Need help for 223 REM 26" with 1-12 twist

[KHawk]

I have load books for the popular Bullets and Powders but they are all tested on short barrels with fast twists, or 24" barrels with 1-12 or 1-10 twists. My Remington has a 26" barrel and seems to be causing some high pressure with the loads from the 24" tests. How much do these loads need to be cut back. I'm starting with H335 Powder and Win. small rifle primers?

Thanks for your help!

 

[tgs]

What high pressure signs are you seeing?

Really the barrel length isnt going to be playing into high pressures. What signs are you seeing? Split cases, unseated primers,flattened primers, cratered primers, are usually the first signs. Really excessive pressure can cause damage your gun and worse. Im sure you know that.

What gun are you shooting?

Important with .223 is twist. If you are 1/10-1/12 be sure you are using a bullet NOT over 62gr. As a rule of thumb 62gr and up should be used in 1/9 - 1/7. A 69 gr in a 1/12 is not good at all. Your pressure will go up if your bullet is too heavy for a 1/12 twist...And at a hundred yards you will also see the bullet will not stablize hitting the target sideways.

Make sure your head spacing is not excesive. Always follow the load specfication and dont try to load down or up outside the spec. Very bad practice and can injure.

If you are getting high pressure signs do not alter your loads outside spec to try and compensate. Dont substitute one powder for another with the same number. There are only 2-3 that have the same number and same burn rate. It can be a disaster.

Stick to textbook loads and be absolutly sure your load combinations are textbook and dont assume anything.

I know I probably didnt hit on the cause but be sure of the things I mentioned. Bullet too heavy for twist. Head space. Right powder, correct weight to start with.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Barrel lenght has no effect on pressure, twist may. Try to use data for a rifle with a similar twist as yours but remember the books are only guide lines and your rifle may not allow you to load as high a charge as theirs no matter what. There is no "rule for load reduction due to twist" There is a rule that states one should begin with a load 5% lower then the max in the manual or the listed starting load. Start with the starting recommendation and work up. Lighter bullet weights as noted by the other poster will likely be more accurate in your rifle. The extra barrel lenght "may" add a few fps to the load depending on how your rifle reacts to the components. Or it may not.......

 

[P0832177]

Your thoughts are misguided. Pressure is pressure. It does no change with bbl length as previously stated!

There are better choices for your gun. I have had excellent results with Varget with 40 NBT, 50 Vmax, and 55 NBT. Another over looked bullet in bulk is the Rem PLHP. N133 is an awesome powder with light wt. bullets in the 223.

Sort military brass by head stamp if you are using that.

 

[Dave R]

FWIW, I use H335 with my .223. Mine has 1/12 twist, but a 24" tube.

I use 26gr. H335 with a 45gr. bullet. I have used both Win primers and Speer small rifle magnum primers. That's near the max load in Speer No. 13. That much powder with a heavier bullet might be over-pressure. What bullet are you using?

 

[KHawk]

Thanks for all the suggestions! To answer most of your questions:
1. I am shooting a new Remington 700 VLS 223 REM.
2. I am loading all Remington Headstamps that I saved from factory ammo.
3. All cases were cleaned, FL resized and sorted. Saved long ones for future trimming.
4. Two different 52gr bullets, Sierra Match HPBT and Nosler Comp. HPBT.
5. H335 is the only powder tried so far. I worked up to 26.0 gr, starting at 25.0 gr and loading 5 rounds each, at .2 gr intervals.

I didn't see any signs of excess pressure on the cases, but after about 100 rounds the bolt is very difficult to open. It chambers a fresh round just fine. And yes I do clean my guns carefully after each trip to the range. I also clean them each of the next two days after firing.

I will try the recomended powders and not worry so much about the barrel length.

 

[tgs]

Hawk,Your 52HPBT is very well suited to the 1/12 barrel.

This difficultly in opening the bolt you discribed is it getting progressively more difficult to open?

Is the difficulty in raising the bolt or opening the chamber (pulling the empty from the chamber)? Im guess as you raise the handle.

If you try to rechamber the same empty does it remain the same level of difficulty when trying close AND then as you try to eject it the second time?

Does it occur when you drop down to say 24 gr of powder?

When you say it seems to occur when you reach 100 rounds does that mean after 100 rounds of continous firing or are the 100 rounds over 3 - 4 sessions?

Check your scales against a known standard, a 52 grain bullet is good, and be sure they are right on.

How many times have you loaded the brass.

After you shoot when you set the empty on a very flat surface does it rock like the primer has backed out a little?

Im really curious whats making this happen. If your shooting 100 rounds back to back and your not letting the barrel cool down you will experience the chamber contracting around the case as it returns to size after the round is fired. A very hot chamber does not remain the same size when using hot loads or loads near max. It is know that the chamber expands the case follows suit and immediately the chamber returns to size over the the swollen case making it difficult to extract. This is more common with very high pressure handgun loads fired in revolvers. .454, the .475 Limbaugh and the .500 SW. Some gun are very bad about this, Taurus and Ruger for sure. The entire cylinder expands trapping the cases and they can be very hard to get out. Keep in mind these are very hot loads. (but not with factory loads.....

Its probably not what your experiencing but it could under the right condition.

Just out of curiousity is it consistant or intermittant? When you shoot again and experience this difficulty shoot another round then wait 5 minutes before you aopen the bolt and see if it still is resistant.

Does it happen when you shoot factory stuff? Or just your loads?

 

[KHawk]

TGS, thanks for all your recomendations. This turns out to be a more serious problem.

The bolt problem kept getting worse. I took my "NEW Gun" to a local gunsmith yesterday. This guy has done a lot of work for me over the years. Turns out the front of the receiver is not square to the chamber and all the pressure is on one lug of the bolt. He is going to rechamber and set the barrel back to keep the correct headspace. Since I only had run about 200 rnds thru it he will be able to save the bolt. He had a few choice comments about modern day workmanship. But I don't think I had better put them on here. I intended to take it to him for a trigger tune-up anyway. This just added to the work that was needed.

Thx Ken.

 

[Stinger]

Ouch, you should have just sent it back to Remington and they would have fixed it for free. I bet they would have even paid shipping both ways.

Live and learn,

Stinger