[jeezumcrow]

Just thought I'd share this. Finally came up with a recipe for my A-bolt chambered in .223. I couldn't find a factory round the little rifle liked. Nothing that would shoot one inch at 100yds anyway. Come to find out the little rifle has a pretty deep chamber. More than a tenth of an inch difference between seeting at the lands and Hornady's recomended max. col. which is 2.260". The chamber to the lands is 2.366". So, did some experimenting. Came up with a 50gr V-max on top of 22gr of H-335 in a Winchester case and Win. primer and voula. One inch group at 100yds. Man, that H-335 is some dirty stuff. Leaves some aweful fouling. Any suggestions? Course I'll have to start all over again. It was fun figuring out what my rifle liked but, at the same time kind of a PIA. Just a little proud of myself is all. Felt like sharing my experience with some fellow hand loaders. Take care.

 

[broom_jm]

I don't know if a chamber that is .100" longer than the cartridge OAL given in most load books is all that unusual. I've never really measured my chambers, per se, I just seat the bullet out as far as it will go (without getting into the lands) and still fit in the magazine. Then, I slowly shorten the length until I find the accuracy I like, which is usually within .030" off the lands.

What's frustrating is when the chamber is shorter than spec and you have to seat bullets very deep to get them to chamber. I had a 7RM like this and sold it off after a few years. I could have had the throat lengthened, but I wanted the money from it for a different project, anyway.

The fun part about reloading is you frequently have to look at a variety of factors before you figure out exactly what your gun likes. Sometimes you get a boring gun that shoots everything well, but that has its own rewards.

 

[hailstone]

Had too look at my manuals and notes for that chambering but memory was correct. You may have cleaner burning if you move the charge up some. I shoot the same combination around 25 plus grains of powder while the book maximum loads are 27.0 grains. Your even less than the minimums. Use a magnum primer with this powder although my usual primer is the Rem 7 1/2. Don't seem too notice differences between the 7 1/2's and magnum primers with this powder.

 

[broom_jm]

QuickLoad predicts you're generating ~33000psi with that load, presuming a seating depth of .300". As Hailstone said, work up a bit in charge weight and you should get a better gas seal, and hence, cleaner cases.

 

[fritz1]

I am using pretty much the same load only using a 40gr. V-Max, not sure how much powder i am using, I know its about the max. load in the hornady book, I would have to look it up. I get great accuracy and have not noticed the powder being exsessvily dirty.

 

[hailstone]

Hornadys load manuals are on the low side when compared in other manuals. Speer or Sierra manuals show 28.5 grains for 40 grain bullets and 27.0 grains for 50 grain bullets using H335 powder. Lesson in the lawyer proofing of loads can be observed by looking at data for the VitaVhori powders then getting there manual and comparing. Its eye opening how conservative the American manuals are with Hornady's being the most conservative.

 

[unclenick]

The dirt is because the powder is burning at too low a pressure to burn efficiently or completely. I am surprised how low the Hornady manual starting load of H335 is for a 50 grain bullet (21.8 grains to start), but the Hornady loads don't appear to have any kind of pressure testing associated with them.

Hailstone gave some maximum loads, but for comparison, here are H335 .223 starting loads for 50 grain bullets from other manuals:

Hodgdon: 24 grains (pressure tested)
Sierra: 24.5 grains
Lyman: 24.8 grains (pressure tested)
Speer: 25 grains (calculated from a pressure tested maximum load of 27 grains)
Nosler: 25.5 grains

There are a variety of cases and bullets and primers in those loads, but you still get a pretty good sense that 22 grains of H335 is way down there.

Frankly, H335 is too slow for 50 grain bullets by the criteria I use. The efficiency is about 4% below a more appropriate choice, like Reloader 10X, and the velocity it achieves is lower.

It is not uncommon for lighter loads to achieve decent accuracy simply because they ring the barrel to vibrate less extremely than a stiff load does. The trick is to find a sweet spot load at a more appropriate pressure. Dan Newberry's method is the one I recommend to people these days.

 

[varminter]

I used to use H335 with a 50grain Nosler ballistic tip. I was at a higher charge than you are but I don't remember how much. It always left unburned powder in the barrel and seemed pretty dirty. I think the way to go is with H4198. I shoot 22grains, which is the listed max, with the 50grain NBT. This is the cleanest burning recipe I have ever seen. After 50 rnds with no cleaning what so ever I pulled the bolt and looked down the barrel. Nothing. not a flake of powder or residue of carbon. the barrel looked like I just cleaned it. Pretty amazing. After 100 rnds I saw a few specks of powder in the barrel but I didn't clean it and accuracy is still good. I don't know if I ever have to clean it. maybe just watch for copper fouling. my current load shoots around 3200 fps and groups between .3 and .8 at 100 yards. H4198 does not meter as well as H335 because it is cylindrical instead of crushed ball but thats the only complaint I have and its not a big one.

 

[kdub]

Try some Varget powder. 27.0 gr with a 52 gr Speer FBHP is the wonder loading for my Ruger M77 mkII V/T in .223 Rem.

 

[jeezumcrow]

WOW! Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate all the advice. Kinda new to the whole handloading thing so an achievement like making an accurate round is something to me. I've definately got a long way to go but, I'm getting there. My wife bought me the rifle, my daughter shot her first deer with it so forfeiting the rifle is not an option. My next experiment was with a different powder and the H4198 was my choice. I'm using Win. brass fire formed to my rifle and trimmed to 1.750". The more I get into this handloading and the more I experiment with different combinations the more fun it is. Thanks again guys.

 

[hailstone]

Suppressor usage really shows which powders are "dirty" and which ones are clean. Though I have a lot of VV powders for use in 223 they are dirty when I use a suppressor. Haven't tried them with IMR 4198 but will down the road after load developemnt. It's only powder showing promise with light bullets in fast twist barrels. Still group size is nearly double what I get with 50 grain VMax and H335 powder. Trying too cull bullets needed to bare minimum but doesn't look promising in the 22 caliber varmit line up.

 

[varminter]

for my Ruger MKII I have recently found .020 off of the lands and I use the lee collet die with fire formed brass is what does the trick. But this is a new load and I in no way have enough data to say that these results are consistent.

Man Id kill for a suppressor for my rifle. Can't get them here. but I was thinking about constructing one for discreet varmint work. ( please no lectures on legality, just discussing.)

 

[amndouglas]

I'm with Kdub on this one, and I have the same model of rifle as him. Varget is my powder of choice for the 223. It shoots great with 52gr and 55gr Hornady AMAX and VMAX bullets. I tried a lot of powders and bullet weights but found that lighter bullets wouldn't shoot worth a darn in this rifle. I also have to set the bullet out a long way to be within spitting distance of the lands (so far that this is a single-loading only rifle). My loads are compressed, which I think makes the load even more consistent.

 

[recoil junky]

I have three .223 bolt guns. I used to use H335 when it was the rage and until on hot days with hot rifles it started blowing primers.

Now I use Benchmark exclusively. Not that there's anything wrong with Varget as I used it in my 22-250 with great results, but I was already using Benchmark so I never tried it in the .223's.

RJ

 

[nvshooter]

Man, I'd kill for a suppressor for my rifle. Can't get them here, but I was thinking about constructing one for discreet varmint work. (please, no lectures on legality; just discussing)

Move to a state that still believes in Freedom...

 

[varminter]

yeah no kidding

 

[flashhole]

Varget has worked well in my 223 too but I found an even better load using H-4895 and Sierra 63 grain semi point bullets. Mine is a 1:9 twist but if you are seating long you might find it advantageous to use the 63 grain bullet with its slightly longer length.