.223 loads for Stevens

leadslinger

leadslinger

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Does anyone use H335 for making .223 loads in a Stevens 200?
I have been trying to make a decent hunting load with it loading
55grain PSP bullets.
Some loads are fairly decent , some are total crapp.
All my brass was tumbled, sized, trimmed, and primer pockets cleaned,
but it was a mix of Rem, Win and Fed cases.
I have since seperated cases by brand.
Will this make a noticable difference?
 
try tweeking the seating depth
seemed to work with a 308 load of mine


from lyman handbook
h335
55gr bullet
start 24.3gr 3100ft/s 35200cup
max 27gr 3399ft/s 49100cup
 
Start with 3 (or 5) rounds with the min load then continue adding .3 grains for the next 5 loads (and so on, etc).

This is a slow PITA process BTW, but it is worth it.

i.e..........

5 rounds x 24 grains
5 rounds x 24.3 grains
5 rounds x 24.6 grains
5 rounds x 24.9 grains
5 rounds x 25.2 grains
and so on.

shoot the 5 round groups slow and controlled. Don't let the barrell heat up (you know the drill). Consistency is the key.

You will see in short order if your rifle likes the 55 gr bullet / varget combo, and how much powder .

Good luck.
 
I use 55 GR. horandy 55SP's with Hodgdon BL-C(2) 26grs..... it shoots really good, touching or almost touching @ 100yds from the bench....
 
matty86suk said:
try tweeking the seating depth
seemed to work with a 308 load of mine


from lyman handbook
h335
55gr bullet
start 24.3gr 3100ft/s 35200cup
max 27gr 3399ft/s 49100cup
Click to expand...

Wow, that seems awefully high I believe max on the the Hodgdon site is 25.3gr I'm loading 55gr V-max @ 25.0gr of h335 using Winbrass and fed205 primer, COL of 2.250" and only getting ~2950fps on the chrony. Groups about 0.75".
 
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hakx said:
Start with 3 (or 5) rounds with the min load then continue adding .3 grains for the next 5 loads (and so on, etc).

This is a slow PITA process BTW, but it is worth it.

i.e..........

5 rounds x 24 grains
5 rounds x 24.3 grains
5 rounds x 24.6 grains
5 rounds x 24.9 grains
5 rounds x 25.2 grains
and so on.

shoot the 5 round groups slow and controlled. Don't let the barrell heat up (you know the drill). Consistency is the key.

You will see in short order if your rifle likes the 55 gr bullet / varget combo, and how much powder .

Good luck.
Click to expand...

I did what you sugested, worked up loads in .3 of a grain at a time,
starting at the starting load.
the best group without readjusting scope was the near max.
Distance was at 100 yards.
Then i made more of the near max loads, and played with overall length,
some with and some without crimp.
pic # 1 is with no crimp
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/leadslinger2907/IMG_0218.jpg
pic # 2 is with a very light crimp.
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/leadslinger2907/IMG_0221.jpg
Thanks again for the great advise
 
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Good stuff. Now dip that rifle in loc-tite, and keep your formula in a safe place!! That's how I found the pet load for my Stevens .223


100_1052.jpg


Today I whacked a gopher at +200 yards (then shot another one that was a little closer). I looked back to bask in my glory at the first one, one of his buddies was ALREADY dinning on him, so I added him to the menu. There was much pink mist-age.

2gopehrs.jpg


(Schitty pic - cell phone cam)

Then,

A magpie landed on both of them...and Huntsman smacked it with my Stevens, too! Sorry, no pics of that - too far to walk (again).

Three shots - all in excess of two hundred yards. Gotta love them 200's

Good luck and good hunting.

Hakx
 
I use 40 gr vmax's and 27 gr of 335 and also use the lee factory crimp die. My brass is mixed but 5 shots puch 1 hole at 100 yards in my tikka 595. What is the twist rate in your stevens? I bought a Ruger m77 hawkeye syn-stain. and the twist was 1 in 9" which is to fast for 40 gr vmax's to stabilize. My tikka is 1 in 12". I guess it's a new fad to make a .223 a 1000 yard match gun. Not my idea of a varmint rifle but what do I know?
 
In my stevens, 60 vmax, Varget 26.4gr. 205M primers, winchester brass, loaded .010" off the lands, shoots .5" 5 shot groups. Actually, from 26 to 27.4 gr. many people would use any of the loads, in .2gr increments. Most every one was under .75" to 1" for 5 shots, 112 yds. 26.8gr. was .25" group, but was just .2gr. below where I had pressure signs. So I chose to back it off a bit. Up to 27.4 no sticky bolt, but the case would lengthen more, and the primers started to have a bit of an edge.
 
I'm shooting a Savage 12FV .223 with a 1:9 twist.

Using the Hodgdon website as a guide, I loaded from 25.0gr to 26.0gr in 0.1 increments using Varget.

I found that 25.6 grains made a nice 5 shot group of 1.556" at 200 yards. This was with 69gr Sierra HPBT pills.
 
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