223 loading - second guess me please

[brewer12345]

I have a single shot Henry rifle in 223 that I never got around to shooting. I have a scope mounted, etc., just need to load some ammo for it. I have a bunch of already prepped and primed brass ready to go. I am planning to use Varget and I have Hornady 55 grain soft points and 62 grain BTFMJs on hand, both with a cannelure. I was planning to start at the Hornady manual minimum charge for each bullet weight and work my way up to find an accurate load. I don't mess with cannelured bullets too often, is there anything wrong with making the simple choice and seating to the cannelure at the cartridge mouth?

 

[Bfh_auto]

You have two choices. Ignore the cannelure. Or use it. Either are valid.
Make sure you have the bullet seated at least one bullet diameter deep in the case.
My Dad always seat to the cannelure and had good results. He did only shoot flat base bullets.

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

Doesn't really matter. If the case is sized correctly then just meet the COAL and you will be golden. Most of my Berry's 55g BTFMJ's have the cannelure below the case mouth.

 

[brewer12345]

Great. Wasn't sure if I could ignore the cannelure.

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

Great. Wasn't sure if I could ignore the cannelure.

I think we've all been down that road at one time or another.

 

[brewer12345]

I think we've all been down that road at one time or another.

Yeah, not me as of yet. Usually load cast, so no cannelure. The few occasions I use jacketed the bullets have not had them.

 

[jebova2301]

Personally, I load my Hornady 55gr FMJBT between 2.225 and 2.250 depending on if I am going for blasting ammo or semi-accurate ammo. One of my rifles prefers them at 2.225, and a few of my others shoot better with them around 2.250. in either case, the cannelure is still sticking way out of the mouth. I don't care, though, because I want more accurate ammo. I personally believe the best bet is to find a charge that works well, and then dial in the length later.

 

[DMW1116]

I’ve only tried the 55 grain Hornadys and I loaded them just at the cannelure at Hornadys recommended 2.200” length. I allow myself up to 2.205”. I haven’t shot them out of a scoped rifle yet but they shoot better than I expected out of my iron sighted rifle. I ignored the cannelure on some 180 grain SST loads. All my sources said 2.8” except Hornady. They made the bullet and sugested a shorter length. Since I want using their data for charges I wasn’t comfortable stuffing that big long bullet on there to the cannelure. I used data out of my Lyman manual. I found a good load for accuracy but it’s probably going slower than I’d like.