What are your loads for Hornady 68gr HPBT .223

vtrguy

vtrguy

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Hello Everyone,

I don't have any load data for the Hornady 68gr HPBT in VARGET and the Hodgdon website only displays Sierra's 69gr HPBT min load (24.0) to max load (26.0) and 2.235" OAL.

Everyone says that these 2 should be similar but at the same time the Hornday 6th edition manual states 22.7gr - 24.9gr min-max.

I want to make another batch of these for my VTR 700 .223 1in9" 22" barrel but at the same time if anyone has more accurate recipes for Hornday 68GR HPBT, that would be EXCELLENT

:sniper:
 
Use the same Min and Max loads as the 69 Sierra's

I think the most widely used pet load is 26grns of Varget with Federal Match, CCI BR4 or CCI 450 primers with the bullets jammed into the lands. YMMV as every rifle likes something different.

I have had my Savage LRPV up to 27.5grns with no signs of excessive pressures, but I worked up slowly by .1grn increments checking at each stage for telltale pressure signs.
 
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I wondered about this as well. While they are near the same weights 68-69 they are quite different in length, with the sierras .901" and the Horady .984".
While loading may be the same with Varget IF you loads them long there would certainly be a marked pressure difference if both were loaded to fit a magazine at 2.260 OAL? There would be a lot more of the 68 Hornady in the case displacing powder would there not?

Thanks
Bernie
 
It is quite difficult to load Varget beyond max and still have room for the bullet in a .223 case. Start around 24 grains and work up in .5 grain increments, chrono'ing your loads. .1 grain increments is a joke....there are something like 4 kernals to .1 grains -it doesn't do anything.
 
beltfed said:
It is quite difficult to load Varget beyond max and still have room for the bullet in a .223 case. Start around 24 grains and work up in .5 grain increments, chrono'ing your loads. .1 grain increments is a joke....there are something like 4 kernals to .1 grains -it doesn't do anything.
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I use BLC2 for my 223 and at a .2gr it makes the difference of 1/2" at 100 consistantly . I can take load "a" and shoot bugholes all day long ,take load "b" with .2gr more and it opens up ,switch back to "a" back to bug holes
 
Thanks for all of your input.

I guess I will wait and see if anyone who has the newest Hornady book will chime in here and post the data.

If I am going to use the same data as the 69 SMK than I would like to know what OAL to use instead of 2.235" considering the 68 Hornady is 0.083" longer in length as stated by BBUFFETT
 
If you are using the magazine, just seat the bullets so they will feed.
If you are single loading then seat them .010-.020 into the lands.
 
I have been using 25.6 grains of BLC-2 and CCI 450 primers. I am getting just over 2800 fps and one hole groups. I carefully worked up this load and chronied it all along the way. And yes, BLC-2 is supposed to be very temp sensitive, but it has shot one ragged hole groups at +11 degrees and also +26 degrees last week. Flows very nice through a measure too.
 
beltfed said:
It is quite difficult to load Varget beyond max and still have room for the bullet in a .223 case. Start around 24 grains and work up in .5 grain increments, chrono'ing your loads. .1 grain increments is a joke....there are something like 4 kernals to .1 grains -it doesn't do anything.
Click to expand...
What precision scales should one use to obtain .1 grain increments?
My scale is 0.01 gram and it only increments in .2 grain :(
 
alright well I've made 50 loads- 5 each:
24gr Varget/24.2gr and so on with .2gr increments up until 25.8gr.
I'm going to the range tomorrow and test these out and will post pics
 
vtrguy said:
alright i'm gonna try a min load of 24gr and work my way up of varget, any idea where i should stop?
Click to expand...

When you see pressure signs or you get one hole groups consistently.

Go up in .5 grn increments 24, 24.5, 25, 25.5, 26 (as high as you want to go) then take them to the range.

Watch for pressure signs as you move up. When you find a load that shoots the best, try going up 2 and down 2 from that load in .2grn increments to see if the group tightens up.
Let's say 25.5 yields the best groups of the bunch. From there, try 25.3, 25.1, 25.7 and 25.9.

I saw a couple of groups shot tonight with a friends .223. One group was the size of my fingernail and the other, which was .2grns more powder, opened up to over an inch.
 
colinjw said:
I have recently started reloading for rifle.
Should this not be OFF the lands ??
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Nope, I load all mine around .015-.020 INTO the lands. Some bullets like to be jumped, some like to be stuffed. You just have to try different seating depths as well as different powder loads.
 
BCboy said:
I use BLC2 for my 223 and at a .2gr it makes the difference of 1/2" at 100 consistantly . I can take load "a" and shoot bugholes all day long ,take load "b" with .2gr more and it opens up ,switch back to "a" back to bug holes
Click to expand...

What is your loading with BLC-2? If your load is say 26 grains, .2 of a grain represents less than 1% difference in charge.

I would go further to say that if your rifle is that finicky with these two loadings, you have not found the optimal charge or quite possibly the correct powder to use.
I contend that there are loads out there that should easily handle a .5 or more grain (depending on case capacity) swing + or - ,(in .223, at a 25 grain load, this represents 2% difference each way for a total of 4% variance) and still print within the same group.
There are far more variables at play that can throw rounds off a group than a 1% or less change in charge. I personally spend more time measuring and correcting concentricity issues over charge weights.
 
beltfed said:
What is your loading with BLC-2? If your load is say 26 grains, .2 of a grain represents less than 1% difference in charge.

I would go further to say that if your rifle is that finicky with these two loadings, you have not found the optimal charge or quite possibly the correct powder to use.
I contend that there are loads out there that should easily handle a .5 or more grain (depending on case capacity) swing + or - ,(in .223, at a 25 grain load, this represents 2% difference each way for a total of 4% variance) and still print within the same group.
There are far more variables at play that can throw rounds off a group than a 1% or less change in charge. I personally spend more time measuring and correcting concentricity issues over charge weights.
Click to expand...

CyaN1de said:
I saw a couple of groups shot tonight with a friends .223. One group was the size of my fingernail and the other, which was .2grns more powder, opened up to over an inch.
Click to expand...

Seems like I am not the only one where .2 increments make the difference ........
 
BCboy said:
Seems like I am not the only one where .2 increments make the difference ........
Click to expand...

O.K. then, how do you explain shooting different sized groups with the same ammo, same gun, same conditions? How about velocity spreads?
If you seriously believe 0.7% variance in a charge weight changes your group size for no other reason than that charge, then have at it:wave:
 
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