.223 load

[Golf pro]

Rifle; Remington 700 .223 20" barrel with 1-9 twist
Bullet; Hornady 60 grain V-Max bullets.
Powder; 23.5 grs H 4895
This is my current formula. Using the same components,does anyone have any suggestions that would improve on this ??
Thanx

 

[JimKirk]

Hodgdon's Web Data shows from a starting load of 24.0 grs of H4895 to a Max load of 26.0 gr ....using the Hornady 60 gr VMax bullet ... according to this data ... you are below even a start load ... so you have room to work up ... looking for pressure signs as you go ... there are almost always several accuracy nodes between beginning and max loads ... it is up to you to find those ...

 

[Reloadron]

Your rifle so there is no way I can suggest a better load. The 223 Remington is one of those cartridges that can be loaded using a wide range of powders, especially in a bolt gun. The 1:9 twist will stabilize a wide range of bullet weights including the 60 grain bullets you are using. I suggest you get yourself a good loading manual and work from it trying assorted loads until you find those that work best for you in your rifle. A given load that works well in one rifle may not fare as well in another rifle of the same make and model. A good manual means a good printed manual like The Hornady 9th Edition or the current Lyman or similar manual.

Ron

 

[hdwhit]

The 4th Edition of the Hornaday Manual (yeah, I know it's a museum piece) says that they got the best results from Winchester 748 and IMR 4198 powder across their range of bullets.

Between 1980 and 1985, I loaded one thousand rounds of .223 with Hornaday 60 grain Hollow points on top of 20 grains of IMR 4198 and put them through a Mini-14 on my rare weekends off.

At the time I considered myself "poor", so the ability to get nearly 2900 feet per second out of a 60 grain bullet with only 20 grains of power when all the other loads called for 25 grains or more meant each pound of precious (expensive) powder would load 350 rounds rather than 250-280 for the other powders.