Help wth .223 reloads

[AFshirt]

Hi,
I am hoping someone can help me figure out what is up with my 223 reloads. For some reason even at 25 yds they wont even hit paper and the ones that do are keyholing. I used my 16inch PSA upper with a Tac30 scope. I am not perfect but I can keep 77g projectiles inside of a 2 inch shoot n see target at 100yds and and cheap PMC 55gs I can keep inside a 4 inch target so I should at least be seeing these hit paper at 25 I would think.

Here is the full setup start to finish on how I load in case I am making a mistake somewhere.

Components

Mostly LC brass
projectile 55g FMJ (this is where I think the problem is hopefully, they are bulk pulled M193)
Powder H335
Primer CCI 41

I deprime using a universal decapping die then clean in my wet tumbler for an hour.
I then lube and resize with a LEE full length sizing die. I screw the die in until it touches the shell holder and then 1/4 turn more like in the instructions.
I then trim, chamfer the neck and check the primer pocket and ream if necessary.
I then tumble again to remove the lube. Then prime with the CCI 41s.

I then charge the case with 25g of H335. I seat the projectile to mid cannelure. I do not crimp with the seating die. The instructions say to back off 1/4 turn after the die touches the shell holder if do not want to crimp. I do however do a light crimp with the Lee Factory Crimp Die setting it up exactly the way the instructions say.

I have tried 24g, 24.5g and 25.2g of H335 as well as H322 with the same results.

For comparison I load blackout and with Hornady 123g ZMAX rounds over 17g of IMR 4227 I get one hole groups at 50yds. I am hoping it is the projectiles. I can always get different types but I wanted to make sure it wasn't my procedures first before I spend any more money.

Thanks.
Brad

[Onyx Z]

Can you not get on paper to begin with, or does the POI move around? Are the 77gr loads out of the same upper?

[AFshirt]

Can you not get on paper to begin with, or does the POI move around? Are the 77gr loads out of the same upper?

These are my 77g reloads at 100yds using the same upper.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa151/baxsom/IMG_2069_zps8085ec43.jpg (http://s196.photobucket.com/user/baxsom/media/IMG_2069_zps8085ec43.jpg.html)

The 55g ones did not even hit paper after I fired this group.

I moved the target back to 25 and on a new target I found two keyholes out out of 10 rounds and no other holes.

[FloridaWoodsman]

Like you, I would be suspicious of the pulled M193 rounds. Take your calipers and see if they got scrunched a little out of round in the pulling process. See how flat the base is.

[Onyx Z]

I'd say it's the bullets. Try some Hornady 55gr FMJ's. For the most part, they are the gold standard for FMJ's. Due to the problems you are seeing with the current bullets, I'd grab a box of 100 before you go balls deep.

[AFshirt]

Measuring the circumference around the base I am getting .224 to .2245 as I go around. I checked twenty of them and got the same readings on all of them. Im going to load 10 more and I have one box of xtreme 55g FMJs that I haven't opened yet. Im going to load 10 of those as well and see if there is a difference.

[AFshirt]

I'd say it's the bullets. Try some Hornady 55gr FMJ's. For the most part, they are the gold standard for FMJ's. Due to the problems you are seeing with the current bullets, I'd grab a box of 100 before you go balls deep.

agreed

[.46caliber]

OP, what velocity are you seeing on the bad 55 reloads?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[AFshirt]

chrono took an untimely hit a few months ago and I have yet to replace it. It's the reason why I went with a well published powder charge to start with. 25g of H335 is pretty much dead on what everyone uses with a 55g projectile. I tried 10 of 24.5, 10 of 25 and 10 of 25.5. Maybe 4 total keyholes on paper total.

[AFshirt]

Great call on checking out the bases. Here is a shot of a 55g FMJ from Xtreme next to one of the M193 pulls that is giving me such a fit. I took 10 with the same powder charge as before out today and with my scoped AR put all of them into a half inch group at 50. Amazing that such a difference is made by something so small.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa151/baxsom/IMG_2863_zpsac6d1fe1.jpg (http://s196.photobucket.com/user/baxsom/media/IMG_2863_zpsac6d1fe1.jpg.html)

[LRRPF52]

What muzzle device?

[masan]

The base of the bullets plays an enormous role in accuracy. This is one of the main reasons that hollow point bullets (like the SMK) are so consistently accurate. This is also why the angle on boat tail bullets will affect the bullets performance at different ranges.

[AFshirt]

What muzzle device?

First rifle tried has a Levang, second rifle was a standard 16 inch and it has a normal A2 style. My third one that I tried has the bravo company one. All three had bad results with the projectiles with the messed up bases. All three shot the Xtreme projectiles nicely. Crazy how that small of a thing makes that huge of a difference.

[.46caliber]

Next time you buy, go for the Hornady FMJs as Onyx Z mentioned. They've been great for me.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[AFshirt]

Next time you buy, go for the Hornady FMJs as Onyx Z mentioned. They've been great for me.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Ive got a thousand coming in. The ones from Xtreme are doing half inch groups at 50yds but are opening up to just over an inch and a half at 100. Not bad for plinking ammo but the hornady isnt that much more expensive