Reloading for AR

M

Micro man

New member
Just purchased an AR15 from PSA. It has a 16 inch barrel and 1 in 7 twist. I have not taken it to the range yet but am already thinking about reloading for it.
I plan on using the rifle for plinking and targets out to maybe 100 yards.
I wanted to get members opinions on powder/bullet combinations they would recommend for this setup. I am especially interested in powders that would meter well in my RCBS powder measure.
As always, thanks for your knowledge and experience.
Micro man
 
Your 1-7 twist will stabilize the heavy match bullets very well, (75 grain), but the lighter bullets 55 gr. will be spun too fast. A well constructed,(heavy jacket), 55 grainer will work, but a SX or other fragile jacketed bullet will self destruct at higher velocity with that faster spin. I wouldn't go under 60 grains myself.
 
Win748, BL-C(2) and H335 are three that immediately come to mind, have used every one for .223 and they meter beautifully. I use mostly match bullets for this caliber but for a volume range load in a 7 twist I would probably stay 62gr and above. It will probably do okay with 55s as well but your twist should be better suited for heavier.
 
You can get HSM or other 62 grain m855/SS109 bullets pretty commonly, and they are fine for plinking accuracy. The 7" military twist is unnecessarily fast even for these bullets, which are nominally 0.906" long. It is designed to stabilize the very long-for-weight (1.15") m856 tracer bullets that are matched to the m855 ballistically. With lighter bullets they do over-spin, exaggerating every little mass asymmetry's influence, causing eccentric spin (wobble) which hurts accuracy and can even lead to in-flight self-disassembly. However, the fact your barrel is short means the velocity is going to be lower than from a 20" tube. If you combine that with loading down a little, you'll probably be OK with lighter bullets not flying apart. The accuracy just won't be stellar with non-match quality bullets because of wobble. The Hodgdon starting load of 18.8 grains of IMR4198 would be where I would begin with a 55 grain bullet. It should put you in the 2650 fps velocity range with your 16" tube, which is more like having an 8" twist for a 3100 fps bullet from a 20" gun.
 
So many excellent load combos for the ar. Ive used H335, benchmark, varget and w748. My go to 16" bbl. "training/plinker" bulk load is hornady 55gr fmjbt with about 25.9 gr of w748. Gives me about 1.6" moa @ 100 yds. I love w748 as its a ball powder that meters very consistiant through my Lee pro auto disc powder measure. I don't get fussy when loading bulk as its more about trigger time than high precision hits. When I intend to load precision for my 24" Varmint upper, now I pay far more attention to the hand loading details.
 
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I purchased my first AR from PSA with a 1 in 7 PTAC barrel with intentions to favor heavier bullets. So I reloaded a number of different bullets, 52gr, 55gr, 60gr, 63gr, 65gr, 69gr & 77gr. I temporarily put a 6-20x Leupold on it for load testing with a 10 round magazine.

Now the inexpensive (i.e. cheap) PTAC barrel is not a tack-driver but all bullets shot pretty good. I consistently get 1-1/2" 5 shots @ 100yd groups with 55gr & 63gr bullets. Without letting the barrel cool, 10 shots open up to about 2". Obviously, with this many different bullets & the many suitable powders available, my testing is still very limited (i.e. yes I do have a life - LOL).

My standard load for this gun now is a 55gr bullet, 23.5gr AR-Comp, Wolf SR primer. With all the same brass this shoots accurately & functions perfect. I make my own bullets, but Sierra & Hornady 55gr shoot similarly. BTW: AR-Comp meters very nice!

FWIW...
 
An excellent powder for the 55 grain bullet that meters well is CFE223 but you'll probably have to push it for best accuracy - say around 27.5 grains and I prefer the 55 grain Hornady for that weight. For the heavier weights like 69 to 77 grain you might want to look at Vihtavuori N-135, as it both meters well and shoots small.
 
My 1-7 shoots 55gr bullets quite well . How ever as Unclenick brings up a good point . I'm not a speed demon when it comes to my loading . I always work up from minimum charge . When doing so I'll work from minimum to max or until pressure signs show up . I'll then choose a couple of the most accurate loads in those test and load again to confirm with two 10 round groups of each . This not only gives me an accurate load . That accurate load is almost never at max charge therefore they tend not to have the highest velocity .

My point , as Unclenick points out . Your most accurate loads using cheep 55gr bullets in a fast twist will likely be in the low to mid range velocities . Although I have pumped up the 55's to 3100fps from a 16" barrel using H-335 . My most accurate loads are all under 3000fps when using 55gr FMJ bullets .

All that said . I do have some hunting loads and the "like" that i load to a higher velocity for terminal ballistics . By doing so I've almost always had to give up some accuracy .
 
I agree with what Metal God says above. My 1 in 7 twist 16 in barrel shoots 55gn bullets very well. I usually use Hornady or X-Treme FMJ bulk type bullets for casual target shooting. I use H335 and my most accurate load is actually above mid-range of data listed on Hodgdon website.
 
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