So I was given 2 bulk bags of .224 dia. bullets, unbranded. They are 55 grain, FMJ, hollow point, boat tail. Anybody got an overall length for me? I whipped up a dummy round and made it 2.26, and it's not showing any rifling marks when cycling it through the intended .223 Rem. rifle. I've got a couple of manuals but neither showing a load with similar style bullet to confirm overall length.
.223 Rem. Reload ???
- Thread starter WolfyW
- Start date
Published COLs are pretty much useless, because they were not derived with your rifle. Measure the COL with the bullet seated to the lands and subtract .010". If it fits your magazine, you are good to go, if it doesn't fit the magazine, seat deeper until it fits.
Thanks for the response, much appreciated. That's pretty much what I've done so far. In the past I was reloading these with a Sierra with a flat base. I guess the boat tail on these had me wondering if these should be seated a bit deeper. Not that I'm interested in upping pressures needlessly.
For AR-15 type gun or bolt? Here are Sierra's load recommendations for each type. There are 55 grain boat tail bullet loads for each type.
AR-15 .223 Remington Loads
Bolt gun .223 Remington loads
Excellent!
Thanks saved the pdf info for the bolt gun load
How can you tell when you are touching the rifling with .001'' precision?
there are several ways to measure your chamber. RCBS and Hornady make gauges and measuring tools, there are other ways too. Tried both Horandy and RCBS as well as other methods as simple as seating a bullet long, then turning the die little by little until the bolt closes with no effort.
I've never loaded to .001 though... I dont try and "stuff" my bullets.
What you can do is make a trial dummy cartridge by cutting 1 or 2 slots in the neck. Use a fired and neck resized case. Then what you do is adjust the neck tension so the bullet is a fairly snug fit but still is able to move in the neck. Then chamber it in your gun very carefully when the bullet is seated quite long. Next very carefully remove the case by holding the case as it comes out of the chamber and does not disturb the bullet. Then measure the overall length of the cartridge from the base to the tip. Pull the bullet out a little bit and repeat the process a few times to ensure you are getting a consistent number. Now you have the OAL of a load that just touches the lands, for THAT SPECIFIC BULLET. Mark the bullet so you don't mix it up. Set your seating die up long and keep adjusting it down until you get this same OAL or 0.010" less if you want to be 10 thou off the lands. Lock your die and load the rest of the rounds that you want to have this setting. Bullets are not all the same so you will get some variation if you measure the OAL. However to the ogive they should be very close. Most target shooters avoid trying to seat right at the lands. You cannot do these measurements with a 0.001" accuracy, so what you will get is a mix of bullets off the lands, at the lands, and into the lands. Not good for accuracy. I like to be 10 thou off the lands or 10 thou into the lands (jammed). Jammed can deliver the best accuracy.
However, in all of this, you have to check this length vs what you magazine will feed. If they are too long then you have to decide on how small you can get the jump and still feed from the mag, unless you are willing to single feed.
