Shot my first handloads

[MrSpiffy]

I just started reloading, starting out with .223 Remington for my AR-15. And my range session with my first reloads went off without a hitch! So, I wanted to thank everyone here who helped answer my questions just to get this far, as well as anyone who posted advice in past threads. A whole lot of research when into this venture before I even began buying equipment. And there's a ton of great information here at THR, all thanks to people like you.

To show off my results, here's a little background:

Gun specs:

• AR-15 platform:
  • Anderson upper/lower
  • PSA LPK w/ the enhanced polished fire control group
  • PSA nickel-boron BCG
  • PSA .223 Wylde 1:7 twist 18" nitrided barrel
    
  • Magpul MOE stock and MBUS Pro BUIS
  • ALG 15" EMR V3 handguard
  • YHM Phantom flash suppressor
  • Leupold VX-1 3-9x 40mm scope

Reload specs:

• PMC brass
• CCI #400 small rifle primers
  
• Hornady 68gr HPBT Match bullet
  • Varget powder @ 23.0gr, 23.5gr, 24.0gr
    
  • Vihtavuori 140 powder @ 24.0gr, 24.5gr 25.0gr, 25.5gr
• Sierra 77gr MK bullet
  • Vihtavuori 14o powder @ 23.8gr, 24.1gr, 24.3gr, 24.5gr
• Assembled using a Lee Breech-Lock Hand Press with Lee Pacesetter dies and Lee Ram Prime
• All rounds used once-fired brass that was cleaned, trimmed, deprimed, deburred, and full-length resized with shoulder bumped back ~0.004" from fired length

I'm not the best shooter, and all of these rounds were shot from a sandbag rest. So, overall I'm satisfied with how my testing came out, so far. There's still more to go as I refine things a bit. I'll try honing in on the perfect load by going in 0.1gr increments on each side of loads that performed well.

Most groups were 2MOA or worse. I had a few groups come out around 1.8MOA, indicating it could be in the ballpark of a better load. And my best group ended up being 1.0MOA, using the 77gr SMK with 24.3gr of VV140. Not surprising, as Sierra chose 24.1gr of VV140 as their precision load with this bullet. So, it's close to their results.

Anyway... time for pics! And thanks again, everyone!

Oh, and you'll notice a pair of marks in the empty center area of each target. The distance between those marks is 3", if you want a reference.

 

[SwaneeSR]

Congratulations!

.223 is my next future caliber to reload. You seem the have the interest and attention to detail to be a successful handloader. Nice to have that 1:7 twist barrel to stabilize those heavy bullets.

Swanee

 

[macgrumpy]

Concentrating on your breathing and proper trigger control will improve your groups.

 

[SARuger]

Don't be afraid to try different powders. CFE223, H335, BLC-2

 

[kingmt]

Congrats on your new reloads. You'll probably get more trigger time now that you reload.

You might consider a higher magnification scope for improved groups. I don't see well anymore so I use a 14x @ 100 yards.

 

[Armored farmer]

Congratulations.
Much satisfaction from using your own ammo.

 

[MrSpiffy]

Thanks! It's a little nerve wracking sitting my own ammo for the first time, but it all went well.

I do want to try other powders, but I've spent a small fortune just getting started. So I'll start with these two for now. Gotta reign in the spending before my wife kicks me to the couch.

 

[Blue68f100]

Your hooked now. The addiction is just starting.......

Congratulations on your successful outing.

 

[Ghost In The Fog]

Congratulations on your success!
It sounds like you did all of the right things. I remember when I shot my first reload not all that long ago. I got a ton of help here from all of the good folks and even met a guy here locally that has helped me tremendously and now we shoot IDPA together. He had relayed a funny story about a guy who when he shot his first reload he wore his welders helmet and gloves because he was so unsure.
I wasn't really all that far from that- even though I knew I had done all of my homework, followed exact directions and double and triple checked everything- I went to the range, loaded 1 bullet, made sure my gun was on target and safe, turned my head, closed my eyes..... BANG!
No problem. No problems ever since. It took me a long time to not think about it- but now I only shoot my reloads. And I shoot way more than I ever have. I belong to a local gun club and we have a shooting range at work. I shoot at least once a week, usually more.
This is a great hobby and has brought me much joy. It is indeed addicting as @Blue68f100 says.
(Quietly whispering under my breath) chronograph..... LOL
Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[Axis II]

Good shooting!

I have only been at this for maybe 2 years and I was freaked out as all get out shooting my first loads but its nice to stand back and say yep I made that. As the others said try some different powder-1lbs containers. I shoot Benchmark, h335 and h322 in my 223 with 55gr bullets. h335 gave me so-so results and when I shot Benchmark they shrunk a lot to all the rounds touching. I also noticed that you went up in .5gr intervals try .3gr intervals and it might shrink them a little bit. This is just my experience with my rifle and load so not set in stone. 23gr shoots okay for me but 23.3 gr shot better and 23.6 starts to open up a little bit more with my powders you might have missed a good load with the .5gr jump at least I did with mine. I started at the book minimum and went up .3gr until I found the best load which was mid range from max.

 

[MrSpiffy]

@Ghost In The Fog I hear you there... I considered that I had micro explosions happening right by my face, and it was... slightly terrifying! But, I feel better about it, now that I've gotten out there and tried them out. With .223 Rem, I can't really see it being possible to double-charge a case, since these two powders nearly fill a case. A second charge would just spill out over the top. (Now, with pistol cases, I'm really concerned with that possibility...) In any case, I'm super-happy that I got to try this out. It took a LOT of my time and effort to do these cases from scratch, but I learned a lot about the process as I went along: how to clean brass without a tumbler, cleaning primer pockets, removing flash hole burrs, comparing once-fired cases before/after sizing to understand my rifle's chamber, priming by feel, how to pull a bullet, adjusting bullet seating (which seems quite variable with each round, especially with extruded powders...). And the list goes on. It's been very educational

Now... as for a chrony... well, I'd love one. But, I can't drop any more coin right now. I spent way too much already as it is. But, I have a small weekly budget that I can spend on my hobbies, and I'll likely try to save up for something. Maybe a different powder. More bullets! Etc. For now, if I really want to use a chronograph, the range that I just joined allows members to borrow theirs. So, I'll probably do that next time around. This last time, I just didn't have the time. But, I did check cases after shooting each load to make sure I didn't see anything worrisome, like flattened primers or split necks. I'm more concerned with accuracy and safety than I am about velocity. But, it would tell me something about chamber pressures, even if it's just to show me that I'm a-okay.

@ohihunter2014, thanks for the advice on charge increments. I had wanted to do that, but just didn't have enough clean brass to make it happen. But, I did notice a few groups were a little better than others, so this next time around, I plan to load up some rounds on either side of those particular groups to see if they get any better. I did use 0.2gr increments with the SMK's, as Sierra had already done some of the legwork for me. And I might try 0.1gr increments around the 24.3gr group, as that was one of the best of the bunch.

In any case, I just need to step things up gradually, testing one or two variables at a time. I can't afford to dive in, testing several powders and various bullets all at once. I might find myself single again if I did that...

I do plan to try another powder or two, at some point. And I also want to test out some other bullets, like V-Max/Z-Max (are they truly identical, aside from color..?), and maybe some different weights of the Hornady Match and SMK ranges. The heavy bullets are great, but I'm curious if I can find a good load with a lighter bullet. Plus, lighter bullets are generally cheaper.

 

[Axis II]

every gun from a rem 700 to cheap savage axis rifles in 22cal absolutely love a v max bullet. idk why but i purchase a bunch of them just to save my sanity of trying different bullets. i started with 1 powder and when i was halfway done with the lbs and found the good load for that someone suggested several powders so i waited until the first pound was gone and instead of buying another of the same one i went with a new one and when that was gone a new one. helps the budget a little bit.

I think v max and z max are the same but not 100% sure.

that 24.3 group is pretty nice. maybe play with .1 or .2 or .3 grains either way and see if it tightens. when i ran my tests i did the .5gr increments and missed it cause i didn't have enough brass. i would just load up what i could in .3 and run to the range. what i did was found a couple of factory 20rd boxes with certain bullets like 55gr fmj-bt, v max, z max, sp and just fired them to see what shot the best before buying 100 bullets that might not work right and if the factory shot good i purchased 100 of the reloading bullets and tested. i would also say use a good solid bag and tip of the finger when shooting and you might shrink that 24.3 group a bit more. what also helped me was i see you coloring the dots. try and find a target with a diamond for a bulls eye and line the x hairs up on the diamond and that might help get things a little tighter. i tried doing to marker dot like you the other day and it threw me off.

if you need more brass. brassbombers.com is very good and competitive prices. just make sure you get the cleaned and swaged brass.

 

[MrSpiffy]

Thanks for the advice, @ohihunter2014. I'll try out the diamond target next time to see if it helps.

The other issue I had was my barrel got hot, and it got hard to see the target clearly because of the distortion of hot air rising in front of my scope. It would've been nice to let my barrel cool down, but I wanted to get my shooting in before they closed.

 

[Axis II]

advice the guys on here gave was like 1rd in 30 seconds or something like that. the groups go to crap when its hot.

 

[Skeet 25]

I like to use black electrical tape and a square to make a perfect set of crosshairs. At 100 yards will be the same width as the crosshairs of most scopes. Even use a level when setting target down range. If you come off dead center in your trigger squeeze it will show up. I also like to stable my rifle on the bench and sand bags, and set the target up as close to center as possible. It always works for me.

 

[DeadEye9]

Don't be afraid to try different powders. CFE223, H335, BLC-2

Varget is usually very decent for heavier .223 loads but I've had great success with H335, H4895, RL-15 and CFE223 as well. Especially in 16-18" with the 69-77gr weights, all of these powders can make great loads for my rifles. I would also suggest another bullet to try; Barnes 69gr BTHP "Match Burner". These are fairly cheap (cheaper than Sierra 69) and readily available in my Neck of the woods & they make a superb MOA target load. In my 16" 1:9 carbine I see .91" groups with 25.3gr Varget, CCI SR primer, the aforementioned Barnes 69gr loaded to 2.260". This was in LC and WCC NATO brass. When I ran this same load through my 18" 1:8 SPR the group shrunk to .83", so a little tighter. These are 100yd numbers from a LeadSled with 9 power glass. So as you can see Varget can make a decent load. Typically though I use more H-335 and CFE these days, but that's because most of my .223/5.56 shooting of late is done inside of 100. When distance shooting is the topic of the day I usually grab something with a .30 cal Bore, so most of what I load in volume these days is 55-62gr FMJ for .223/5.56.
25gr H335 behind a Speer 55gr FMJ-BT at 2.235" with CCI primers and processed range brass is just the ticket for my carbines and CQB training/plinking needs. When using a 62gr FMJ-BT from Hornady I get even better groups, typically 24.5gr H335 under these gives MOA groups from my carbines. The 55gr load sees around 2850fps from 16" while the 62 goes about 70fps slower on average. For just overall plinking I would definitely reccomend looking into loading something like these as well; it's economical, simple and by and large they shoot better than surplus. The CFE223 is just as accurate in my experience as H335, just takes a little more powder for a given load. If you try this before H335 for a 55gr plinking load start around 26.3gr and work up. Again, 2.235" OAL does well in my experiences but as always YMMV.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Thanks for the advice, @ohihunter2014. I'll try out the diamond target next time to see if it helps.

The other issue I had was my barrel got hot, and it got hard to see the target clearly because of the distortion of hot air rising in front of my scope. It would've been nice to let my barrel cool down, but I wanted to get my shooting in before they closed.

A barrel that hot can invalidate your accuracy tests with new loads. A load you now think is not accurate might well be very accurate but your barrel was very hot. If you were sweetheart waves in your scope from the barrel it must have been extremely hot. You didn't do yourself any favors trying to shoot all the groups the way you did, the data is tainted.

 

[Walkalong]

Print some better targets that will help you aim better. They don't have to be fancy. These don't take much ink.

 

[rfwobbly]

Congrats !! You're on your way now, friend.

 

[kingmt]

Nice targets are helpful. I print mine as well. I like the one inch grid when sighting in our testing loads. I can sit at the bench & see what is going on.

I've also keep another at the bench to mark my last shot if I happen to forget where I already had shots.

 

[thomas15]

Interesting that Varget didn't do as well for groupings for the OP. Of course this is not a knock of Varget because I love the stuff but in .223 It doesn't work as well as others for me. Interesting enough, and I'm in no way trying to make a sales pitch for anything but I have 16 pounds of IMR 4198. I have read all over the interwebs that this powder is too fast for an AR style rifle. But I have found some articles and posts where it has been used so I finally said what the heck let me try it. And oddly enough it works in MY AR and groups better for ME than Varget.

There is an interesting article in the latest edition of Handloader's Digest (published by Gun Digest) where the author uses this powder. Again not trying to change opinions about powders and I'm far from done experimenting with other powders just thought I would chime in on my findings.

 

[lastofthebreed]

Congratulations. I fired my first reload almost 50 years ago. I can still remember closing my eyes and hoping the darn thing didn't blow me into a thousand pieces. My Dad called me crazy, he had never seen anyone reload before. He was with me but stepped behind the car when it came time to shoot.

 

[DownInTheDark]

First reload I fired off was a 9mm out of my Glock 43. I had my arm extended all the way, and my head turned to the side. I still have my hand, my gun, and my head. The last time I was second guessing myself about a reload was my first time firing off the 460 Rowland.

About 6 months later I finished off an elk with a 357 Mag reload. Now I roll my own hunting ammo. For the 270, it was pretty easy, but for the 35 Whelen, I have made a lot of trips up into the hills. Sometimes only firing off 5 rounds to go back and change something small.

 

[MrSpiffy]

Thanks for all of the encouragement, everyone. I think the trick for me is going to be patience. Just taking the time to experiment and find the ideal load for a particular gun. Because I can't just go out and buy 1,000 bullets and load up 50 different combinations all at once, I'll have to just try a couple of changes at a time and see how they go.

For now, I think I'll keep sticking with the same bullets, just to avoid too many changes at once. But, I do want to find a good combination with a lighter bullet, too. Maybe a 50-55gr V-Max or something like that.

As for the Varget, @thomas15, I think I just had too large of a jump in powder charge between test batches. I want to shrink that down a bit and start doing tests with only 0.1-0.2gr difference between them for the Varget. I think that there was a little improvement around 23.5gr, so I'll bracket my testing around that to start out. It's also possible that maybe a different bullet weight would work better with Varget. I plan to do 0.1gr bracketing around the VV140 and 77gr SMK at 24.3gr to see if I can tweak that just a hair, too.

Thanks for the suggestions on the targets, @Walkalong. I agree that the dots aren't the easiest to see at longer range. I'll try printing out some other targets to see how those work for me instead. I can imagine those two you attached should be very easy to see.

 

[Walkalong]

should be very easy to see.

And cheap, they don't use a lot of ink.