New bullets for the 223

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kmw1954

kmw1954

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In my morning email from Midway USA the ad starts with a Bullet Sale so of course I look.

Been working with a 62gr Hornady and a 69gr RMR bullet with four different powders and as some may have seen I have just recently been able to chrono them. The groups look good, numbers not so much. But anyways I've gotten to a load that so far had performed the best in my Savage Model 10 and that being the RMR 69 with Benchmark powder.

So in this sale at midway they have Hornady 60gr VMAX and Barnes 69gr Match Burner on sale and I ordered 100 of each and before I check out I go and look and they also have Sierra 69gr Matchking in stock so I threw 100of those in the order as well.

Now once I get the order in I will load some of each with the Benchmark and do a little head to head test with the 3 69gr bullets. See if a better bullet makes a difference in my results.
 
kmw1954 said:
In my morning email from Midway USA the ad starts with a Bullet Sale so of course I look.

Been working with a 62gr Hornady and a 69gr RMR bullet with four different powders and as some may have seen I have just recently been able to chrono them. The groups look good, numbers not so much. But anyways I've gotten to a load that so far had performed the best in my Savage Model 10 and that being the RMR 69 with Benchmark powder.

So in this sale at midway they have Hornady 60gr VMAX and Barnes 69gr Match Burner on sale and I ordered 100 of each and before I check out I go and look and they also have Sierra 69gr Matchking in stock so I threw 100of those in the order as well.

Now once I get the order in I will load some of each with the Benchmark and do a little head to head test with the 3 69gr bullets. See if a better bullet makes a difference in my results.
Click to expand...
Those sounds like some great tests. I am eagerly waiting your follow ups.
 
kmw1954 said:
The groups look good, numbers not so much.
Click to expand...

Never knew a target, paper or flesh, that cared about "the numbers".
For me, as long as they're accurate, it's all good.
I've been reloading 7.62x54R with my nephew.
Factory ammo is running about 2800fps and causing hurt shoulders.
Our reloads run about 1800fps and are very pleasant to shoot.
Like I told him, no deer is gonna care if it gets hit at 2800 or 1800 fps,
as long as you hit it in a vital area. :eek::confused:

But now you got me curious, what numbers are causing you issues?

Just my 2¢ worth.
YMMV
 
Some may have been following my exploits here with this 223, if so I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am.

For those who haven't, I have only been seriously shooting a rifle since early last fall. and it has been the 223 bolt rifle. in 9 months I have learned much from experience and you all here answering my questions. Reloading bottlenecks has also been a new experience and a learning curve.

As of late I have been working with just 2 bullets, the Hornady 62gr FMJBT and the RMR 69gr HPBT. Have come up with a couple loads for both that have been fairly accurate for me. Shooting from a bench with a bi-pod and rear bag.

Recently been shooting some chrono tests for velocities and the numbers as I have said have not been spectacular while the groups have been acceptable for me. Each load group has at least one shot way out of proportion from the rest and haven't narrowed down why. It has been suggested here by a couple members to try some better bullets. Which is what brings me to this.

So far all my testing and development point to a load with Benchmark powder at 22.0gr with both of the bullets I have been using so that is where I am going to start with each of these three 69gr bullets. The 60gr VMAX I think I will shoot against the 62gr bullet as they are all listed together in the Hornady manual.

Plan is to load them all the same; brass, primers, powder lot and all loaded at the same session with the same tooling setup. Hope to load enough to get some chrono numbers and some round robin group shots.
 
Already understood that and am not too worried as this 22.0gr load is very near the bottom. Thing is this needs to start somewhere.
 
Blue68f100 said:
More than likely you will need to work up a new load for the new bullets. Different jacket, cores make the friction different going down the barrel changing pressures.

The RMR 69gr HPBT is designed to expand according to Jake. It also has the same profile as the SMK.

Have fun, your journey is just beginning.
Click to expand...

It does not have the same profile as the SMK. That said, we use the BC for the SMK and we get hits out to 900 yards.
 
kmw1954 said:
Already understood that and am not too worried as this 22.0gr load is very near the bottom. Thing is this needs to start somewhere.
Click to expand...

If the 22.0 is in the anti-node, your velocity stability and accuracy likely won’t meet your expectations.

The same reasoning I questioned in your other post applies: if you’re not developing the charge weights with methods proven to produce small groups AND consistent velocity and doing so with each respective combination of bullet, brass, primer, and powder, you can’t be surprised if you don’t find small groups and consistent velocity. The good news is that it really doesn’t have to take very many shots to develop each load for the respective bullets.
 
Varminterror said:
If the 22.0 is in the anti-node, your velocity stability and accuracy likely won’t meet your expectations..
Click to expand...

Right now I have no expectations and no load development data on the new bullets. So if you are asking if I will develop these new loads then yes. Since I have to start somewhere I will start with the same load that woks with the RMR bullet and work up from there as I have done in the past.
 
I've done a few bullet swaps in my day... most notably with the .308 and the .30-30. Neither of the loads were close to max, so I didn't start completely from scratch like might be suggested... I simply swapped bullets, all else being equal.

The .30-30 load, with H322, I went from the Speer 170grn JSP bullet, to the Winchester 170grn SilverTip JSP bullet... my accuracy increased notably... from, basically 4" @ 100yds, to 2" at 100yds, in a Marlin 336, using a scope. I just assumed the rather poor accuracy was because it was a lever-action... and everyone knows a lever-action can't be accurate... right? That was the first big lightbulb going off in my head about quality bullets, and how much a different bullet might (or might not...) change the accuracy of any given load.

The second load is for my 16" M1a .308. Simply switching from a 168grn Nosler CC to the SMK, over IMR4895, sucked the groups up tighter. It wasn't a significant amount... at least compared to the .30-30 example... but it was noticeable, enough so that I'm having a bullet shootout between those two in my Savage bolt gun later this year to see.
 
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