Safety check on new load

[dbltaps]

Good morning!

I have started loading some X-treme Bullets 55 grain .223 fmj projectiles, and think I have settled on a good load within my starting ladder. Would someone with Quickload be willing to check my load and make sure it is safe?

I am shooting this load in a .223 AR-15 with a 16 inch barrel and with carbine length gas port.

The load is 25.0 grains of H335 with the aforementioned 55 grain fmj projectile (sectional density: 0.157, ballistic coefficient: 0.243), using a Remington 6 1/2 small rifle primer, loaded to a coal of 2.1875" and light crimp. It is slightly shorter than what the manual specifies, but that coal gives me proper feeding/chambering in this particular rifle.

The first three cartridges were chrono'd at 2974, 2963, & 2966 fps, with no signs of excessive pressure.

Would someone be willing to check this load and make sure it is safe?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice provided!

 

[Load Master]

I sure would not! I'm doing over 3000fps with far less than your post with H-335.

 

[rg1]

Only thing that is not recommended is using a RP 6 1/2 primer in .223 Rem. Too thin cups and very likely will not handle the pressure. Very good chance of a primer rupture and gas leakage probably gas cutting of the firing pin and bolt face. The only primer I've had rupture spewed some gas in my face but with safety glasses there was no injury. Don't use 6 1/2's in .223 Rem. and only 7 1/2's.

 

[dbltaps]

Thank you both for your responses! I will switch to Winchester small rifle primers and will reserve the Remington 6 1/2's for 300blk subsonic.

Any chance that someone has run this particular load through Quickload to verify that it is within safe pressure limits? I just want to make sure I'm safe before I load any more.

This particular load was in the upper end of my ladder, starting at 24 grains and working up to 25.6 grains in 1/10th grain increments. I stopped at 25.4 grains as the measured velocity was exceeding the max listed in the manual very slightly. The manual listed max as 26 grains with a velocity of 3092 fps.

This load was consistent while being comfortably below max listed velocity, so I thought it would be a good load to work with to see how it performs accuracy-wise, but I am hoping for some feedback before I start loading more rounds.

 

[RecoilRob]

26 H335 under the 55 FMJ used to be a very reliable and accurate load of which tens of thousands have been fired over the years. The formulation of H335 changed a while back and they say the new stuff is a wee bit faster than the 'Classic' powder had been, so a slight reduction in charge is probably warranted...which you've done. If the 25's shoot well that should be a good one to stick with and still have a bit of headroom for temperatures or loading variables IMHO.