What happened to my loads?

I had terrible luck with 75 AMAX in my 1in8 twist .223..very erratic. Switched over to Hornady 75gr HPBT or 80gr SMK's and its a night and day difference. Im shooting 26.4 gr of Varget..seems the faster i push the bullet the tighter and more consistent my groups are. I never neck size either..see no benefit in accuracy.

AI? What cases? How on earth do you get 26.4 grains in there? Between Hornady, Win and Rem cases, I can't get much over 25, and I'm seating to 2.440" with the 75 A Max if memory serves. What's the rifle?
 
Yup the 5R in 223 is 1:9. Designed for 69 SMK rounds.

Sorry meant 24.4 Varget..Not 26.4, you're right..no case would fit 26.4 lol

Cheers!!

Roger! At 25 I get snap crackle pop but it's uncompressed after the powder moves up around the bullet. Much over that is fully compressed.

Ya, as picked up on already the A Max needs a min 1:8 twist. If you've got a 1:9 bbl you won't be able to shoot them.
 
You could well be on the ragged edge of stability, some are and some aren't. Bet if you shot them out further - making the assumption this is 100 yds we're talking - you'd see things completely fall apart as the bullets destabilize as they slow down.
 
You could well be on the ragged edge of stability, some are and some aren't. Bet if you shot them out further - making the assumption this is 100 yds we're talking - you'd see things completely fall apart as the bullets destabilize as they slow down.

To be honest, I haven't put forth the effort in developing loads for my 223 like I have my 308. I will start seriously working on some 69 smk loads this summer and if all goes well I will purchase some bulk from henry in the fall.
 
I'll tell you what happened to 1x of my loads... JUST FOUND OUT MY WIFE IS PREGNAT! I usually try to aim for the glasses or hair LOL.

new shooter on the way!

the best I did with 69gr SMK's out of a Savage 1-9 was 23.6 H335, 2.246 OAL
 
I'll tell you what happened to 1x of my loads... JUST FOUND OUT MY WIFE IS PREGNAT! I usually try to aim for the glasses or hair LOL.

new shooter on the way!

the best I did with 69gr SMK's out of a Savage 1-9 was 23.6 H335, 2.246 OAL


Was that the longest you've loaded them ?
 
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Was that the longest you've loaded them ?
yeah, I think I took the info from loading an 'unloaded' round with a bullet into the chamber to see where it seated and backed it off just a bit. maybe backed off too much!?

but that's all going to change again anyway, got a new 'stock Savage 12 stainless fluted barrel' to put on the front... I'll start again.
 
Okay, just asked because I'm testing a Savage 12BTC SS and had the length to 2.30 and was great @ 100 but could not use the mag because of the longer bullet so hand fed only so going the other way and trying to keep the groups tight.
 
My load for the 75amax is 24.0 gr of varget, neck turned 223 ackley lapua brass with br-2 primers. OAL is 2.404". It's low pressure and gives me sub 1/2 MoA at 100yards. My barrel is a 29" maclennan 1-8 twist. MV is 2910fps
 
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