Reloading 223? 68 gr. BTHP

[BigMoby]

First time reloading 223 and I bought 55 grain and 68 gr. BTHP Hornady projo's. Looking in the 9th edition Hornady 223 data only goes to 60 gr. then next page says service rifle data. Is that what Im looking for?

My barrel is BCM with 1x7 twist rate so I shouldnt have any problems with 68 gr and wanted to give them a try. Just dont want to mess up.

 

[HiCap]

I can check my Lyman book when I get home. I think you should be ok with the 68's

 

[Royal]

First time reloading 223 and I bought 55 grain and 68 gr. BTHP Hornady projo's. Looking in the 9th edition Hornady 223 data only goes to 60 gr. then next page says service rifle data. Is that what Im looking for?

Yes. "68 GRAIN BULLETS" under section 223 Remington Service Rifle Data.

 

[mac1911]

First time reloading 223 and I bought 55 grain and 68 gr. BTHP Hornady projo's. Looking in the 9th edition Hornady 223 data only goes to 60 gr. then next page says service rifle data. Is that what Im looking for?

My barrel is BCM with 1x7 twist rate so I shouldnt have any problems with 68 gr and wanted to give them a try. Just dont want to mess up.

yes the hornady service rifle data works just fine.
What are you planning for powder.... im a fan of Varget and RL15

 

[BigMoby]

yes the hornady service rifle data works just fine.
What are you planning for powder.... im a fan of Varget and RL15

Just picked up Varget, H335, CFE123, & IMR4166. Work up some different loads. Was lookin in my hornady reloading manual and has 5.56 after service rifle data and has Hornady 68 grain BTHP wich ks what I have. Besides the obvious higher pressure is there anything else different about reloading 5.56? Brass is same right? My rifle is 5.56 rates yes. Follow recipe and all should be fine. I'll obviously start on the lower side and work up to prefered load examining cases from every shooting session. Thanks,
Jim

 

[Hoon]

Just picked up Varget, H335, CFE123, & IMR4166. Work up some different loads. Was lookin in my hornady reloading manual and has 5.56 after service rifle data and has Hornady 68 grain BTHP wich ks what I have. Besides the obvious higher pressure is there anything else different about reloading 5.56? Brass is same right? My rifle is 5.56 rates yes. Follow recipe and all should be fine. I'll obviously start on the lower side and work up to prefered load examining cases from every shooting session. Thanks,
Jim

Realistically if you have a 5.56 chamber, for reloading purposes the only difference is how much powder you're putting in the case.

Varget and IMR4166 will yield the best accuracy with the 68s. CFE will give you very good velocity, but i (and several others on here) have never gotten great accuracy out of it.

H335 is great for the 55s, but a little too fast burning for the 68s.

 

[Golddiggie]

Check out the reloading assistant phone app (know it's available for Android, no idea about iphonies). It has the 68 grain projectile listed under .223 Remington. It might not lust every option, but it's a good start. Plus it's free.

 

[BigMoby]

Realistically if you have a 5.56 chamber, for reloading purposes the only difference is how much powder you're putting in the case.

Varget and IMR4166 will yield the best accuracy with the 68s. CFE will give you very good velocity, but i (and several others on here) have never gotten great accuracy out of it.

H335 is great for the 55s, but a little too fast burning for the 68s.

Thank you, I have read so many post and watched so many videos arguing about case capacity of th 5.56 vs 223 my head is friggin spinning. I certainly understand that the rifle needs to be rated for 5.56 and that th pressure is about 60,000 psi vs 55,000. I am not sure if there is any benefit in reloading @ 5.56 pressures but just wanted to try both load 223 work up and 5.56 and just didnt want to do anything dangerous. Also my RCBS sizing dies are 223, looking at the data he extenals are th same for 5.56 so Im assuming fine.

 

[bdb]

I can't help you o. The reloading data as I haven't started loading .223/5.56 yet. I have a Wilson match barrel on a long range AR (24" bull barrel, it's a beast) and it's a 1/8 twist and loves 75 grain bullets. You should have no issues with 68s.

 

[mac1911]

I shot 500 of the nosler 69 CC I loaded them with close to max loads out of my 1/7 20" used Douglas barrel and they shot well...
I moved to 77s as they are more often on sale.
My 1/7 barrel likes just about anything. Even some 50 grain flat based bullets I drove at starting load charges did as good as I can deliver them.
I don't really shoot that upper much anymore I use my Wilson arms Heavy match and CLE heavy varmint barrel both in 1/8 ....those will run 50-80 grain bullets better than I can ever deliver.
Almost all good bullets and your common "AR" powders I'm learning can deliver as long as it's a good barrel and a good crown.

 

[BigMoby]

I find it interesting that in the Hornady manual, under service rifle data & 5.56 Nato, the same bullet 68 gr BTHP item #2278 shows different data for the same powders say Varget or BL-C(2). With identical barrel length but one is 1x9 twist and th other 1x7. Specific pages Hornady 59th pages 155 & 159. Weird? In same cases (no pun intended) its alot different. Look at Varget 23.4gr for 2600 fps & 21.8 gr for 2600 fps.

 

[mac1911]

I find it interesting that in the Hornady manual, under service rifle data & 5.56 Nato, the same bullet 68 gr BTHP item #2278 shows different data for the same powders say Varget or BL-C(2). With identical barrel length but one is 1x9 twist and th other 1x7. Specific pages Hornady 59th pages 155 & 159. Weird? In same cases (no pun intended) its alot different. Look at Varget 23.4gr for 2600 fps & 21.8 gr for 2600 fps.

I think it's strange they call it "5.56" NATO section and do not provide 55 and 62 grain bullets?
I,noticed Nosler now has a 5.56 NATO section.

Western powders has the largest selection of bullet choices in their 5.56 NATO chamber specs
http://www.accuratepowder.com/load-data/

 

[Arto]

here's the Sierra- it has 69gr:
http://accurateshooter.net/Downloads/sierra223ar.pdf

 

[5 DOLLAR FOOT LONG]

I picked up 100 of these this weekend. Had great luck with 25.0 of varget. Its a warm-ish load but you can go higher no problem. I went up to 25.3 which is what I use on the 69 SMKs.

e: I dont fully understand why hornady put in the separate .223 service rifle section, especially because the loads they listed there are pretty conservative whereas service rifle shooters have a reputation for making hot as hell loads.