.223 Rem loads

444shooter

444shooter

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
530   0   1
Location
Calgary, AB
Just starting to load for my Vanguard, and was wondering if anyone had some load suggestions to start with. Will be for gophers/target shooting.
 
Mine can shoot in the high .3's (when I don't screw up) with a max load of H4895 and 50gr vmax. It would likely shoot even tighter with the Btips.

H335 worked well with 55's but not as good as the H4895. Varget is supposed to be great in this caliber, but it needs to be quite compressed to get decent velocity, so I decided to find something easier to work with.

I use mine mostly for coyotes so I haven't played with the 40 grains much at all. 40 vmax tended to splash on coyotes at high speeds.

This is a stevens 200 with 1/9 twist, not sure what your barrel has. 223 seems to be a very forgiving caliber to load for, it shoots decently with most suitable powders. :)
 
223

Winchester M70 .223 24" brl. Bushnell 16 X

45 gr Hornady Hornet
28.0 gr H335...3500 fps Avg. / 1.00 inch/ 200 yds/3 shots

40 gr Ballistic tip
24.5 gr Reloder 7..3660 fps avg. / 1.10 inch/200yds/3 shots

55 gr Ballistic tip
21.5 gr IMR4198..3125 fps avg./ 0.48 inch/100 yds/3 shots

55 gr Hornady spt. with cannelure
27.0 gr Reloder 15.. 3060 fps avg/ 0.76 inch/100 yds/3shots

Please be advised that these are MAX in my rifle ... load data is from "older"
manuals and these loads may not be safe in your firearm....
 
cariboo_kid said:
40 vmax tended to splash on coyotes at high speeds.

QUOTE]

Hornady should print that on the box! It's the worst coyote bullet I've had the misfortune to use. On the other hand it is a great gopher bullet. 27 grains of H335 or 26.5 grains of WC845 from Higginsons works great in my M700 VLS. Lifes too short to weigh gopher/plinking ammo, and these ball powders meter flawlessly.
Click to expand...
 
For targets, my 10 FPLE (1 in 9 twist) pet load is:

68 gr Hornady BTHP match
26 gr Varget
CCI primers
2.275 " OAL


I get consistant .75 MOA if I do my part. Your mileage may vary.

-Jason
 
I use a .223 26" Heavy Barrel on an Encore frame......35gr V-Max @ 3900fps (had to e-mail Hornady to see how fast they could be pushed...4000fps was what he told me) these little guys look like half a football but are deadly out to around 150ish yds.......My personal favorite was 70gr SP doing around 2900fps....threw a gopher up 10ft and back about 30ft.......what a show...BTW I need to find a gopher patch near Lacombe, can anyone assist??
 
thebuckhunter said:
For targets, my 10 FPLE (1 in 9 twist) pet load is:

68 gr Hornady BTHP match
26 gr Varget
CCI primers
2.275 " OAL


I get consistant .75 MOA if I do my part. Your mileage may vary.

-Jason
Click to expand...

Does that OAL fit in the mag? And do you use a factory crimp or just simply seat the bullet?
 
work up to 25.6 grains of Benchmark and a 55 grain Nosler BT

it was the best load in my 700 LVSF, killed a few yotes and a wolf with that load, worked well. 3250 fps avg in my 22" tube
 
I had loads of killing fun with 24.5g of Winchester 748, using a 55g Combined tech bullet. That load was very accurate for my rifle, one of the best.

6.jpg


BL-C(2) and H335 also showed some good results for me. But as you know every rifle is different and if you want accuracy you are just playing the game until you find the right load for "your" rifle.

Have fun and good luck!
 
Cariboo Kid, If you are using a 1/9 barrel, have you tried using heavier bullets? Although I am waiting to try mine as it is in the shop so I should not be commenting at all, but I am told that a 1/9 twist will not stabalize a bullet uner 68 gr. If you know better, let me know so I do not go and waste a bunch on loonies. I was hoping to use 55gr. Do you know what the bullet weight of the military ammo is?
 
Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone have successful loads for the 52 gr JLK in their .223 (or .22-250, for that matter) ?
 
p14shooter said:
Cariboo Kid, If you are using a 1/9 barrel, have you tried using heavier bullets? Although I am waiting to try mine as it is in the shop so I should not be commenting at all, but I am told that a 1/9 twist will not stabalize a bullet uner 68 gr. If you know better, let me know so I do not go and waste a bunch on loonies. I was hoping to use 55gr. Do you know what the bullet weight of the military ammo is?
Click to expand...

The 1:9 does extremely well with 55's, and in mine a hair better with 50's. :)

I haven't needed heavier bullets than 55 grains so I have not tried them - actually now that I think of it I believe I did try some factory fmj's in 60 that weren't impressive for accuracy. That was due to poor consistency in the factory loads, not the barrel twist. I could easily see the different OAL of these cartridges with the naked eye.

I've used 40, 50, 52 and 55 grain bullets. The 40's were the hornady factory load and were very accurate and flat shooting, but too explosive on game for my needs. I also tried the hornady 55's with good accuracy, but even at 300 yards the far side of a coyote was sprayed across the field. It was not fur friendly at all.

50 - 55 grains are very easy to find sub moa loads with in my rifle, a Stevens 200 with the 1:9 twist. Factory loads in the 55 grain range never shot worse than MOA, and usually about .75 MOA. Handloads of course are better.

Mysticplayer has a great thread in the precision forum about working up loads for these rifles in heavier bullet weights. I think you'll find that the 1:9 twist will have difficulty with bullets heavier than 68 grains, but will do great with anything up to that.

Hope that helps. :)
 
cariboo_kid said:
Mysticplayer has a great thread in the precision forum about working up loads for these rifles in heavier bullet weights. I think you'll find that the 1:9 twist will have difficulty with bullets heavier than 68 grains, but will do great with anything up to that.

Hope that helps. :)
Click to expand...

I have a 1:9 Kreiger that will stabalize 80 grain NoslerJ4's and Sierra MK. Some 1:9 won't stabalize these bullets but work great with 75 gr bullets. You won't know for sure unless you try them. My pet load for this rifle is 26.0 gr of Varget with the bullets touching the lands. The chamber on this rifle is a
.223 Wylde. The rifle shoots sub-MOA out to 900m. This rifle is a target rifle and is not used for hunting, so I have never tried light bullets.

P14shooter. Canadian military IVI ammo is 63 gr FMJ. I have tried some of this and found it shoots about 1 1/2-2 MOA.
 
Great! Sounds like I have a lot of fun ahead of me working up the load. I don't hunt, so this is meerly for pleasure, therefore I do not have to worry about hitting power.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom