzking, the 55gr is a tad heavy for the 223 although it will kill stuff.

I developed a load for a friend in his Rem 223 VSSF and eventually came up with 27gr Varget cci Br4 primer, rem brass and that wss over 3200fps and would group into .25" at 100 yds, with clean kils over 200yds on charlie. He wanted a cheaper bullet and so we went onto the Sierra blitzking and I used both Varget and BLC2 powder with excellent results on both, Varget 27.5 compressed load cci Br4 primer and .025" off the rifling gave 3280fps and still .025", the BLC2 at 28grs with same primer and bullet and distance off the rifling gave 3370 fps and same grouping.

Having had a few peculiarities with Varget he is now on BLC2 load with 50gr blitzking and in my 22-250 I now use Benchmark or H380 with a 55gr Vmax bullet.

In your rifle I would start 1 gr lower than these loads and work up in .5gr increments.

Great calibre and usually gives very satisfying results.

Redfox

[Elwood]

I meant to reply to this a few days back

 

This was my load using H322 and .223

 

Lapua brass

Federal 205 primers

24.9 grains H322 if my memory serves me right this is above max

52 grain Amax

 

However this load was developed a long time ago and I would urge you to get some Benchmark or N133.

 

More importantly I would urge you not to start off with a 25 grains of H322! try starting at 23.5 and work up.

[Elwood]

Cartridge : .223 Rem. (SAAMI)

Bullet : .224, 52, Hornady A-MAX 22492

Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.260 inch or 57.40 mm

Barrel Length : 21.0 inch or 533.4 mm

Powder : Hodgdon H322

 

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,

incremented in steps of 2.0% of nominal charge.

CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

 

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time

% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

 

-20.0 86 20.00 2709 847 30872 6568 89.1 1.128

-18.0 88 20.50 2776 890 33029 6771 90.4 1.097

-16.0 91 21.00 2843 933 35343 6967 91.7 1.067

-14.0 93 21.50 2910 978 37825 7154 92.9 1.036

-12.0 95 22.00 2977 1023 40493 7332 94.0 1.005

-10.0 97 22.50 3044 1070 43358 7499 95.0 0.974

-08.0 99 23.00 3111 1117 46438 7656 96.0 0.945

-06.0 101 23.50 3177 1166 49765 7801 96.8 0.917 ! Near Maximum !

-04.0 103 24.00 3244 1215 53343 7933 97.5 0.890 ! Near Maximum !

-02.0 106 24.50 3310 1265 57207 8052 98.2 0.864 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

00.0 108 25.00 3376 1316 61383 8156 98.8 0.839 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+02.0 110 25.50 3442 1368 65903 8245 99.2 0.814 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+04.0 112 26.00 3508 1421 70802 8319 99.6 0.791 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+06.0 114 26.50 3573 1474 76122 8376 99.8 0.768 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+08.0 116 27.00 3637 1528 81891 8416 100.0 0.746 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

+10.0 119 27.50 3701 1582 88144 8439 100.0 0.725 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

 

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge

Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:

+Ba 108 25.00 3523 1433 73783 7911 100.0 0.780 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:

-Ba 108 25.00 3174 1163 50098 7980 93.3 0.915 ! Near Maximum !

[millpool]

benchmark

[Greenbear]

Sierra Gamekine 55g

H335 26g

Laupa Match Brass

CCI Benchrest primers

 

Bullet sat 10thou off

 

Rifle Howa 1500

 

same hole accuracy devastating on small deer and foxes

 

Sorry dont agree 55g too heavy for a .223

[Guest varmartin]

Loose the mag primers for more consistency....try CCI BR or 205m`s

[grahamfarmer]

well i am with martin i think that the magnum primers are to hot for varget as said already cci br4 or 205m's work well .

 

 

kbfife would love to know what twist barrel you have as this could be the cause of some of the troubles you are having . my own cz 601 has a 1 in 13 twist barrel and it loves anything up to 50 grain bullets 40 grn sierra hp and nosler bts are a favourite and the old faithfull 50 grn sierra blitzking are one hole groups if i do my stuff .

 

i do how ever struggle with 55grn loads unless they are driven fast tried sierra blitzkings and vmaxs but could never get them good enough before pressure signs appeared but by happening on to some combined technologys moly coated they clicked just befor i maxed out on the pressure .but seldom use them except on deer species they are allowed on.

 

i also have access to a 1in 12 twist remington and that would shoot all the afore mentioned loads with bug hole accuracy . and annoyingly would also bug hole any 55grn load that i was trying to develop.

 

from what you can glean from all different sources most varmint rifles seem to fall into the 1 in12 to 1 in 14 twist range and seem to have a cut off point around the 55grn zone are 52 and 53 grn bullets made to cure a failing in this area i wonder .

 

now we also have the 1 in 10 twist making a head way and they seem to like 50 to 60 grn bullets but you can find the odd person moaning that they cant shoot there old faith 40 grn and 45 grn loads through them the problem here is they could be trying to drive them to fast and over doing the spin rate and any flaws in the bullet balance will show up in a bigger error on the target area .

 

then there are the 1 in 7 to 1 in 9 twist that are about and these will definately shoot the heaviest 224 bullets up round the 60 to 80 grn range but they are a specialist barrel for nearly specialist loads i dont know how they shoot 40 grn noslers .

 

to sum up the 223rem can be a bit of a fussy about what it likes to shoot but with a bit of effort and perseverance with some home loading you may find the holy grail for your gun and when you do dont bother to change it because you probally wont get it to shoot much better then the recipe that is right for that barrel.

 

well hope this helps you a bit kbfife and just ask if you got any problems.

[kbfife]

The rifle I use is a standard Tikka M595 .223 cal with a 1:12 twist.

 

Unfortunitly I have 1000 of the magnum primers

Pounds of powder

and masses of heads.

 

I may not have the best components, but they must be used up before I replace them

with more suitable ones. I just need to make the best from what I have, they are

not cheap you know. As a side note, accuracy is not really an issue I have not managed to load

a cartridge yet that wont group 1ish" @ 100m. Good enough for my needs. The issue I have is the velocity seems to be under par

and my mated were ripping it into me. I had a bit of a laugh at them when I couped long foxes

and toppled roe with the bullet passing clean through, but it is still geting me down.

 

Regards

Keith

[Elwood]

The issue I have is the velocity seems to be under par

 

Regards

Keith

 

Fast is fine, accuracy is final

[menial 1]

This might sound a tad stupid, but your rifle's probably not burning all the powder within the confines of the barrel, if you shoot it outside in the dark you'll likely have an entertaining but not efficient huge muzzle flash. Not sure why you'd want to continue with the magnum primers , standard small rifle primers should suffice. Not had a .223 which wouldn't exceed 3200fps with 50-55grn bullets. Somebody near will probably donate some small rifle primers if you ask nicely, they are after all the cheapest part of putting a round together.

When I shot 50grn V-Max I used Viht 130, now use 133 for 55grn Blitzking, 140 for 75grn A-Max.

If you live anywhere near my gaff your welcome to try powders/primers.

Pete.

[grahamfarmer]

hi Kbfife,

so whats 300 feet per second among friends. dead is still dead.

 

if you have got the time and patience you will be quite surprised with some of the results you may get if you do a set of ladder tests right from min loads till you get pressure signs .

 

load 5 rounds exactly the same except for the powder load and go up in 2 ths of a grain then get some targets off the internet on paper and shoot those groups off without altering your zero. the point of impact will move about and try to shoot every shot at the same barrel temp some of these groups could be spread out over three inchs others will be very close its is those tight groups that are ideal for you to load up as they a tuned to the harmonics of your barrel . when you have these tight groups go back and load either side by 1th as you could be surprised by the results that i tenth of a grain can make .

 

you might be lucky and find a bug hole group load which could be your most accurate load for your rifle it could be down at 2700 fps but it may well mean you can group at under 2" at 400 yds sadly not all guns can or do suit 3300fps loads .

 

personally all my loads are one node down from max loads as i would much rather have the confidence of accuracy over speed and accuracy makes your shooting more enjoyable . and cheaper if you dont miss .

 

you have the gun equivelent of they hare and the tortoise.

[robkayak]

You have not mentioned the twist rate of the rifle barrel. I have a Remington LTR with 1:9 and it definitely prefers 60 grain bullets. Varget is a very tolerant powder in terms of pressure & compression

[DL.]

It's a 1:12 twist. I have the same rifle will be seeing in a few months if I can stabilise 60gn bullets.

I'm not expecting magic results,but if I use smaller amounts of a slower burning powder then I imagine this may help. I must admit,I'm not too bothered about velocity though!