Reloading for my AR

[rcoodyar15]

Ok its been years since I did much reloading but now that I have this precision AR I have the urge to jump back in. I know from experience that I can produce a bullet and load combination that this gun will like much better than any store bought.

Lets see if I have this right

This whole .223 vs 5.56 thing seems to boil down the overall finished round length. 5.56 usually uses longer heavier bullets so the leede between the case mouth and the rifling is longer. Case demensions, loads pretty much everything else is the same. If you have a .223 chamber you better not use the longer bullets or the bullet may engage the rifling and increase pressures to dangerous levels. If you have a wilde or 5.56 chamber you should not have a problem.

back in the day we used to experiment with loads and the leade between the bullet and rifling. Everything from just touching to backing it off in increments to see what the best accuracy was.

Now is my take on this right?

and now the whole contrivercy on whether to crimp or not. I am reloading for accuracy and I am going to try both. Buying RCBS AR dies and forester bench rest .223 dies. It is the only way that I know of to get to the bottom of this argument. I will see for myself

Next. Anybody know where you can buy the Hodgdon varget powder? any recomendations on other powders to try for different loads

I am experimenting bullets matchking 52gr, 69 gr, 77gr, a selection of hornady match bullets, any other reccomendations?


thanks rick

[markm]

Now is my take on this right?

No. 5.56 comes in 55 gr variants... all the way up to 77 gr. Bullet length has nothing to do with it. It's the pressure levels of the load. A 5.56 chamber will have a longer leade to accommodate these increased pressures.


and now the whole contrivercy on whether to crimp or not. I am reloading for accuracy and I am going to try both. Buying RCBS AR dies and forester bench rest .223 dies. It is the only way that I know of to get to the bottom of this argument. I will see for myself

Exactly. I did a crimp test recently. Removal of the crimp on my match type ammo more than doubled the group sizes to like 2.25 MOA. It was shocking. But each individual's load process is different.


Next. Anybody know where you can buy the Hodgdon varget powder? any recomendations on other powders to try for different loads

I am experimenting bullets matchking 52gr, 69 gr, 77gr, a selection of hornady match bullets, any other reccomendations?


Forget Varget for .223. It works good. But there are many different options that are much more user friendly. I like H322 for heavy bullets, 66-77 grain. I also use XBR 8208 for 77s too. I like Benchmark for lighter bullets, 55 gr or so.

On the ball powder side, some people like TAC and CFE. For both heavy and light bullets.

[Onyx Z]

You are way off on the 223 vs 5.56 thing. The main difference is pressure, not COAL. Read this. It describe the chamber, where the main difference lies:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?55149-5-56mm-NATO-versus-223-Remington-Chamber-Differences

You don't load for AR's right on the lands since the magazine length is the limiting factor. You can produce .5moa ammo from mag length loads. I've done it many times.

There is no need to purchase "AR Dies", which are typically called small base dies. Small Base dies size the brass to a smaller dimension for "reliable feeding". Normal FL dies work just fine. I haven't had a single malfunction using them.

Forster and Redding bench rest seating dies do a great job of preventing runout since they hold the casing and bullet in aignment better than any other seating die. I prefer Forster over Redding personally.

Read, read, read the reloading section of this forum and you will learn more than you ever wanted to know.

[markm]

I had to tear down my Forster this weekend. It was sticking bad. The stem was scored and rough. I run my competition dies VERY hard because of the volume of ammo I'm pushing through them.

The micro adjustable feature is nice on that die.

[Onyx Z]

I had to tear down my Forster this weekend. It was sticking bad. The stem was scored and rough. I run my competition dies VERY hard because of the volume of ammo I'm pushing through them.

The micro adjustable feature is nice on that die.

I need to read up on how to do that. Mine is getting kinda sticky too.

[markm]

Shit! Talk about a brain teaser. I just threaded off the adjustment knob off the top... then threaded the stem out straight down out of the bottom. Setting the die back up is like balancing 3 things at once. Not impossible, but I don't want to go through that again. NOTE where your stem is, roughly, on the top of the die. That will help you get back to where you want to be when you put the sucker back together.

[rcoodyar15]

How about reading this and getting back to me


http://ballistictools.com/articles/5.56-vs-.223-myths-and-facts.php