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Thread: New Reloader, Couple .223 Questions

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by SecondsCount View Post
    While there are a ton of people who love Varget, I gave up on it years ago when shooting lighter bullets. H335, H4895, H322, and Vihtavuori N135 have worked well for me with bullets between 40-60 grain.

    55 FMJ bullets are not going to give you any kind of performance, even weight sorted. If you want a good bullet at a decent price, try the Hornady 62 BTHP that Midsouth carries. A 1:12 twist may not like that heavy of a bullet, so try the 53 Vmax which has a high BC for it's class and can be pushed hard from a long barrel.
    I picked up a few hundred 55 gr FMJ's because they were to be had and I will shoot some at some point just to see what they'll do, but at least out of my bolt rifle, I'll stick with VMax for now. Rifle's got the 25.6" barrel with 1:9.

    As I mentioned the other day, I grabbed a couple pounds of H335. Went by the (most) local gun store to me today for some more bullets and some 9mm. Looked through the powder selection, and low and behold they had an 8 lb jug of H335, too. I cringed at the price until I divided it out. The price per lb was good enough that it followed me home, too.

    However, looking at the manuals on it, I'm seeing max charges all over the charts. I've got copies of Sierra, Speer, and Hornady, plus checked the Hodge site, and it ranges from like 22.8 to 27.5. I haven't got a clue where to even start with that stuff.

  2. #32
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    I go to the manufacturer's website, look at their recommendations, start right in the middle, and work up from there. After shooting, I read the primers to see if they are too warm.
    -Seconds Count. Misses Don't-

  3. #33
    I have a pretty fair amount of data available--Sierra and Hornady on my phone, Hodgdon/Alliant on the PC, Lyman #50 in the basement (and Lee #2, but I don't look at that often). Usually, I'm able to just pitch one source as an outlier and have the other three be close. I pay a little more attention to one or the other depending on the cartridge, but the main thing I look at in rifle is getting a similar bullet type.

    In your case, Sierra is listing 24.9gr H335 with a 55-gr FMJBT as being hot, with no red asterisks at 24.4 (I love their app). Also, they give bolt gun-specific data.
    Hornady tops out at 23.2 for all 55-grainers.
    Hodgdon lists 22.7-22.8 for the Barnes TSX and Sinterfire bullets, but they go all the way up to 25.3 for the Speer Softpoint (a Spitzer).

    If I were doing this for-real, I would actually get off my ass and check Lyman. But I would presume that Hornady's data is a little conservative and would probably just load 25 rounds, 5 each 22.9, 23.2 23.5, 23.8, 24.1, 24.4. Normally, I have no problem loading into Sierra's red-asterisk range, but I've never worked with the CZ mini-action, so I have no idea what it likes. Anyways, this puts your starting charges within spitting range of the uber-conservative Hodgdon data, while still getting well into Sierra's numbers.

    OAL would be a couple hundreds off the lands, and I would mark each casing with the charge weight (Sharpie works great). Chronographing each load would tell me more. I would also compare the velocity to factory, and of course, examine the cases and primers after firing.

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wise_A View Post
    I have a pretty fair amount of data available--Sierra and Hornady on my phone, Hodgdon/Alliant on the PC, Lyman #50 in the basement (and Lee #2, but I don't look at that often). Usually, I'm able to just pitch one source as an outlier and have the other three be close. I pay a little more attention to one or the other depending on the cartridge, but the main thing I look at in rifle is getting a similar bullet type.

    In your case, Sierra is listing 24.9gr H335 with a 55-gr FMJBT as being hot, with no red asterisks at 24.4 (I love their app). Also, they give bolt gun-specific data.
    Hornady tops out at 23.2 for all 55-grainers.
    Hodgdon lists 22.7-22.8 for the Barnes TSX and Sinterfire bullets, but they go all the way up to 25.3 for the Speer Softpoint (a Spitzer).

    If I were doing this for-real, I would actually get off my ass and check Lyman. But I would presume that Hornady's data is a little conservative and would probably just load 25 rounds, 5 each 22.9, 23.2 23.5, 23.8, 24.1, 24.4. Normally, I have no problem loading into Sierra's red-asterisk range, but I've never worked with the CZ mini-action, so I have no idea what it likes. Anyways, this puts your starting charges within spitting range of the uber-conservative Hodgdon data, while still getting well into Sierra's numbers.

    OAL would be a couple hundreds off the lands, and I would mark each casing with the charge weight (Sharpie works great). Chronographing each load would tell me more. I would also compare the velocity to factory, and of course, examine the cases and primers after firing.
    I'm right there with you. Sierra gives a max charge of 26.0, Lyman (looked it up here a bit ago) of 27.0, Sierra is 27.5, Hodgdon has as you mentioned above, and the number given on the bottle is that higher end 25.3, and then Hornady with a max of 23.2. The stated velocities with those numbers is all over the charts, too.

    When I loaded the last set of Varget to go to the range, I was having issues with getting the chronograph to read, but it read all seven of them loaded at 26.0 and 26.2 gr, and I averaged 3010 and 3138, respectively (Fiocchi 55 gr Poly tip boat tail chronographed at 3315 a few days prior to that with similar weather conditions). Those numbers, at least on the higher charge, were pretty on point with the manuals. I have some more loaded there, but I'm learning on the fly where I have to measure powder at, like I can't do it at the kitchen table, it's too wobbly. So my ass has to stand at the rock solid island to measure powder. I'm hoping that the next set will be more consistent with velocities because of it, and then learning how my scale likes to play.

    I'm going to get some loaded up and hopefully it's not freaking windy tomorrow so I can go shoot it.

  5. #35
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    Quick question: are we annealing .223? Specifically wrt gas guns?

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by TOTS View Post
    Quick question: are we annealing .223? Specifically wrt gas guns?
    I have never annealed any 223 or 556. That is just me as an example.

  7. #37
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    I have never annealed 223 for a semi auto but I have for a bolt action. It does improve consistency but it isn't worth it for my AR. A little crimp helps the semi-autos.
    -Seconds Count. Misses Don't-

  8. #38
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    Thanks. Asking as I have seen split necks from the first firing on some range pick ups. I don’t reload.233 but do load .308 for bolt guns. May get an AR and start loading .223 for that. How many loadings in general from .223 brass? Let’s say LC mil.

  9. #39
    Member SecondsCount's Avatar
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    Brass life depends on how hot you make your loads, and if you are shooting it in a bolt gun or AR. I tend to load for accuracy rather than velocity and get 3-4 firings. Most of the time I lose the brass, at matches or classes, before getting the full life out of them. That's the beauty of 223, people leave it at the range by the thousands and I have buckets full of it.
    -Seconds Count. Misses Don't-

  10. #40
    I load alot of H335 for 55, 62, and 75gr pills.

    I just went off the Hodgdon website.

    With a Hornady 55gr SP, 24.5 gr H335, at OAL of 2.200 was the sweet spot for my guns (ARs). Not a max load, no bad pressure signs, happy with it.

    The yotes don't like it at all.
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