From: Ed.Harris@p0.f417.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Ed Harris) Newsgroups: rec.guns Subject: Loading .223 Remington Keywords: reloading, .223 Remington Date: 27 Jul 90 16:12:25 GMT Best all-around accurate load I have found, regardless of rifle type or barrel twist is to use the Sierra 52-gr. or 53-gr. benchrest bullets and 22 grs. of H4198 or IMR4198; or alternately 23.5 grs. of H322, and anybody's match primer, in whatever brass you have, but sorted by make or arsenal and year. This is not a high velocity load, about 2950 fps in the AR-15, but HIGHLY accurate. Shoots well in 7" twist or 12" twist barrels. This load was recommended to me by Wally Hart when I started shooting benchrest and I have concluded that if a .223 rifle will not group with this load, it wioll not group with ANYTHING! In a full blown benchrest rifle, taking GI cases assembled on a Dillon loader, with no benchrest tricks whatever, the stuff averaged 1.39" for twenty-five consecutive 10-shot groups at 200 meters fired the same day, running a round-robin on five different makes of primers. Primer make made no difference either! Like CCI450 and Federal 205 best, but Winchester WSR is also very good if priced compettively. DO NOT exceed this charge with 4198, as this is a fairly fast burning powder for this case. As for the H322, this surplus powder varies from batch to batch, and while the 23.5 gr. charge suggested to me was a mild load with the lot I used, others may run faster, so please be careful. -- Ed Harris at The Black Cat's Shack (Fidonet 1:109/401) Internet: Ed.Harris@p0.f417.n109.z1.fidonet.org UUCP: ...!uunet!blkcat!417.0!Ed.Harris From: Ed.Harris@p0.f417.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Ed Harris) Newsgroups: rec.guns Subject: .223 Contender loads Keywords: reloading, .223 Remington Date: 6 Aug 90 18:45:46 GMT I have found that in just about any .223 rifle or handgun of any twist that a charge of 22 grs. of either Hodgdon or Dupont 4198 with any bullet from 50 to 55 grs. is reliable and accurate. I like the Hornady 50-gr. SX bullets for woodchucks, and use the 53-gr. Sierra benchrest bullets for punching paper. I have found these are about universal loads and shoot in anything. I have found it groups better in the 7" twist AR-15 HBAR than 69-gr. MatchKings, and it is an effective competition benchrest load in my light varmint class guns with 14" twist Hart barrels. In the TC I would not be afraid to shoot the "para-military" commercial ammo of US make, such as the Olin-USA or Federal American Eagle, but I would be a bit cautious of foreign or US military issue ammo, because it is loaded to alot higher pressures. A few rounds won't hurt, but lot of them may loosen up the gun if it has a SAAMI-type .223 Rem. chamber. If you can seat out a 53-gr. Sierra to 2.29" overall length and get the barrel locked, it has essentiually the military style ball seat, and should be safe if you get no other pressure signs, but if Sierra bullets seated to that OAL jam in the rifling origin or are visible marked in a used barrel when you close the action with resistance, you probably have a SAAMI-tyle chamber and the NATO loads will produce higher pressures than the gun was designed for. The TC works OK with small cases up to about 50,000 cup, but real GI ammo in a snug SAAMI chamber will often do 60,000+, and you don't want to loosen the gun prematurely by shooting "near proof" loads in it. -- Ed Harris at The Black Cat's Shack (Fidonet 1:109/401) Internet: Ed.Harris@p0.f417.n109.z1.fidonet.org UUCP: ...!uunet!blkcat!417.0!Ed.Harris |