a good guide for the 223 & 223AI reloader
- Thread starter ONT0001
- Start date
Thanks. - dan
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Things to look at:
Case weight vs case volume. There are some really heavy cases (military) that have the same case volume as commercial brass. Military brass has had a myth of having less capacity. I have used alot of milsurp brass and mostly the case volume is near identical to commercial. You always need to check though.
Assuming that the exterior dimension is similar, that weight might mean a thicker construction. This stuff might handle repeated high pressure firings well????
I am having wonderful success with Win brass.
Look at the bullets. Length and shape are a great indicator of LR ballistics. The 75gr Amax is longer then just about every VLD bullet in that pic. The 80gr Amax is even longer. I know that the Amax real world BC tends to be higher then print so these two bullets are at the very high end of the LR options. Both have Secant Ogive shapes prefered by VLD bullet makers.
I expect the 75gr Amax to keep up with the 80gr VLD's and the 80gr Amax with the 90gr VLD's from other companies. Remember that the HP is a great source of drag when compared to a poly tip.
Accuracy is also excellent. No sorting, trimming, weighing and other nonsense common to another big name brand.
H4350 has been skipped in the heavy bullet loads. Not sure if they even tried it. I am finding H4350 to be an excellent powder in my 223 Stevens with 75gr Amax. I am seating the bullet long which gives me a smidge more case volume to work with. Should still fit in a standard OAL though.
Varget showed alot of pressure spikes and flyers. H4350 has been smooth sailing and extremely accurate. will put a chrono up soon to get some velocity numbers.
More time will be needed to study the data but it all looks good.
Look at the table near the bottom of the post with all those cartridges pushing the 80gr MK. Now put in a 75gr Amax at 3100fps and see the difference. Yes, there are shooters getting that out of a 223 and a long barrel (F class rifle mostly). 3000fps is 223 SAAMI spec.
With the 80gr Amax at 3000fps, the difference will be quite interesting.
I think many F class shooters have poo pooed the 223 because they have shot MK bullets. If more time was spent with the Amax and pushed them just as hard, I bet they will find wind drift matching or bettering the 308. All with 1/3 the recoil.
I am really enjoying my time with the 223 and look forward to testing at LR and testing with my coming Pac Nor 7 twist.
Jerry
Case weight vs case volume. There are some really heavy cases (military) that have the same case volume as commercial brass. Military brass has had a myth of having less capacity. I have used alot of milsurp brass and mostly the case volume is near identical to commercial. You always need to check though.
Assuming that the exterior dimension is similar, that weight might mean a thicker construction. This stuff might handle repeated high pressure firings well????
I am having wonderful success with Win brass.
Look at the bullets. Length and shape are a great indicator of LR ballistics. The 75gr Amax is longer then just about every VLD bullet in that pic. The 80gr Amax is even longer. I know that the Amax real world BC tends to be higher then print so these two bullets are at the very high end of the LR options. Both have Secant Ogive shapes prefered by VLD bullet makers.
I expect the 75gr Amax to keep up with the 80gr VLD's and the 80gr Amax with the 90gr VLD's from other companies. Remember that the HP is a great source of drag when compared to a poly tip.
Accuracy is also excellent. No sorting, trimming, weighing and other nonsense common to another big name brand.
H4350 has been skipped in the heavy bullet loads. Not sure if they even tried it. I am finding H4350 to be an excellent powder in my 223 Stevens with 75gr Amax. I am seating the bullet long which gives me a smidge more case volume to work with. Should still fit in a standard OAL though.
Varget showed alot of pressure spikes and flyers. H4350 has been smooth sailing and extremely accurate. will put a chrono up soon to get some velocity numbers.
More time will be needed to study the data but it all looks good.
Look at the table near the bottom of the post with all those cartridges pushing the 80gr MK. Now put in a 75gr Amax at 3100fps and see the difference. Yes, there are shooters getting that out of a 223 and a long barrel (F class rifle mostly). 3000fps is 223 SAAMI spec.
With the 80gr Amax at 3000fps, the difference will be quite interesting.
I think many F class shooters have poo pooed the 223 because they have shot MK bullets. If more time was spent with the Amax and pushed them just as hard, I bet they will find wind drift matching or bettering the 308. All with 1/3 the recoil.
I am really enjoying my time with the 223 and look forward to testing at LR and testing with my coming Pac Nor 7 twist.
Jerry
