Lehigh 223 55gr controlled chaos?

[Waterboy3313]

I hope everyone is doing well, I haven't been on here in a while. Today I finished my hunters safety course online. Im almost 40 and have never been hunting. I work with guys that do a lot of varmint and predator hunting and they have been inviting me for the last few years but I have never had a hunting license. I've been wanting to go and finally started the steps to become involved.

In California the law requires lead free bullets. So I ordered up 100 of the Lehigh controlled chaos bullets in 55gr. I've never loaded or shot lead free anything. I figured 100 would hopefully get me worked up and leave me with enough to get sighted in and be able to go on a coyote hunt.

I'm just curious if anyone here (I'm sure someone has experience with these bullets) has tried these or uses them on a regular basis. Any advice or tips on loading these would be greatly appreciated. I plan on using ram tac for powder and luckily the Lehigh website has load data for my combination.

Again I'm just looking for feedback and hopefully it is good. I will probably be shooting these from a 24" barrel AR. I would have gone heavier with the bullet weight but mag length was a concern.

 

[sfl_gunner]

I don't experience with those but I have experience with lead free bullets. My suggestion is to load them with a well established recipe for that weight. Do some ladder testing from the low to midrange and see what shoots best.

 

[AJC1]

They did the same thing with fishing weights and that produced tungsten weights that a lot of like better. I'm curious if a polymer tungsten matrix bullet will come on the scene any time soon.

 

[Lennyjoe]

There are many out there that will question the .223’s capability for deer hunting. Just remember that shot placement is crucial for the .223 to be effective. Therefore accuracy is important in your load development.

Am I assuming correctly that it’s a .223 platform and not 22-250?

 

[Waterboy3313]

I have zero interest in deer hunting. Will be hunting varmints and small predators only.
Yes you are correct I will be loading these for 223 rem.

The butcher shop down the road is awesome I have no need for harvesting meat at this point in time. If things go really bad I have larger caliber weapons more suited for larger game.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Ok, tracking. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Waterboy3313]

Ok, tracking. Thanks for clearing that up

As I mentioned before I have zero interest in deer hunting. I also question the ethics of using a 223 rem on deer. Not saying it can't be done but where I live hunting is lead free only. My opinion and maybe I'm wrong that a solid copper projectile is not going to help a 223 vs using a soft point projectile.

When reloading components come back or I can locally find factory 30.30 win copper ammo I will probably use my Marlin 336 or my 6.5 creedmoor that hasn't come in yet.
I've heard some stories from one guy I will be tagging a long with about being stalked by mountain lions on more than one occasion. 223 rem is not my first choice for defense against a hungry cat if it comes down to it

 

[lordpaxman]

I don’t load the solid copper bullets, and it’s good that Lehigh has load data on their site. I’ve read that the sectional density of these solid coppers are different than lead core, so you can’t substitute that load data.
Kudos and good luck on helping keep the varmints and predators under control.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I’ve had great results with the V-Max bullet in 22-250 and they should also work well in .223 for varmints.

 

[Waterboy3313]

I’ve had great results with the V-Max bullet in 22-250 and they should also work well in .223 for varmints

I got a good deal on some V-Max a couple of years ago. If it wasn't for California law I would much rather use them. Fish and game has the authority to check your ammo. First offense is $500 second is $1000 can't remember but second offense or maybe third is when they take your hunting license.

I misread the Lehigh website. For some reason I thought they sold in boxes of 50. So I ordered two boxes. Turns out they come 100 to a box. Hopefully they shoot good with decent results. I think will have more than enough to work up and get dialed in and have more than enough to use for their intended purpose.

 

[AJC1]

I got a good deal on some V-Max a couple of years ago. If it wasn't for California law I would much rather use them. Fish and game has the authority to check your ammo. First offense is $500 second is $1000 can't remember but second offense or maybe third is when they take your hunting license.

I misread the Lehigh website. For some reason I thought they sold in boxes of 50. So I ordered two boxes. Turns out they come 100 to a box. Hopefully they shoot good with decent results. I think will have more than enough to work up and get dialed in and have more than enough to use for their intended purpose.

The barnes ttsx comes in 50s making them spendy for punching holes in paper.

 

[Waterboy3313]

The barnes ttsx comes in 50s making them spendy for punching holes in paper

The ttsx is mostly what the guys I will be going with normally use. I went to two local shops before ordering the Lehigh bullets. At about .50 cents a piece I think they are probably the most expensive bullet I will have loaded. I am hoping I will find a good load quickly and just finished putting together the rifle about 5 minutes ago I plan on using as a dedicated copper/hunting rifle.

My plan is go run some standard ammo through it and get it on paper first. Clean it run some more jacketed ammo through it and then hopefully start my ladder test. I was originally thinking about using another rifle I have but it has a heavy stainless 24" barrel and weighs a lot to be dragging around the woods.

 

[Waterboy3313]

Today my Lehigh bullets arrived. I was actually really excited to see them sitting on my front porch when I got home from work today. I felt like a fat kid in a candy store when I got home.

Earlier this week I sorted through my brass and figured out how many cases I would need for my ladder test. I primed 40 cases and used a fine tip sharpie to mark each case with a powered charge weight. I made 4 each from 23.0-24.8gr in .02 gr incriments. The load data ran from 23.0-25.0 gr of Ram tac. I left off the 25.0gr. it seems like almost all of loads hit my most accurate group lower to mid range powder charges.

So with all of my cases ready to load and labeled I spent about 3 hours painstakingly making sure each case was loaded to the exact charge weight and the bullet was seated exactly to the overall length I wanted.

I guess I'm a little ocd but I want to settle on a load and I don't want to make 5 trips to the range to find it. I'm planning on going to the range Sunday early Sunday morning to see what happens. Depending on my results will either be good with it or break it down for further refinement.

 

[sfl_gunner]

Awesome. Ramshot Tac has become one of my favorite powders. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[FROGO207]

Agreed TAC is basically my go to propellant for 223 REM ammo. Have not experimented with solids yet though.
Let us know how they work out. This might jump start me into trying some!

 

[Waterboy3313]

Agreed TAC is basically my go to propellant for 223 REM ammo. Have not experimented with solids yet though.
Let us know how they work out. This might jump start me into trying some!

I really like Ram Tac. Although its really the only rifle powder I have tried so far. Other than my experience with pistol loading it meters quite well. I'm on my third one pound container. I just don't do a lot of rifle reloading but plan on expanding up hopefully when components become more readily available.

The weather is questionable for tomorrow morning. But I'm still planning on hitting the range and shooting this work up. I will definitely post some pictures and my opinions unless the weather stops me from going. As for the reasons for using solids if the law didn't require it for hunting I probably wouldn't be trying this.

I never did Decide on a scope for the dedicated copper rifle yet so I will be using my heavy long barreled 15 for this test.

 

[Blue68f100]

Another TAC fan. Use it most exclusively for all the light pills. Once I get over 62 gr I get better results using Varget, but TAC is real close.

 

[Waterboy3313]

I haven't seen any varget since I started reloading about 3 years ago. It's been on my watch list and I really want to try it. I have a few other rifles I would like to start reloading for and varget would allow me to do it.

I'm also on the lookout for H110 for my 357 mag. It would be kind of interesting to actually load some magnum loads once in a while.

Going through all of gear right now in preparation for tomorrow morning. Marking all of my targets with all the info and powder weight differences. Hoping to get there and get out before before the scary people show up. When it's light enough to shoot I will be sitting at my rest ready to flick the safety switch and get to work.

 

[Waterboy3313]

I think I settled on a load. I have to say and this is just my opinion. So far I am happy with Lehigh defense. The bullets are high quality and very consistent. While I loaded this work up I was very ocd from case prep to crimp. I measured everything I did at every step. I loaded these using the specs on the Lehigh website.

I have only shot 40 of these so far while testing. They make nice clean holes in paper. I felt like I was fighting my rest and my table this morning. To add to that I did shoot a few of my regular target loads first just to check out my scope and get settled in. I must have bumped something because it was off a little bit.

 

[jmorris]

While I loaded this work up I was very ocd from case prep to crimp.

It’s not a disorder when you are performing a task that demands attention.

 

[Buzznrose]

Does this help?

https://www.lehighdefense.com/lehigh-defense-load-data-library

 

[Waterboy3313]

It’s not a disorder when you are performing a task that demands attention

Like I said I'm always on top of what I'm doing. Sometimes when I read about what others call acceptable or good enough it kind of scares me. I single stage most of hand loads and all of the stuff I load for work ups. I'm not saying I am some kind of competition champion by any means but when I am reloading I strive for as perfect as I can be.

If I have a bad day at the range I want it to be because I'm having an off day not that my hand loaded ammo is crap or my equipment is junk. Don't get me wrong I am a casual self taught shooter but want to do the best I can with what I have and actually get better with time as I gain experience.

I had to renew my CCW about a month ago. The instructor of the class told me he didn't want to have a gun fight with me. I probably shot the best out of the whole class. I think it's due to the fact I spend a lot of time doing things right and I actually shoot on a regular basis.