Another Ladder Test: .223 Remington, 69gr MatchKing, CFE223

mikeyb

mikeyb

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
4   0   0
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba
So since most of the usual stuff I like to shoot is hard to come by, I've been using StaBALL 6.5 and had been planning to do a test with CFE223 to see how it worked.

Rifle: Remington Model 700 SPS Tactical, 20" 1:9 twist
Bullet: Sierra 69gr. Matchking HPBT
Brass: Federal (once-fired)
Powder: Hodgdon CFE223
Primer: Federal 205M Match
COAL: 2.235"

23.5gr Velocity 2422/2469/2446 min/max/average
24.5gr Velocity 2590/2617/2607 min/max/average
25.5gr Velocity 2758/2779/2767 min/max/average
25.8gr Velocity 2826/2863/2840 min/max/average

So book max on this load is 25.8gr, which should give 3020fps out of a 24" 12-twist barrel. With an average loss of 25.34fps per inch it should go about 2920fps and twist doesn't have a huge effect on velocity as once thought, so there's something missing here. Might be the primer type, or the cases have a bit extra room in them I'm not getting all the pressure expected. In fact, the cases look great, even this "max load" had no problems with bolt lift, extraction, stretching, cracking, splitting, or flattened primers.

There's probably more in this load as it sits, but the 25.5gr load put all three into the same hole, I'll probably load up a dozen or so more at that charge weight and see what happens.
 
Thanks for this post Mikey B, I also have a rem SPS Tac 20" 1:9, and its good to see what others are having success with,

I've loaded up a ladder test of 69gr Nosler Custom Competitions with CFE223 and Rem 7.5 primers, but haven't gotten the chance to get out yet to run them through the Chronograph. When I do I'll post my results on this thread for your intel,
 
sillymike said:
Personally, I'm usually more concerned with deviations than absolute-speed. 25.5 seems to have potential.
- How were the groups?
Click to expand...

24.5grs - .491"
25.5grs - .199"
25.8grs - .352"

Those are center-to-center measurements, so the load can definitely shoot! I agree, the velocity consistency at 25.5 looks nice.

260SnowBird said:
Thanks for this post Mikey B, I also have a rem SPS Tac 20" 1:9, and its good to see what others are having success with,

I've loaded up a ladder test of 69gr Nosler Custom Competitions with CFE223 and Rem 7.5 primers, but haven't gotten the chance to get out yet to run them through the Chronograph. When I do I'll post my results on this thread for your intel,
Click to expand...

Definitely interested in the Nosler/Rem combination and if there is any velocity to gain. The rest of the findings will be in this test:

Killbillc68 said:
Sounds legit to me. Possibly you might want to play around with seating depth measured off the ogive.
Click to expand...

This will be next-step, playing with the seating depth. The 69gr is seated fairly deep already at that COAL but the mag has some room to seat them out more. I'm going to seat another bullet out and see what it looks like when it's got a shorter jump to the lands, then work up from there in .1gr increments starting at 25.5, maybe going up to 26.0.
 
My Savage with a 26" heavy barrel likes 24gr of H335 with the 69gr SMKs or the 68gr Hornady Match BTHPs.. OAL 2.26 in MDT mags. I don't have a crono so I don't know the speeds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom