Problems with first .223 load

[fadin' fast]

Your brass is a little short, but that will not hurt a thing, you won't have to trim for a long while.
Get a factory load with the same 55 grain bullet, and use it to set your dies. When your die gently touches the factory round, lock it down and run a reloaded round. You reload should be with 1 or 2 thousands of the length of the factory round.
I also use a Lee crimp die and have never had a problem with 10,000 plus rounds of .223 through it.
Lastly, I have found major and minor errors in the Hornady 8th Reloading manual. Use mostly the powder manufacturers loading data.
Somewhere around 25 grains of H335 should be your sweet spot. Let us know how you make out.
And yes, I have been reading here for a year, but this is my first post. Enjoy the site immensely.

[Sticks]

... I used 25.8 gr. of AA2230 for the thousand IMI bullets I purchased ...

Jesus!

Accurate Powder shows a range of 21.4 - 23.8 for 55gr HDY SPSX, and a highest max of 25.0 for VNE FMJ.

I have loads in .2gr increments made up but not been able to crono and check for accuracy yet (LC brass, 55gr HDY SPSX ~FMJ Spire Point~, AA2230) with a COAL of 2.190-2.205.

[Nightvisionary]

Your brass is a little short, but that will not hurt a thing, you won't have to trim for a long while.
Get a factory load with the same 55 grain bullet, and use it to set your dies. When your die gently touches the factory round, lock it down and run a reloaded round. You reload should be with 1 or 2 thousands of the length of the factory round.
I also use a Lee crimp die and have never had a problem with 10,000 plus rounds of .223 through it.
Lastly, I have found major and minor errors in the Hornady 8th Reloading manual. Use mostly the powder manufacturers loading data.
Somewhere around 25 grains of H335 should be your sweet spot. Let us know how you make out.
And yes, I have been reading here for a year, but this is my first post. Enjoy the site immensely.

Very true. The Hornady manual lists the maximum cartridge overall length for the 5.56 as 2.250 which is incorrect.

[xdm40Rajuy]

I'm using Lee's (Pacesetter) and the same Hornady setup as you. Put a batch together without the crimp @ 24-24.5. My Lee seating die applies good neck tension without the FCD.

At what OAL are you using for your reloads?

[shootist~]

Very true. The Hornady manual lists the maximum cartridge overall length for the 5.56 as 2.250 which is incorrect.

I'm not sure "incorrect" is correct.

A military COL specification for 5.56 pressure ammo is not necessarily the same as SAAMI .223 maximum COL (which they list as 2.260"). That's not to say you cannot load longer, as we all know you can.

[E4for2]

BASE LOAD- THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT-if you want to hand load-ya gotta have a base line-if your rifle or pistol is not capible of minute of angle shooting or close to it,,you will not be able to improve on your handload grouping as compared to match commerical loadings-last year I bought a Rock-River 308 after waiting for them to come out for a year--YES-it shot like a SKS !!!-back to the factory-ohh but there is nothing wrong with it....

[xdm40Rajuy]

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[davidz71]

Jesus!

Accurate Powder shows a range of 21.4 - 23.8 for 55gr HDY SPSX, and a highest max of 25.0 for VNE FMJ.

I have loads in .2gr increments made up but not been able to crono and check for accuracy yet (LC brass, 55gr HDY SPSX ~FMJ Spire Point~, AA2230) with a COAL of 2.190-2.205.

Actually, my Accurate Arms loading manuals from 1996 & 1997 show max load as 26.0 grains and 3216 fps. I worked up to the 25.8 in .2 grain increments and actually found that the tightest group was found with that load. I stopped right there since I wasn't showing any pressure signs in either my Colt HBar or the LWRC. Obviously, if I purchased additional 2230 powder I would go back to square one and work up the load again.

[Univibe]

Federal brass is funky.

1. It's not properly annealed for reloading. Works great from the factory, but I only get one reload out of it, then it goes into the scrap bucket. Neck tension can be iffy, primer pockets expand inconsistently. Try reloading with better brass: Lake City, R-P, Winchester.

2. It also varies in neck length more than the other brands, even in the same lot. This could cause inconsistencies.


You also might buy a chronograph--decent ones are $100-- and see what you get for avg. velocity and standard deviation. You can learn a lot from a chronograph.

[xdm40Rajuy]

Well after reading the post on here and other forums I loaded up some rounds and went to the range. I had my chrono but forgot my stand so I did not chrono my loads.

Conditions:
75*
Variable 7-10 mph winds
Not idea for load development but my time is running out of time as these loads will be used for my 2 gun competition on 2/19/12. Another thing that I considered was that since the winds were this strong a calm day would provide better results.

First I had some federal factory 223 so i loaded up 5 rounds to see how they would do at 100 yards. I put a 3 inch orange sticker on a paper plate and fired the 5 rounds.


Then I shot 10 55gr Vmax bullets at 100 yards


Then I decided to load 5 rounds each 24, 24.3, 24.6, 24.9, and 25.2 of H335. I kept the same length of 2.200 but I did not crimp these rounds. I found that 24.9 and 25.2 was my best loads but I am not sure what happened with the fliers in each one of these targets.

24gr


24.3


24.6


24.9


25.2


I will continue to fine tune these load and work with my OAL to see if i can tighten up the groups. I only need to be able to shoot a 8" plate at 100 yards so these loads will more than work. I would like to thank everyone for their input and help.