5.56mm Load for Competition and Practice...

[Chris Rhines]

I'm slowly getting back into loading 5.56mm ammunition, after a few years of shooting mostly factory stuff. I'd like some advice from the reloading community here.

I'm looking for a single load that will hold <1MOA from 0-400 yards in an AR with a match barrel (Lilja or Kreiger, in my case.) I'd prefer a heavier bullet, as I'm going to be shooting mostly steel at these distances. I also have a good supply of once-fired Lake City brass that I'd like to make use of.

Any advice on where I should start?

Thanks!

ETA: I'm gonna be loading these on a Dillon, so a powder that will drop consistently is a big factor.

[MEH]

24gr varget or rl-15 under 77SMK. Standard high power load. More than capable.

[mizer67]

24gr varget or rl-15 under 77SMK. Standard high power load. More than capable.

Varget drops extremely poorly from a Dillon measure.

RL-15 is better. 24 gr - 25 gr with a 69 SMK is a .8 MOA, 10-rd group load in any SS barreled gun I've ever shot. Drops +/- .2 gr in a Dillon.

TAC & a 77 SMK is a pretty consistent 1.2 MOA load and drops +/- .1 gr.

[SecondsCount]

Years ago when I did a lot of varmint hunting, a combination of Hodgdon 335 and 60 grain Sierra HPBT bullets provided good velocity for expansion at long ranges, and accuracy was .5MOA in a 5 shot group. These were loaded on my Dillon 550. The gun was an AR with a custom 20" 1-9 twist barrel.

I agree that long extruded powders do not flow well through a Dillon measure.

[MEH]

If meter flow is a concern and polishing the drop tube doesn't help, you might try 23.2 grains of IMR8208 under a 77SMK. Some in the high power game are switching to this powder.

[223AI]

While I most definitely do not shoot high-power, the majority of my practice rounds..and some competitions...are sent via 8208 in my .223 bolt gun. I am shooting 24.4 grains of 8208, a pointed 82 berger, Wolf SRM primers, and Lake City brass at about 2.490" OAL. Feeds from an AICS mag like a dream, and come very close to matching my 260 to 1k.

Basically, 8208 is your ticket for heavies in a 223...the plus side is the velocity, temperature stability, and the metering capability. The negative side is nothing. Good luck.

[HCL3]

The forum over at usrifleteams.com has a bunch of informative threads about this topic