Working up .223 Load - Experienced Help Welcome!
- Thread starter iduncant
- Start date
223rem is really finicky. You will need to find your load in the 0.1grain or less. Match preparation of brass and weight/volume sorting will help very much. Develop loads by 0.02gr and work up. Then verify +/-0.01 around your best node. I am sure you will find at least two good nodes to work from. Seating depth can become an issue. Try various seating depths from book out to touching with 20thou variations. You will see the loads develop and there will be a sweet spot for your barrel. I have found H322 works well for the lighter bullets you are using and burns clean. Have a look at Mysticprecisions site for some tips and tricks for accuracy.
The rest is within your skills and abilities.
The rest is within your skills and abilities.
My 55 grain load is one of two that have been MOA for me. First off is 27 grains of W748, Winchester primer, 55 grain Remington SP, any ole cases. Second, WC735 surplus powder - 25 grains and same bullet, etc. This one really moves too.
iduncant
What brand press and dies are you using?
A common mistake made by new reloaders is locking the expander button down off center and inducing excessive neck runout. I have a Stevens 200 .223 with a 26 inch bull barrel and two AR15 rifles and you should be getting much better accuracy with your new rifle.
Also my Stevens 200 came from the factory with a throat longer than my AR15 rifles have, meaning a long bullet jump. You should check your throat length by just barely bumping the neck of a new case in your die so the bullet will just move with firm finger pressure. Then chamber this test round and let the rifling seat the bullet and measure overall length.
What brand press and dies are you using?
A common mistake made by new reloaders is locking the expander button down off center and inducing excessive neck runout. I have a Stevens 200 .223 with a 26 inch bull barrel and two AR15 rifles and you should be getting much better accuracy with your new rifle.
Also my Stevens 200 came from the factory with a throat longer than my AR15 rifles have, meaning a long bullet jump. You should check your throat length by just barely bumping the neck of a new case in your die so the bullet will just move with firm finger pressure. Then chamber this test round and let the rifling seat the bullet and measure overall length.
Last edited:
BrotherRockeye
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Rural Saskatchewan
This may have something to do with it...
I would suggest some cheap factory ammo and some trigger time before you go searching for the perfect recipe for your iron...
the fewer variables in play the better imho.
have fun and stay safe.
I'm using the Lee Pacesetter dies, how would i know if i've been doing that?
Also, a good point.
I think you need to learn how to properly shoot before you can even consider properly working up a load. The most important variable in shooting groups on paper is SHOOTING FROM A COMFORTABLE POSITION. I watch guys sometimes at the range shooting from a terrible seat height with their neck and back contorted very uncomfortably, and they always shoot TERRIBLE groups. You need to be in a comfortable shooting position, shooting from a rest. I would practice this using a .22 rifle from shorter distances. Learn how to shoot first, then work on developing a load. You will NOT consistently shoot Sub MOA if you don't know how to shoot properly, no matter what load you develop.
Barry
Barry
Good advice, thank you.
Your Lee Pacesetter dies are wedged into position when tightened in the die, meaning there is very little chance the expander button is being locked down off center unless there are metal chips in the clamp nut.
You have also gotten some very good advice above, and shooting position and a solid rest means a great deal.
You do NOT need the shooting rest below but look at the shooting position and how solid the rest is for shooting bug hole groups. Also Accurate shooter.com has some very good information on reloading for accuracy and shooting techniques. (do some reading at Accurate shooter.com, I have been reloading for over 45 years and some of these shooters make me look like a cave man throwing rocks)
SEB MAX Coaxial Front Rest — Field Test
http://www.accurateshooter.com/featured/seb-max-coaxial-front-rest-%E2%80%94-field-test/
As I said Accurate shooter.com has very good information.
Tuning Savage Actions Using Action Screw Torque Settings
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2012/12/tuning-savage-actions-using-action-screw-torque-settings/
223 Rem + 223 AI Cartridge Guide
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/223rem/
Brad Pitt has a new movie coming out called "World War Z" about a Zombie invasion and you need to get ready.
The green tip .223 bullets contains anti-zombie kryptonite.
Tuning Savage Actions Using Action Screw Torque Settings
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2012/12/tuning-savage-actions-using-action-screw-torque-settings/
223 Rem + 223 AI Cartridge Guide
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/223rem/
Brad Pitt has a new movie coming out called "World War Z" about a Zombie invasion and you need to get ready.
The green tip .223 bullets contains anti-zombie kryptonite.
I have savage 12 in .223rem. 26' heavy barrel, 1-9 twist. For me, my most accurate load so far is federal premium brass with the works done in case prep, ccI no.400 primers, 24gr. of varget and Hornady 68gr. BTHP Match. This load gives absolutely remarkable accuracy!!! it seems the savages dont like hot loads, all of my loads are basically the minimum charge listed. I just started developing a load which i have very high hopes for! CCI BR-4 primers, Lapua Match brass, varget and 75gr VLDs. So far im at 0.51", but im sure with more work i can get better!!
I was out sunday trying my first reloaded rounds through my rem 700 VS 26" barrel 1-12 twist. To benchmark I used the first group with factory hornady vmax 55gr.
Next I worked up through hornady's load chart from 23.8 to 26.5. Seems 25 works the best so far at .411"
Next I will break it out at .1gr at a time till I find the sweet spot. Then after all that I begin with OAL/seating to fine tune.
Follow the same type of procedure for load development and you'll get the results your looking for.
I would skip all other powders and go straight to varget, run through 5-6 different powder charges in groups of 10 and look at heavier bullet than the 55gr, 60-77gr would be best through 1-9
Good luck
Next I worked up through hornady's load chart from 23.8 to 26.5. Seems 25 works the best so far at .411"
Next I will break it out at .1gr at a time till I find the sweet spot. Then after all that I begin with OAL/seating to fine tune.
Follow the same type of procedure for load development and you'll get the results your looking for.
I would skip all other powders and go straight to varget, run through 5-6 different powder charges in groups of 10 and look at heavier bullet than the 55gr, 60-77gr would be best through 1-9
Good luck
Everyone is saying .223 is really finicky but I guess I am just lucky? 22.7-23.2 gr of H335 over 55 vmax, all shoots really well, like 1 MOA on the ends and shrinking to .6 in the middle. Just works for me! Same with 75 amax and Varget. I've had a far easier time getting my .223 to shoot than my other rifles.
Where did you get that stock pack OP??
Where did you get that stock pack OP??
+1
You have gotten lots of good advise here. My old stevens 200 would do sub MOA with bulk ammo. Practice is the key.
For your reloads, you may wanna give varget a try. Varget has done the best for me.
Right now my favorite is 27gr under a 70gr berger @ 1/4 MOA.
Another good load for me was 28gr CFE223 under 50gr Z-Max @ 1/3 MOA.
NEVER TAKE LOAD DATA DIRECTLY FROM INTERNET, ALWAYS START LOW AND WORK UP
TKS
JPB
As I said Accurate shooter.com has very good information.
The green tip .223 bullets contains anti-zombie kryptonite.
Thanks for the tip, i'll check out that website. I'd seen a few posts from them when i'd been searching online. If they're making you look like a cave man, I don't even want to know what i'll be considered lol
Also, I LOVE THE Z-MAX LOOK! AWESOME!!
I guess I got lucky with that load right from the start. i was loading to 2.25 oal though. with V-Max i was able to keep it at exactly 2.250" without any trouble. however the FMJ bullets weren't quite as uniform. they were jumping from 2.26 to 2.24 between each load. the only way i found to keep them consistant was to back the seating depth way out, then dial it down for each individual cartridge. That was very annoying. However this discrepancy in seating depth may have contributed to the accuracy loss for the FMJ's
Yes, practice practice and more practice. Trust me, i've got no problem heading out and shooting more!
Did you find the CFE results varied drastically depending on the temperature? seing as last weekend it was 11degrees , but the weekend before was -10 i was sticking with the extreme powders to keep my pressures and velocities more consistant. Have you found that varget accuracy changes less than the CFE with the temp or is this extreme stuff just a big marketing ploy?
I've also had good luck with W748, as well as with IMR4064.
With a .223, you really see the difference with 10ths of a grain. They're picky little buggers.
