One Load for Two Rifles.... 223.

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Kevan

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I have two very accurate but very different 223s, a Tikka T3 with a 1/8 twist and a Windham Weaponry 15 with a 1/9 barrel.
Both are really accurate and my goal is to find a compatible load for both, hopefully using same bullet and powder.
That way I don't need to juggle powders and bullets to make each one happy.
My first concern was how bad would the Windham chew up the brass and so far the fired cases come with almost no scratches or damage.
I have a good supply of assorted bullet weights and brands as well as a ton of brass.

Has anyone else tried this and succeeded, if so can you post the loads ?
Looking for input here.
 
Head space is the issue that I have between 2 different rifles.
I have 3 different 243's and there is a difference of about .006 between the 3 rifles.
I know that's not much but for brass life it is important.
David
 
dogzilla said:
Usually you end up with one load and 2 rifles that shoot just ok
Click to expand...

Yes, this is very true.
Aside from the two I mentioned there is also an F-Class 40XBR in .223 in the safe so eventually if I don't experiment a bit I have three different .223s to load for each with their respective preferences.
It will keep me out of trouble for a while..
 
I find 25.5 gr of benchmark and hornady or PRVI pills @ 50gr give acceptable accuracy in all my 223 & 556 rifles.... Except for the mini.... That one is "special"....

The mini only seems to like 55gr Nolser BT....

I have 6 AR rifles from 20"-7.5" and 3 223 bolt guns....

Each one has a "butter" load. No 2 have the same butter load......
 
I have a Ruger compact and CZ 527 both in 223, I've tried several powders and multiple charges per powder using 40gr vmax & Hornady 55gr sp. Both guns will shoot 1" or less with Varget and 40gr vmax and same results with CFE223 and the 55gr'ers, i plan to do a little fine tuning when i have time but for now i find it acceptable as me and my daughter either shoot paper at 100 yards or gophers at a similar distance.
 
I used to have the same dual setup. I still have my Windham. I'm probably going to get another 223 bolt again, maybe a Remington 783 for plinking fun.. but anyways.

You probably won't find a powder and bullet weight that will work great with both. I'm not saying it can't be done though, I just haven't found it. :)
I don't know if it's specifically just the barrel length, twist rate or what does it, but I don't believe you'll find a load that will accurately work with both rifles. The Tikka is a 1/2 MOA rifle with a good load, so I never liked building a load for the WW15 and shooting like crap through the Tikka (or vice versa)

I currently use 24.5grains of Win748 behind Campro 55's with the WW15 with good results out to 200 Metres (pretty much the max I shoot the AR). This never worked well with the Tikka.
I tried VV N133 and N135 at great length playing with different loads and bullet weights (50-77gr) to no avail.
 
I would buy some cheaper reloadable factory rounds for the semi, and use the brass for handloading rounds for the bolt gun. Like a Fiocchi or PMC.
Otherwise just build a accurate round for the bolt gun and live with accuracy (or lack of ) in the semi.
 
25-26 grains H335 under 55 grain Ballistic Tips works excellent in all 7 of my .223's...Twist rates vary 1\7, 1\9, 1\12 and barrel lengths from 10.5 inch to 22 inch...The Sierra 52 SMK is slightly more accurate with the same load but with it's lower coefficient is lacking power out at 650 yards and needs an extra 3 MOA to get there.

I load up the 52 and 69 weight SMK's when I want the most out of a specific rifle but it's hard to beat the Ballistic tip for all around performance, it works very well in any .223 I have ever used it in...Out at 650 yards it doesn't hit as hard as the 69 SMK but has the same drift and is over an MOA flatter because of the higher velocity I can launch it at.
 
I buy once fired Lake City brass for my two AR15 rifles and have tried several brands of commercial .223 brass for my Savage .223 bolt action. And have separate loads for all three rifles that shoot the best.

My advice is to keep the AR15 brass separate because the rims get chewed up and this can effect loading and case neck runout using standard dies. The dings in the case rims from the extractor can cause the case to tilt on the down stroke of the ram. This case tilting in the shell holder will cause the expander to pull the necks off center increasing neck runout.

On top of this the AR15 chamber is .002 larger in diameter and with brass springback this may cause chambering problems with the smaller diameter bolt action chamber.

With a small base die you could make "blasting" ammo for both rifles but you would just have "average" accuracy.

There is a old saying "Beware of the man with one gun" and when you have several rifles you still have to treat each rifle as a individual.
 
It's really not a big deal to have one load shoot well in several if not thousands of different rifles...If quality components are put together with precision and your rifles are put together with precision you will end up more then not with precision results...This is how most quality rifle builders give an accuracy guarantee when their rifles are shot with any match grade ammunition.
 
The Windham has a Wylde chamber(at least mine does) while the Tikka will have a standard .223 chamber, and probably a tight one at that.

My Windham WW15 has a 16" 9 twist tube, so I am assuming yours does as well, whereas the Finn most likely has a 20+" barrel.

These are pretty different. you may get a load or two that shoot ok out of each, but none will be ideal.
 
Hey Kevan, exactly what level of results are you striving to achieve? I have had many, many 243s over the years and have used one load in many of them with acceptable accuracy of about 1 moa. I have had to tweak from there to get better than that but it was relatively simple to get to the 1 moa mark for several guns with the same load. It's like the old 56 gns of IMR 4350 and a 180 in the '06......they all shoot easily into hunting accuracy and most 06s I have tried will keep this load around the 1-1 1/2" ...........

My thinking would be to work with the bolt gun to achieve the best groups you can and then go and see how the semi likes them.
 
I use 60 grains of H4831 in two 30-06s with 180 gr Nosler Partitions. I also use 60 grains of H4831 in two 270s with 130 grain Accubonds. They all shoot MOA (or real close) to 300. These are all in Winchester Models 70, if that makes any difference. I keep the brass separate for each rifle.
 
I have 2 338lapuas that share the same load just fine, that said I drive my friend who is obsessed with tiny groups nuts with my lack of ocd expecially when his longest shot is with my dirty hand annealed ammo. I find it amusing that people don't think you can get a good load for 2 or more guns how do they make factory match ammo?
 
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