5.56 - 223 load

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Call Turner
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5.56 - 223 load

Post by Call Turner » Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:35 am

I recently posted in the black gun section but maybe I should have posted here. I picked up a varmint style AR a while back with a 24" bbl and a 1 - 8 twist. Does anyone have a good load and bullet that would work in this rifle? Just trying to save a few hundred bucks on experimenting with different bullets and loads. I have never owned a 1-8 twist rifle before. Thanks!
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Re: 5.56 - 223 load

Post by scrappy » Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:18 pm

I'll have to look up the exact charge weight but my AR that I had (1/8 also, though mine was 20") did great with the 55gr Hornady VMax and a stiff charge of varget. I want to say 27gr but I have to look. Velocity was 3250 and it would keep 5 in well under 1/2", and down into the .3's if I did my part.
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Re: 5.56 - 223 load

Post by Call Turner » Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:04 pm

Sounds great and interesting, PM would be appreciated, Mike,
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Re: 5.56 - 223 load

Post by thumpar » Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:18 pm

With the 1:8 twist and 24" long I would probably go with a heavier bullet. Varget is a good powder.
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Re: 5.56 - 223 load

Post by ron » Sat Sep 17, 2016 4:23 pm

The best powder for any given cartridge is determined by Burn Rate. Years ago there was a device called the Powley Computer for Handloaders. Way back in the late fifties early sixties Homer Powley developed a slide-rule type device that would take case volume, bore diameter and bullet weight and calculate what powder burn rate would be most efficient in the cartridge.

Basically the slowest powder will produce the highest velocities with the lowest pressures and will usually produce best accuracy as well. An example is the 30-06. with 150 grain bullets powders of a burn rate similar to 4064 are best, although if you go to a heavier bullet such as 180 or 200 grains or heavier, slower powders are needed. The bigger the case volume relative to the bore, the slower the powder must be for greatest efficiency. This is why fast burning pistol powders such as Bullseye are used in small cases like the 32 ACP and Slow burning pistol powders like 2400 are used in the 44 magnum.

The 270 Winchester has the same approximate case capacity as the 30-06 but has a smaller bore relative to case volume and therefore requires slower powders and with 130 grain .270 diameter bullets, a powder of the burn rate of IMR 4831 is best and this same powder is often used in the 7mm mag with the lighter bullets

In the 223 there are many powders that work very well with 50 and 55 grain bullets. These include, in order of approximate burn rate from fastest to slowest, Hodgdon H322, RamShot TAC, Accurate 2230, Hodgdon BL-C(2), Hodgdon CFE 223, Accurate 2460, Hodgdon H335, IMR 4895, Hodgdon H4895, and Accurate 2495BR. Slower powders begin with IMR 4064, Accurate 2520, IMR 4320, Alliant RL-15, and Hodgdon Varget which also work well in the 7.62/.308. Varget is indeed a good powder but it works best with the heavier bullets.

Ramshot TAC is a very popular powder for the 223 and is as clean burning as Hodgdon's CFE 223 but is a little too fast burning for heavier bullets.

As important as it is to understand burn rate, unfortunately there is no such thing as a universal standardized burn rate chart. Every powder manufacturer publishes a different chart and sometimes those charts are different from one year to the next. And what makes it even more difficult is that many of these charts are only available as PDF's which makes it impossible to cut and paste only certain sections of the charts to compare it to other charts.

Powley Computor:

http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammo/ammun ... mp_200901/
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Re: 5.56 - 223 load

Post by scrappy » Sun Sep 18, 2016 12:03 am

Sent this In a PM but posted here as well.

Finally looked, sorry I took so long. My load was 27.2gr varget with 55gr v-max and loaded to 2.240". Shot phenomenally.
Then I reacquainted myself with an old friend who set 8 national records in Hi-Power at Camp Perry with AR/223 platform. He agreed Varget was good, but said that he exclusively used Vita-Vihouy powders and said "anyone who thinks Varget shoots good ain't never shot against me".
Varget shoots great and is more available and I have no way of determining what his load was.
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Just remember......Theres no need to fear....Unnnderdog is here!!! Well, scrappy anyway.....

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Re: 5.56 - 223 load

Post by ron » Sun Sep 18, 2016 10:11 am

scrappy wrote:Sent this In a PM but posted here as well.

Finally looked, sorry I took so long. My load was 27.2gr varget with 55gr v-max and loaded to 2.240". Shot phenomenally.
Then I reacquainted myself with an old friend who set 8 national records in Hi-Power at Camp Perry with AR/223 platform. He agreed Varget was good, but said that he exclusively used Vita-Vihouy powders and said "anyone who thinks Varget shoots good ain't never shot against me".
Varget shoots great and is more available and I have no way of determining what his load was.

The VV powders are supposed to be really good but they are expensive and hard to find. Varget is a little slow burning for 55 grain bullets but obviously it works and it's al3ways better to sue a powder that is too slow rather than too fast. A good powder to compare it to with that bullet weight would be Ramshot TAC
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