I made a function test batch of 55 grain FMJ over a 17.5 grain load of SWTR just to see if it would run in my 20" A4 clone. It ran surprisingly well, and was generally a nice load to shoot. It wasn't terribly accurate, but that wasn't the point of that batch. It ejected consistently, and locked the bolt back, all while not blasting my ears as some powders and brands of factory ammo can. Accuracy wasn't terrible. It was about on par with a chrome lined barrel and 55 grain FMJ loads, which is to say about 2.3 inches at 100 yards.
My intent is to make a cheaper practice load for this rifle and save my more expensive match bullets/loads for less frequent shooting. I also wanted to see how far I could stretch a pound of powder in an AR system. I have minimal charge target loads for basically every caliber I reload, except for my gas guns. Those are a little trickier since I have to find a balance between accuracy, function, and spreading the powder supply as thin as I can. As long as I can find acceptable accuracy, function seems good, and this gives a 30% increase of the number of rounds per pound over my H335 and TAC loads, though the velocity is certainly reduced. As I'm only shooting paper, I'm fine with that. Based on yesterday's target, I won't really even have to change sight elevation for practice at 100 yards. The POI is only about 1/2" higher than my RMR load at that range.
I'm going to make a test array and see if I can tighten up groups a little. If not, the current accuracy is on par with my other FMJ loads, so there's no real loss there, except velocity. I just thought I'd share some testing for anyone else interested in stretching out components now that some choices are available. I have not tried this load yet in my mid-length rifle and would like to hear from anyone who has just to see if anyone's gotten it to work. I'll know by Friday in any case.
My intent is to make a cheaper practice load for this rifle and save my more expensive match bullets/loads for less frequent shooting. I also wanted to see how far I could stretch a pound of powder in an AR system. I have minimal charge target loads for basically every caliber I reload, except for my gas guns. Those are a little trickier since I have to find a balance between accuracy, function, and spreading the powder supply as thin as I can. As long as I can find acceptable accuracy, function seems good, and this gives a 30% increase of the number of rounds per pound over my H335 and TAC loads, though the velocity is certainly reduced. As I'm only shooting paper, I'm fine with that. Based on yesterday's target, I won't really even have to change sight elevation for practice at 100 yards. The POI is only about 1/2" higher than my RMR load at that range.
I'm going to make a test array and see if I can tighten up groups a little. If not, the current accuracy is on par with my other FMJ loads, so there's no real loss there, except velocity. I just thought I'd share some testing for anyone else interested in stretching out components now that some choices are available. I have not tried this load yet in my mid-length rifle and would like to hear from anyone who has just to see if anyone's gotten it to work. I'll know by Friday in any case.