223 reloads

M1911a1g17

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Hello all. I am hoping that you guys could please judge my reloads here. .223 reloads. It’s a Hornady 55gr fmjbt projo. Using imr 4198 powder. 19.8 grains. Lake city brass. Remington primer. Please let me know if you see any issues or concerns. No concerning pressure signs in primers at all with this charge weight. Newer to reloading so just want to make sure everything looks good! Thank you.
 

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Pics? Poking around I see a bunch of forums I troll saying 21.5gr is a common, slightly hotter load. So you should be fine. What gun/application is this for? Distance? Load likely fine for plinking at 100yds or less. If you're looking for accuracy in general you need to be up near the max and use OCW to start finding best (lowest) Standard Deviation of velocity.

In general a .223 case will hold 22-30gr of powder depending on the brand/type. I've never used 4198 as it seems a bit hot to me for 223. I'd feel more comfortable with a powder that had a safe listed max load of at least 24gr, as generally the closer to max case capacity you are, the lower the chance of you overcharging a round is.

A pistol example of a powder I would never recommend a newbie use due to low case capacity at max load is Titegroup. With Titegroup you can almost triple charge a 9mm case before it would overflow. I use Titegroup exclusively now for 9mm, but would never tell a new reloader to start with that powder.

If you want a basic powder for 223 that is nearly 99% mistake proof for 55gr look at 4320. The max powder load for 4320 for a 55gr projectile is more than will fit in the case. You can legit dunk a 1.760" length case in the bottle, fill it to top, slam a bullet in and it's still safe to use, albeit spicy. (It will be roughly 27gr of powder). OBLIGATORY I'M GIVING AN EXTREME EXAMPLE OF STUPIDITY. DO NOT RELOAD USING THIS METHOD 🤣
 
Sorry I thought that pic posted!! Thank you though. In a ar. I only have access to a 350 max but rarely shoot that far. Generally up to a 100. Forgive me but what does ocw stand for? That is good to know though.
 
Kind of difficult to judge your reloads without more info.

Do you have a case gage?

Did you gage every round?

Did you seat your primers fully?

Do they gage properly?

Did you double check your powder drops by looking into each piece to insure there's powder? Do a shake test and listen for the powder inside.

Is your OAL within specs?

If yes to all, then your reloads should work.
 
From the one pic the OAL (Over All Length) looks OK since your neck is on the cannula.

Was that brass crimped before you loaded it or are you crimping it? If it was you, I would back off a smidgen. I personally do not crimp 223. Its an additional step that really doesn't do anything for you unless you're moving your ammo around a lot. Gov does it because of heavy logistics getting it to wars.

Overcrimping can cause higher pressures and mess with your SD (Standard Deviation of each rounds velocity) especially if you are loading mixed brass or low quality brass because the necks won't be the same diameter, thickness or concentricity. It can lead to earlier neck cracking.

OCW is Optimum Charge Weight. This is when you load batches of rounds with different powder loads and shoot them to measure 1) the velocity of the batch and standard deviation and 2) both the accuracy and precision of each batch. For general plinking ammo you're looking for the charge thay gives you the most consistent POA/POI. For best accuracy ammo you would find the lowest SD load and then use other factors like seating depth to achieve tight groups.

Post a pic of the primer after you shoot your first rounds and we can give feedback on how hot the round is based on how the primer deforms
 
@Uzi2 I actually weight each charge individually. Then seat. I do the plunk test on a barrel I have. Need to get some gauges. Do you have any recommendations on a particular set? Yes primers seated fully. I was more just wondering if on looks and what you guys can gather do they look ok.

@xtry51 i crimp myself. That is all Very good thank you. What do you do to check for over crimping? Will do. Made 10 at 19.8 and plan on trying them today.
 
@Uzi2 I actually weight each charge individually. Then seat. I do the plunk test on a barrel I have. Need to get some gauges. Do you have any recommendations on a particular set? Yes primers seated fully. I was more just wondering if on looks and what you guys can gather do they look ok.

@xtry51 i crimp myself. That is all Very good thank you. What do you do to check for over crimping? Will do. Made 10 at 19.8 and plan on trying them today.
The gage is a single piece. They are manufactured by several companies, Dillon, Hornady, Wilson, Lee and a few others. I use Dillon (bought many years ago) and Wilson.
Look around the internet and see what's available.

Plunking is not the way to test your rifle reloads for proper sizing/case length. It may go in and out of the chamber easily but that doesn't tell you if the shoulder is correct.
Plunking into a barrel is ok for straight wall pistol cartridges that headspace on the case mouth but not for rifle rounds that headspace on the shoulder.

Ok on weighing each charge. Always double check your powder before seating a bullet. A small flashlight shined into the casing to make sure there's powder in it is the way to go.
 
I don't crimp at all now, but when I was doing it I would set/mark the die at the point I could just barely see marks on neck. Find the rotation where you can just make out the die made contact and try to keep it there.

I also forgot to mention that over crimping can also deform the bullet, decreasing accuracy. Not an issue with 55gr FMJ. It's already garbage. Lol.
 
@Uzi2 I actually weight each charge individually. Then seat. I do the plunk test on a barrel I have. Need to get some gauges. Do you have any recommendations on a particular set? Yes primers seated fully. I was more just wondering if on looks and what you guys can gather do they look ok.

@xtry51 i crimp myself. That is all Very good thank you. What do you do to check for over crimping? Will do. Made 10 at 19.8 and plan on trying them today.
like others said - crimp is not required.

as of what you did and if it works depends upon of what you want and how it groups from your rifle. to assess performance you really need to get a chronograph - like this one i use
Amazon product ASIN B07FTJYQ9ZView: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FTJYQ9Z

and assess how the standard deviation looks like is with those loads you baked, shooting groups of 5.

imr4198 19.8gr according to the hornady manual is close to the max of 20gr, and should be pushing it close to 3100fps, accuracy wise it may be better to set it around 3000fps and 19.1gr - probably - but it depends upon the rifle, of course. none of my rifles groups 55gr well at all, so i only reload 69gr sierra SMK bullets that do work very well for my barrels twist.
i tried several hornady .223 bullets and none worked well, i`ve got to say too.
 
I'll fess up and say I've never used a case gage for any bottleneck. I don't even own a rifle cartridge gage. But I'm resizing the case full length and bottoming the die, not "bumping" it for brass previously fired in my chamber.
 
I'll fess up and say I've never used a case gage for any bottleneck. I don't even own a rifle cartridge gage. But I'm resizing the case full length and bottoming the die, not "bumping" it for brass previously fired in my chamber.
case gauge is handy for quick checks during trimming.
for a proper measurement of how deep to screw in the full size die you need the headspace gauge

then you set the die to press neck down for about of .001-002". typically it is just a 1/16 or a turn once the die touches the press plate, or even less. i go by the feel now - too much and brass will be sticking into a die, not enough and a headspace will not be adjusted at all.

once all brass went through the die and it is time to size it with a trimmer - that it when the case gouge helps quite a bit to speed things up.
it is not a bypassable thing, really, when you deal with random brass collected at the range - it needs to be at least partially unified and sized, if you want it to behave in a similar way and keep SD in a reasonable range.
 
@Uzi2 ok I will get one of those for sure. Thank you. The process I am doing right now for rifle is I weight the charge dump into case then immediately seat the bullet after.

@xtry51 that is good to know.

@paul73 i have a chrono currently. The funky thing was at lower charges it would not cycle my gun. Not a huge fan of Hornady.
 
I'll fess up and say I've never used a case gage for any bottleneck. I don't even own a rifle cartridge gage. But I'm resizing the case full length and bottoming the die, not "bumping" it for brass previously fired in my chamber.
Lmao I’m in the same boat. Don’t own any case gauges. Only time I had issues is when I was reloading 30-06 and using mixed brass. Made it a little hard to close the bolt on my 1903A3 using HXP brass. Had to screw the sizing die down a tad bit further
 
@paul73 yea I thought so. Would not go back enough to pick up another round. Bumped up the charge a bit and no issues. Also no crazy pressure signs based on primer and rim. That is good to know also. Thank you.
 
@Uzi2 ok I will get one of those for sure. Thank you. The process I am doing right now for rifle is I weight the charge dump into case then immediately seat the bullet after.

@xtry51 that is good to know.

@paul73 i have a chrono currently. The funky thing was at lower charges it would not cycle my gun. Not a huge fan of Hornady.
IMR/Hodgdon data says its from a 1/12 twist barrel also...fun stuff its a pretty fast powder so maybe just not enough gas volume for a AR ?
 
@mac1911 I have seen that a few times. The test barrels used are pretty weird. 24 in 1/12 and sfuff like that. Not common. But yes I think it may have just been too light? Yea it’s up there! Been using Hornady data. I have been finding that it’s very light.

@paul73 i apologize. I haven’t had a chance to chrono it yet. Hoping to go to the range after work today. I will post results for sure. Thank you though for the posts and data as well.
 
Average fps was 2698. Velocity jumped around a bit which was strange.
 

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Average fps was 2698. Velocity jumped around a bit which was strange.
So you are on the data table I sent above.
Means your optimal load should be in area from 21 to 21.5gr.
Stop crimping them and make sure necks are all set same way. Then you can test groups from 20.5 to 21.5 in a step of, say, 0.3gr to see which one will produce best groups and best SD.
 
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Yeah I advise going up in charge. You tend to get lower SD higher towards max. Your primers aren't even flattening so you've got room to bump up. How was the group?
 
@paul73 awesome thank you!! Will do.

@xtry51 oh really? That’s good to know. I was wondering why it was all over the place. Yes I noticed that. Not flat at all. I wasnt going for grouping in this just yet. Wanted to see the velocity and also getting the hang of shooting a chrono. Have not used it much yet.
 
It's really exciting to shoot your first reloads. Now like others have said get down to developing a load to fit your needs. CFE223 is great for volume reloading and Varget is my favorite for accuracy. I like the Lee factory crimp too.
Also consider the Hornady Bullet Comparator.
If you want to get serious about accuracy then case prep will come into play and annealing your brass is a must to extend its life no matter what your goal is.
 
@akma Yes it is for sure!! I have some varget. Do you crimp? If so how much? What does that tool do exactly? I just looked at the link and saw it makes sure for uniform seating depth. How does it do that?
 
Average fps was 2698. Velocity jumped around a bit which was strange.
Different brass manufactures can cause deviations in velocity , different case capacities, diffetent alloy of brass can expand differently more so on “lower” powder charges.
All sorts of stuff going on. Toss in some brass thats been loaded X more times than the other brass…. Brass is work hardened.

All sorts of fun stuff . Keep at it . Things do get better
 
@akma Yes it is for sure!! I have some varget. Do you crimp? If so how much? What does that tool do exactly? I just looked at the link and saw it makes sure for uniform seating depth. How does it do that?
varget may not be the best powder for 55gr projectile. it works very well for 69gr and 77gr. what is the twist of your barrel? go with the projectile that is optimal for it.
when you reload, there is little reason to go for a cheapest one. get a good quality loads. and it will group like this - 69gr SMK, 10 shots there:

1649808943543.png
 
@mac1911 that is very good to know! I was wondering what could have been causing It potentially. I made sure the test group all had the same powder charge weight and the same overall length as well. I was trying to eliminate all variables that I could have caused.
I enjoy it a ton so far. Very very interesting to me. Thank you!

@paul73 why is that I am just curious? Still trying to figure out what powders are optimum for certain bullet weights. This one is a 1:9. I have a 1:8 and a 1:7 though as well. My main go to is the 1:9, so that’s why I have been exploring with different 55ish grain projectiles. I loaded up some 60 grain v-max and they performed well. I agree! Wow!! That is a very tight group! What distance was that if you don’t mind me asking?
 
@paul73 why is that I am just curious? Still trying to figure out what powders are optimum for certain bullet weights. This one is a 1:9. I have a 1:8 and a 1:7 though as well. My main go to is the 1:9, so that’s why I have been exploring with different 55ish grain projectiles. I loaded up some 60 grain v-max and they performed well. I agree! Wow!! That is a very tight group! What distance was that if you don’t mind me asking?
all the group tests are done at 100yds.

on matches of projectiles weight to a twist:

1649812231333.png

on powders - it really gets down to what you prefer to stock up and how it works across other calibers you reload.

i stock up varget only as it works very well for my 1:8 twist on .223 - and i also plan on doing 6mm loads that would use same varget.
.308 loads i did with it so far did not produce nothing exceptional, but, it works there OK too.

i went over multiple experiments for my own pleasure to explore other powders and combinations - it is a hobby of its own, really. no wrongs or rights there, as long as it works and you keep it safe.

55gr wants a bit of a faster powder than a heavier 69gr or 77gr bullets - those are good with varget.
you want also as much powder in the shell as possible to minimize the error margin on unequal drops, but there are limits of how much compression you can do there. it is a very exciting hobby to make your own ammo that works for you - it does not mean it will work for anybody else.
of course, you need to test all that with your own rifles as each barrel is individual. and each rifle may end up with its own ideal loads.

if a rifle can provide good accuracy - with some effort you can bake a perfect ammo for it. look up in this forum what other folks do, when you get consistent same rugged hole groups - it is truly something. feels real good. :)

and a good group - here is a 'good' group - from 6.5CM bergara of mine - it is from 300yds - this takes some effort to get to - 5 shots there. one to the left is my bad trigger work.
IMG-1194.jpg
 
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@paul73 that is good to know! I have done with the pistol powders I have. As of now the only rifle caliber I load is 556 but I plan on getting into 308 at some point. That is very interesting in weight to speed of powder relationship there. Yes I definitely enjoy it. I will look into it for sure. Wow that is a really good group. Very impressive.
 
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