Cast bullets AR-180 B Range report.

[JBD]

First round of experimenting with cast bullets in my AR 180 B 223 Cal.


My load was 55 GRAIN lyman mold with a gas check. Weighed 60 Grains. 19 grains of wc surplus propellant sold by higginsons. Mimics H335. Sized to 225 out of linotype.

Used my AR 180 b with irons. Gratuitous gun #### pic

First group

Not awful I thought. Then I shot a group same range walmart 45 grain bulk pack.

Well the walmart stuff is better.

I took a video to show that ones gun will function on Cast.



I thought I could see my bullets making odd shape holes at 25 yards, I thought the bullets were not stabilizing. So I put up a target at 100 yards to see if they are keyholing.

no keyholing. I was actually very surpised that the bullets stayed on the paper at 100 Yards.

No gunnutz were harmed during these experiments. I am not really advocating casting for 223. Bulk bullets are cheap and available again. Just showing that it is possible.

 

[jimy]

Thanks for the great report. I've been wondering if the bullets would hold together going that fast. Any idea of the velocity of that ammo.

 

[JBD]

60 GR. HDY V-MAX Hodgdon H335 .224" 2.250" 22.5 2910 43,700 CUP

I did not have a cronograph my 19 grains of the WC would give the same speed as 20 grains of H335.

22.5 Grains produces 2910 feet per second. Mine would be going a bit slower.

The guy that I based my first load noticed that his bullets were vaporizing at 22.5 grains. So that I would say is the upper limit for linotype in h335. My linotype has run out so the next batch will be wheelweights oven treated at 485 degrees.

 

[curtmg]

The 100y group doesn't look that much bigger than the 25. I do love the cast bullet, black gun combo

 

[ElmerFudd]

Are those regular lube grooves that aren't lubed or are they the optional lube grooves on the nose? In other words, does that bullet get wider in the case? I don't have my Lyman Cast Bullet manual handy to check.

That velocity sounds pretty hight. The load you have listed from the Hodgdon site isn't for cast bullets.

My Lyman 48th manual (not the Cast manual) has max loads listed for a 55 gr. lead bullet with velocities of about 2200 fps. It recommends to keep it between 1900 and 2300 fps for best accuracy and should be at least 15 bhn in hardness. And that's with a 24" barrel.

What other powders do you have? H335 isn't listed. It lists 10 powders in this manual.

Here's 2 that you might have powder for:

Powder  Start  fps   CUP       Max   fps   CUP
Unique  6.2    1753  26,700    9.0   2209  41,400
2400    8.0    1753  18,000    11.5  2206  27,100

Hope this helps.


Fudd