.223 loading questions

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Alright, i'm not sure if you guys are having a problem securing powder or other supplies but it seems that once again the stores in winnipeg are running low on everything reloading related and i even heard that cabelas ran OUT of 22 long rifles. How the heck do you run out of those. seriously. Anyway i had good results with benchmark and 50gr varmint grenades last year so i wanted to buy some more. No such luck at either box store. how about varget. nogo. so i pondered for abit and my shooting partner has had very good results with reloader 19 in his 25-06 and i with my 7mm mag and rl22. so i thought what the heck i'll get some rl15 for the 223. 1-9 22" barrel by the way. guy says i have 2lbs and i bought both. ( sorry to whom ever wanted some. All out now) anyway i could only find a powder charge for my 60 nosler bt. 25.5gr at whatever fps. not fast. and i couldnt find a load for 50 gr so we did a bit of reading and compared to results in other similar calibers and came up with 26.5. this is alot less than some i have found on reloadersnest so i think i'm safe in terms of pressure. what i'm wondering is did i just waste a bunch of time and money on a powder that should be pushing 70plus gr bullets or is there a chance that this will perform. I plan on hitting the range thursday so i guess i'll find out. Thought i could pick some brains here and see what you guys think.


the benchmark was pushing the vgs at 3500 ish and i was getting a 2" group at 200. (some of that is definetly me) so i think doing well.
I like the fastness of that

i also loaded a pile of 60gr nosler bt with 20gr imr 4198 with good results but i'm hoping to improve on it. ( not very fast either) 2900-3000 haven't crono'd it.

thanks in advance guys and gals.
 
How much Benchmark were you using with the 50gr VG?

I use Benchmark & 50gr. Nosler BT in my .223, my velocity's come in about 400fps under yours...... Whats your secret?

IF you find a load for a heavier bullet, you can push a lighter bullet with that same powder charge. You could do a ladder test with the 25.5gr as a starting weight, I am not sure what the max would or could be. Generally I don't like to use powders that way. Generally the guys who made the 'book' have tested that powder and found it lacking so it didn't make it into the 'list' of 'approved' powders.

IMHO you should do everything you can to get more Benchmark...... In my experiance it is the most accurate powder in all of my .223's.

Cheers!
 
A handy phrase used when secureing supplies is "Can I have it all?" It's amazing how those 5 words can make your life simpler, and save a lot of looking and unnecessary load developement.
 
thanks guys

ya i have to agree the benchmark is pretty damn awesome. I used the nosler book for the fast load. 50 gr bullet and it was saying 3500+ fps. I don't have the book with me but 25.5 pushing a 50 gr varmint grenade is what i put in. didn't cronno but they are definetly fast. i will make sure to run them thru the cronno next time i get a chance.

kind of funny. I went to cabelas (SIR) first to buy some powder the other day and i asked the guy behind the counter for some benchmark and he looked at me like i had made the powder up. he couldn't even find it in the computer. Its a good thing those guys aren't allowed to give reloading advice. I know alot of the guys at wholesale and they are usually pretty knowledgeable. No "advice of course" :) anyway

heres another question. I'm still learning so i like the advice. I loaded my bullets 5 thou off the lands and i seem to see that most of u guys are loading about 2 thou off. will this usually ad alot of accuracy? like what are we talking in inches?

i really hope the rl50 works out. too bad i couldn't find either varget or benchmark. i plan on getting some heavy pills for target so it wont get wasted.
 
neutral said:
heres another question. I'm still learning so i like the advice.
Click to expand...

Listen to Dogleg's advice, it is the voice of experience - ""Can I have it all?" ;-)

I loaded my bullets 5 thou off the lands and i seem to see that most of u guys are loading about 2 thou off. will this usually ad alot of accuracy? like what are we talking in inches?
Click to expand...

That's a pretty small change, you are unlikely to see any difference.

Something to be careful of if you are close to the lands - you don't want some of your rounds to be just barely touching and some to be just barely not touching, that's likely to give bigger variations that if all of your rounds were clear of the rifling or if all of your rounds were touching the rifling.

If you are going to experiment with seating depth, try .010" or .015" steps. Especially earlier in the load development process, finer steps will probably slow your progress. Personally I would try magazine length, then .010" or .015" off the lands, then perhaps .025" or .030" off the lands, and then perhaps (if it is a bolt gun) .010" into the lands.

notsorichguy:
I use Benchmark & 50gr. Nosler BT in my .223, my velocity's come in about 400fps under yours...... Whats your secret?
Click to expand...

You need to pull the trigger harder.
 
pretty funny stuff " pull the trigger harder" lol. :)

i also have acouple pounds of imr 4198. have any of you tried to push the limits of this powder.

i loaded 60 bt at 18, 19 and 20 gr and 18 sucked. 19 was amazing at 100 but blew chunks at 200 and 20 was ok at 100 but remained good at 200. does that make sense? would it be bad to try 20.5 or even 21? i really don't know so once again all the help is greatly appreciated. oh and i'm hitting the range fri morning now instead of thu so i will let u guys know how i make out on fri.

if any body wants to go to selkirk we can have fun. a buddy of mine is comming out so we might have a few guys out.
 
IMR 4198 is a bit on the quick side, especially with heavier bullets like 60s. It's also a very long grain powder, you have to pay particularly close attention to make sure that all the powder gets into the small case mouth (bridging).

Having said that, it ought to be able to produce good accuracy for you. Just realize that you will reach max pressures long before the case is full of powder, and that you'll be 100-150fps short of the velocity you could get with a slower powder.

Hodgdon indicates a max load of 19.5 IMR-4198, developing 52,000 PSI, which seems low (I would have expected the max loads to be in the low 60K PSI range). You're probably OK at 20 grains, and it is probably OK to try to work higher, to 20.5 or even 21.0. But realize that you will be approaching max, and proceed with the usual care. At this level, it's a much better idea to work up in 0.2-0.3 grain increments rather than 0.5. Use a chronograph if you have one or can borrow one.
 
Thanks alot for the info. That makes total sense. In think in my nosler book it said max was 20gr for a 60. So imr 4198 is a good powder for light bullets? I guess i can use the rl15 for the 60 gr noslers if they work and the 4198 for the light varmint grenades. I'm still sad that i couldn't find the benchmark. works really well. are there other methods of aquring powder and bullets other than the box stores in winnipeg? it just seems that they are always struggling to keep stock.
 
Look under Firearms in the Yellow pages.... There has to be a few smaller dealers in a city the size of Winnipeg. That's where I usually find stock on items, the Big Box stores sell out first, as they get the most traffic.

My current stock of Benchmark is about 8lbs....... Enough for a bit yet, but not enough to share:p
 
Nothing wrong with using the IMR-4198 with the heavier bullets, if you are OK with its quirks and limitations. It is a better match for the lighter bullets, if you shoot many of them.

I'm not sure if any of the site sponsors here sell powder by mail...?

Higginsons Powders in Hawkesbury Ontario does.
Hirsch Precision in Halifax, NS might
 
pretty excited. I loaded 20 68gr hornady match with 25.5 gr of reloader 15 and coal 2.29. I didnt have my gun with so i couldn't check it for distance to the lands. find out how they do in the morning.

if all goes well i will have a good selection of bullets for all occasions
 
results

Ok so i went to the range today and was pleasantly surprised.

i shot sub moa with both the varmint grenade and the noslers. a friend of mine shot my rifle with the noslers and he shot 1/4 inch for sure. i wasn't that consistant but i shot 3/4 in .

oddly enough the 68gr hornadys did not perform as well. still half ways decent at 1 1/2 but not what i was expecting. i think it may have been to hot of a load.
 
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