.223 Rem 14'' loads--55gr bullet

[Richard Pickering]

I'm sure someone loads for the .223 in 14''. Do you have recommendations for powders and suitable 55gr bullets ? I'm considering this as a 1/2 scale candidate. rp

[braud357]

Richard - I hope that you can make your .223 work for half-scale. I tried to make my XP100 work - but could not find an acceptable load that did not damage targets. I know - people will tell you that "their" 223 does not damage targets. MY - I repeat, my experience was just the opposite. To get accuracy to an acceptable level - the velocity was too much for the targets I shot on. Keep us posted - would like to hear what happens.

[ihmsakiwi]

Hi Richard, I too are just starting to look at the .223 55gr boolit in cast.

Currently shooting 55gr bulk jacketed in WW brass, Fed SR primers with 24grains of Benchmark 2 powder. does crater the targets a little but no more than the 6mmBR or 6.5BR guns alongside me.

I have three loads of 10.5 /11.5 and 12.5 of ADI2205 (4227 equivalent) to try under the 55gr RCBS cast boolit. this is as much about trying to lessen the target damage as it is trying to get cast going in the only gun I currently shoot condoms in. Pistol is a 15" F.A. Single Shot with 1:9 twist so not sure whether these boolits will work. Peter.

[Richard Pickering]

You knew I could not resist entering it in half-scale any sights. I arbitrarily chose 21gr of Varget to go with 55gr bullets. After confirming settings I shot through for 32x40. It was not spectacular but it did follow the jbm ballistics program for 2200fps mv. I have only two range sessions so far. I'm still exploring powders and trying to gather chrono results and adjust to holding at the 2200 mark for now. The 55s at 2200fps mv had no failures on ram targets. rp

[xp-100]

Try some BLC2 with a 450 primer. My firearms like 26.5-27.0 grains behind a Sierra 55 grain BT. But as always, reduce your loads and work up.

[Richard Pickering]

I have Accurate (Western Powders) 2520. Do you have any experience with that ?

[ihmsakiwi]

Hi Richard, I too are just starting to look at the .223 55gr boolit in cast.

Currently shooting 55gr bulk jacketed in WW brass, Fed SR primers with 24grains of Benchmark 2 powder. does crater the targets a little but no more than the 6mmBR or 6.5BR guns alongside me.

I have three loads of 10.5 /11.5 and 12.5 of ADI2205 (4227 equivalent) to try under the 55gr RCBS cast boolit. this is as much about trying to lessen the target damage as it is trying to get cast going in the only gun I currently shoot condoms in. Pistol is a 15" F.A. Single Shot with 1:9 twist so not sure whether these boolits will work. Peter.

I shot these three loads this weekend. The 12.5 load was the best for accuracy. No keyholing and was knocking over the 1/2 size pigs at 100 yards. Only had 5 rounds each of the 10.5gr &11.5gr loads and eights rounds of the 12.5 gr loaded . The 12.5gr load shot three rounds into 2" with two holes touching. Shows some promise so I will persue this load and increase it slightly till I hit the sweet spot. No sign of any leading or pressure with the 18 cast shots fired. I will shoot a 40 round match next month with the 12.5gr load and take some more trial loads.

[Richard Pickering]

I used it Saturday 7/28/12. This time I used 20gr of Acc 2495 which had chronoed at around 2250fps and showed a good 100m paper target. I had no reports of target damage and had no failures on targets hit. This was with a 55gr bullet. 10grs more bullet weight seems to be of more value than 250 more fps--mv. I scored another 32x40. rp

[dhagerty40x]

just some stuff we found out a long time ago.

found out that the 223 and a certain infamous 6tcu started to crater T1 steel targets at around 2600fps. other steel targets (except really soft steel) was around 2400 fps.

if you keep around 2200-2300fps, you should not cause any real target damage.

[ole95]

those # is that @ muzzle or @ target