After a lot of wind and rain, the weather last evening was finally calm enough to test my first batch of hand loads. (What I mean by that is that these loads are the first I have taken from beginning to end all on my own. I made all the component decisions, I did all the brass clean up and case prep, I set the length, I weighed the powder... If it was part of the process, I did it.)
The current project is a go-to load for groundhogs and coyotes in .223 Rem. I am shooting a Ruger Predator (26944 with AR type mags, which I realized post purchase will limit my overall length vs the standard Ruger American mags) with 1-8" ROT. I've wanted to take advantage of the faster ROT with something a little longer than the usual 223 suspects of 50 and 55 grain bullets. I opted for 60 Nosler ballistic tips, and I am sampling 3 different powders: Benchmark, Varget, and H335.
Given a slightly longer bullet and the fact that the OACL is limited by the magazine size, I loaded at an OACL of 2.263 on average, which was about as long as I could comfortably put them in a 10 rnd magpul mag.
Starting point for loads was a minor quandary in that Lyman and Nosler have significantly different starting point and max for 60 grain 223. I started somewhere between Lyman's base load and Nosler's middle point, and loaded21 of each (weird, I know, but I'm slightly OCD about stuff being divisible by 3), which aloud me (4) test groups of 5 shots with one left over to spec from.
Edited: All groups at 100 yds.
I was underwhelmed by Benchmark groups which averaged 1.4". But I think they could tighten up with higher velocities, which is what I will do for my next session.
H335 was better with the largest of 4 groups measuring at 1.2".
But the Varget took the cake, the best 5 shot group was 0.681". And I'll be honest, I felt like a rock star! There's something extremely satisfying about getting one of your best ever groups from ammunition you built. I see why this is so addictive!
The picture shows the group, which to my eyes looks like 4 shots, but one whole had two bullets pass through it.
The load, which according to Lyman was well below max, was 25.6 Grns Varget with CCI 400 primers. For all of these, I was using chrome plated Winchester brass left over from a friends Ballistic Silvertips. I'm going to start eking up in velocity just a hair at time, and see if they tighten up. Once I get the smallest group I can, I'll have a friend chronograph them as I'm not yet set up for that.
These shots were done on sandbags, but as I get more in the budget, I hope to get a led sled to really eliminate variables.
More to come!
Thanks!
The current project is a go-to load for groundhogs and coyotes in .223 Rem. I am shooting a Ruger Predator (26944 with AR type mags, which I realized post purchase will limit my overall length vs the standard Ruger American mags) with 1-8" ROT. I've wanted to take advantage of the faster ROT with something a little longer than the usual 223 suspects of 50 and 55 grain bullets. I opted for 60 Nosler ballistic tips, and I am sampling 3 different powders: Benchmark, Varget, and H335.
Given a slightly longer bullet and the fact that the OACL is limited by the magazine size, I loaded at an OACL of 2.263 on average, which was about as long as I could comfortably put them in a 10 rnd magpul mag.
Starting point for loads was a minor quandary in that Lyman and Nosler have significantly different starting point and max for 60 grain 223. I started somewhere between Lyman's base load and Nosler's middle point, and loaded21 of each (weird, I know, but I'm slightly OCD about stuff being divisible by 3), which aloud me (4) test groups of 5 shots with one left over to spec from.
Edited: All groups at 100 yds.
I was underwhelmed by Benchmark groups which averaged 1.4". But I think they could tighten up with higher velocities, which is what I will do for my next session.
H335 was better with the largest of 4 groups measuring at 1.2".
But the Varget took the cake, the best 5 shot group was 0.681". And I'll be honest, I felt like a rock star! There's something extremely satisfying about getting one of your best ever groups from ammunition you built. I see why this is so addictive!
The picture shows the group, which to my eyes looks like 4 shots, but one whole had two bullets pass through it.
The load, which according to Lyman was well below max, was 25.6 Grns Varget with CCI 400 primers. For all of these, I was using chrome plated Winchester brass left over from a friends Ballistic Silvertips. I'm going to start eking up in velocity just a hair at time, and see if they tighten up. Once I get the smallest group I can, I'll have a friend chronograph them as I'm not yet set up for that.
These shots were done on sandbags, but as I get more in the budget, I hope to get a led sled to really eliminate variables.
More to come!
Thanks!
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