77gr Nosler CC load?

[Vegas]

Nosler’s own surplus shop (Shooter’s Pro Shop) will have overruns and blems on rotation. I picked up my last 1k of the 77s from them. The deals come and go.

Thanks. Hadn't seen that before so I'll keep an eye on it.

[markm]

Buying precision bullet blems is mental torture. I still buy them, but you never know if there's an issue that'll really impact accuracy.

[Ironman8]

We run 21.6-21.8 for the "house" load. Outstanding in any AR and a great long range round out to 1000 yards in the bolt gun.

I've been going over max at 22.8 with some 77 gr TMKs recently that give a more 5.56ish pressure and performance.

Is 22.8 (assuming this is H322) a compressed load? How is accuracy compared to the 21.6-21.8 H322 load you’ve used for years? That load gave me consistent 3/4 MOA from a Noveske SS

[markm]

Is 22.8 (assuming this is H322) a compressed load? How is accuracy compared to the 21.6-21.8 H322 load you’ve used for years? That load gave me consistent 3/4 MOA from a Noveske SS

Not compressed at all. That's the caution with H322 and the other benchrest extruded powders. You can get enough in the casing to Kaboom your gun if you're not careful.

22.8 shot a sub MOA group with TMK 77s. My logic on that was that if we're going to run the higher BC bullet, might as well step on the gas a bit. Especially after shooting Black Hills factory 5.56 TMKs.

[Ironman8]

Not compressed at all. That's the caution with H322 and the other benchrest extruded powders. You can get enough in the casing to Kaboom your gun if you're not careful.

22.8 shot a sub MOA group with TMK 77s. My logic on that was that if we're going to run the higher BC bullet, might as well step on the gas a bit. Especially after shooting Black Hills factory 5.56 TMKs.

Damn. I sold off two jugs of H322 because I went heavy into TAC due to not getting the velocity from H322. And so far I haven’t found a good load with TAC and the 77 Nosler CC’s.

In general, if I’m shooting over a chrono and looking for pressure signs, will 2500 FPS from TAC give me the same pressures as 2500 FPS from H322? In other words, can you get higher pressures with lower velocity from one powder compared to another?

I’m not in front of my reloading manual, but I thought 21.8 was the top end for H322/77gr pills so I never tried working above that...

[markm]

In other words, can you get higher pressures with lower velocity from one powder compared to another?

You absolutely can. We just discovered this DRAMATICALLY with 300WM. I tried a pound of RL19 in place of the usual H1000 and I was getting big velocity leaps with lesser pressure signs.

I’m not in front of my reloading manual, but I thought 21.8 was the top end for H322/77gr pills so I never tried working above that...

21.8 is publish max. Which generally speaking is my starting point for any load. We load XBR over max too. The only reason H322 was used at publish max for me was how good it shot... it is/was an accurate target load with so-so velocity.

[Ironman8]

You absolutely can. We just discovered this DRAMATICALLY with 300WM. I tried a pound of RL19 in place of the usual H1000 and I was getting big velocity leaps with lesser pressure signs.



21.8 is publish max. Which generally speaking is my starting point for any load. We load XBR over max too. The only reason H322 was used at publish max for me was how good it shot... it is/was an accurate target load with so-so velocity.

Good feedback Mark, thanks bud.

[SkiDevil]

I don't have the experience of some reloading, but I have been loading .223/ 5.56 almost exclusively for the last three years.

All I reload with is Nosler projectiles and I use M.E.N. and Lake City 5.56 once fired brass. Loading the 77 BTHP Custom Competition round, I have had good luck basically following the manual's load using 22.5 to 23.1 grains of Varget powder with CCI primers. I found that 22.5 grains seemed to be the sweet spot for the three rifles I shoot the most (LMT 5.56 chrome lined 14.5"/ 16," and Noveske stainless 16" barrels). I am getting good accuracy with no pressure signs, but I haven't chronographed the loads yet.

I am impressed with the Nosler 77 grain projectiles, especially for the price.

FWIW, I use a single-stage presses, so the extruded powder doesn't matter to me. However, I understand Varget is not a good choice for metering.

https://load-data.nosler.com/load-data/556x45-nato/

[markm]

All I reload with is Nosler projectiles and I use M.E.N. and Lake City 5.56 once fired brass.

Do you separate the brass into respective batches? I ask because MEN brass shot 40 fps faster than standard L.C., F.C, etc. brass.

I can't remember if I weighed it, but I did chrono it, and the internal case volume must be less because I got more velocity out of it.

[Smokecloud]

Do you separate the brass into respective batches? I ask because MEN brass shot 40 fps faster than standard L.C., F.C, etc. brass.

I can't remember if I weighed it, but I did chrono it, and the internal case volume must be less because I got more velocity out of it.

If you are trying to build somewhat precision rounds, then by all means, you should sort your brass. If I am just building practice/plinker ammo, I will use mixed. All brands of brass have considerably different case volumes and case thickness.

As far as the rest of this thread, H4895 works pretty well with 77gr Noslers, but requires a bit more work because of the large kernel size. loads and shoots similar to Varget. I always have H4895 on hand for my M1a and needed powder desperately a few years back when I was shooting in the MGM Ironman. The H4895 delivered acceptable performance all around. When powder started becoming available again, I tried working up various loads with H4895, Varget, 8208xbr and TAC. Surprisingly all shot very well, but the 8208xbr barely edged out the rest and also works in my 650 Dillon, so it has become my go to load. My rifle ended up liking 22.5gr in LC cases with lots of case prep.