general Reloading Questions

[Special_K]

I'm new to reloading and I'm struggling my way along.
Caliber-0.223
Powder- IMR 4198
Bullets- Remington 55grain FMJBT
Primer-Remington Small Rifle Primers
RCBS Dies
Lee single stage press
RCBS Powder Drop
Frankfert and Arsenal Electric scale.
RCBS Primer Tool

My questions:
1: In my reloading manual I can only find information on 55 grain Soft Point bullets, Can I use the same data (WITH CAUTION) for the Remington Bullets?
2: How do people deal with the RCBS powder drop and cylindrical powder? It catches and not just a little bit unless I really move the lever quickly!
3: What is your tolerance for .223 on OAL?
4: I have some brass that the primer hole is off center, is there anyway to fix this so I can use the brass?

thanks!

 

[Ol` Joe]

#1, Yes you can use the starting load in your manual and workup. Keep in mind the max may or may not be a valid load in your rifle with your componenets.

#2, I don`t use a RCBS measure.

#3, I load to a dead lenght decided on by measuring the chamber of my rifle and useing a bullet comparator to set the bullet ogive a given distance from the lands.
No +/- tolerance if I can help it.

#4, Toss the brass if the flash holes are off. You can`t fix them.

 

[NCsmitty]

Special_K, welcome to the wonderful world of reloading.
1. Unless you're on the ragged edge of Max loads, it's ok to switch bullet types of the same weight.
2. Your just cutting sticks of powder, be positive in your lever stroke. IMR4198 works but is on the faster burning side so be cautious. You won't experience that feel so much using ball powders like H335 but you need to use magnum primers with ball powder.
3. I like to advise to use the longest COL that will function through your magazine and rifle without problems.
4. Toss off center flash hole brass, they'll possibly break your decapper.

NCsmitty

 

[rg1]

Remington 7 1/2's are recommended for .223 and Remington 6 1/2's are not supposed to be used.
IMR 4198 is pretty fast burning for .223 and other powders would probably perform better. H335 is my favorite.
Factory made Remington UMC 55fmj overall lengths are approximately 2.225"
plus or minus 2-3 thousandths.

 

[Shoney]

Special K. Please don't feel like your in "Special Ed", it will come to you in time.

In order to better answer your questions, we must know what weapon you are shooting and what the barrel twist rate is. Please list!!!!!!

2. IMR 4198 is an excellent powder for bolt weapons with slow twist barrels, using 50-55 grain bullets. It is an "extruded" powder. Metering extruded powder is difficult and each charge must be weighed and "trickled" to the correct weight.

Some prefer to use "ball" powders (more correctly called spherical powder) because it meters more consistently and often so well that each charge does not have to be weighed.

3. COL or AOL varys with the bullet type and bullet weight you use. Most often the length of the magazine determines what length you can use.

 

[rfwobbly]

You've gotten some good advice here. 4198 is a delightful powder, and one of the cleanest. However its long extruded cylinder shape DOES indeed get caught in the mechanism of any kind of powder dispenser that uses a "sheared plane" type design. These would be hoppers such as the RCBS, Dillon, etc. where a volume of powder is cut off from the main reservoir by a sliding or rotating metallic mechanism.

As was previously stated, the only way to measure 4198 without fighting your powder dispenser is to trickle it onto a scale. You might want to convert to a spherical powder. May I suggest Hodgdon 332 or 335 as a good starting place.

 

[rcmodel]

I second the openion that 4198 is too fast for the 55/.223.
It was at it's finest in the .222 Remington.
Or with 40 - 45 grain bullets in the .223.
It is too fast for 55 grain bullets in the .223 if best performance is one of your goals.

The extra case capacity of the .223 will do much better with more of a slower powder.

For instance, you can get 200- 300 FPS higher velocity with several ball powders like 748, H335, and others.
Without the hassel of trying to get stick power through a power measure, and a .22 caliber funnel or case mouth.

rcmodel

 

[Special_K]

1/9 Twist on a 16" DPMS AR-15
PLR-16 Made by Kel Tek. The Pistol is my brothers however so I'm not sure what the length and twist is.


Sounds like Hodgon is going to be the next powder I try.

Next question: Where is a good place to get cheap(er) .224 caliber bullets? I'm getting remington 100 pack for $10.00 at scheels at the moment.
Thanks
-Special_K

 

[45ACPUSER]

general Reloading Questions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm new to reloading and I'm struggling my way along.
Caliber-0.223
Powder- IMR 4198 There are better powders in the TMR line up ie 4895, but for easy measuring I would suggest H335

Bullets- Remington 55grain FMJBT
Primer-Remington Small Rifle Primers Hope this is the Rem 7.5 primer
RCBS Dies
Lee single stage press
RCBS Powder Drop
Frankfert and Arsenal Electric scale.
RCBS Primer Tool

My questions:
1: In my reloading manual I can only find information on 55 grain Soft Point bullets, Can I use the same data (WITH CAUTION) for the Remington Bullets?
Work up your loads with caution and you should be okay

2: How do people deal with the RCBS powder drop and cylindrical powder? It catches and not just a little bit unless I really move the lever quickly!
With extruded powders like the one you are using you have to develop a rhythm to dispensing a charge. I go up and tap twice and then a firm down stroke, and this works for me, consistency is the key!

3: What is your tolerance for .223 on OAL?
I use the parameters as defined by the reloading manua for the specific bullet. But, for the AR I seat COAL 2.25" if there is no need to crimp, other wise if crimping at the cannalure that defines my COAL

4: I have some brass that the primer hole is off center, is there anyway to fix this so I can use the brass? Sure, will it be your best results on paper? Not likely, but still serviceable for plinking ammo.


thanks!

 

[45ACPUSER]

Where there is Scheels a SW or GM or Cabelas can not be too far? You will have to shop around for best deals....some times in bulk to save $$ you are looking at 6K boxes of Hornady which are the best fmj bulllet around.

 

[jpwilly]

BL-C2 powder works really well for 223. I was using Varget but to get the velocity I wanted started getting into compressed loads. My DPMS 1-9" likes the 50gr Hornady VMAX with BL-C2 and CCI Primers (Federal Match primers would be better I hear but cannot ever find them).

 

[45ACPUSER]

BL-C2 powder works really well for 223. I was using Varget but to get the velocity I wanted started getting into compressed loads. My DPMS 1-9" likes the 50gr Hornady VMAX with BL-C2 and CCI Primers (Federal Match primers would be better I hear but cannot ever find them).

Compressed loads are no big deal especially with Varget. The problem with Varget and healthy charges is that you need to use a drop tube to help settle the powder charge when instilled into the cartridge.

 

[jpwilly]

Compressed loads are a bid deal when velocity and accuracy start going all over the place.

 

[45ACPUSER]

Compressed loads are a bid deal when velocity and accuracy start going all over the place.

In my experience with Varget in the 223, you can not get to many issues. And, it is one of the most consistent powder with respect to statistical numbers. I use BR4 and RP 7.5 primers with Varget in healthy charges like 27.5 and 55gr NBT with one hole accuracy and low #'s with respect to stats like ES SD and good # with velocity.

 

[Shoney]

Special K
Your AR with a 1/9 twist will probably shoot and stabilize 55gr bullets. Some individual weapons will not. The 1/9 twist is better suited to 60-70 gr projectiles. The 68 or 69 grain bullets should perform better/best. You should experiment with a few different weights.

Powders can be obtained thru the net. The following have surplus military powders that were designed for the 223.
http://powdervalleyinc.com/
http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html
http://www.patsreloading.com/patsrel/prices.htm
http://www.hi-techammo.com/

 

[Birdhunter1]

Special K I found a good load for my AR with a 1:9 twist 16" barrel using 27.5 grains of H335 and a 40 gr. Nosler ballistic tip with velocity near 3300 fps.