Bullet and Powder Questions for .223

kbm6893 · Dec 22, 2019

I’m about to get into reloading .223. I have an M&P Sport 2 that they will be shot in. Looking for suggestions on:

Bullets: What weight? Cannellure necessary?

Powder: All I care about is drop dead metering every time. I use HP38 for handguns and it’s dead on every time.

Crimping: I know some say no crimp is necessary but I’m just used to it and would rather do it. I can set a light crimp. If the bullet has a cannellure, I assume I should be seating to the cannellure and crimping there?

Primers: Does it matter? Small rifle primers.

Just looking to make reliable paper punching rounds.

phonejack · Dec 22, 2019

When in shot competition everybody used Varget. I settled on 25.0 gr for all bullet weights. Even thou half the stages were rapid fire, no one crimped, unnecessary.

68Dave · Dec 22, 2019

I like CFE223. It meters really well. I usually shoot a 62 grain bthp with Cannelure. I use a light crimp. I use standard CCI small rifle primers. I have never experienced a slam fire.
David

kbm6893 · Dec 22, 2019

Thanks. Any source for free shipping in .223 bullets?

WR Moore · Dec 22, 2019

kbm6893 said:
I’m about to get into reloading .223. I have an M&P Sport 2 that they will be shot in. Looking for suggestions on:

Bullets: What weight? Cannellure necessary?

55 gr is early ball equivalent bullet. Given the violent feed cycle of the carbine, a cannelure and good crimp is prudent. Yes, you seat to cannelure. You can find deals on bulk 55 gr FMJ bullets.

Formal target competition generally uses bullets in the 69-75 gr range. They don't have a cannelure, but a very slight crimp is advisable. The bench rest folks have found a slight crimp contributes to a more even neck tension and powder burn and you'll never see them use a cannelured bullet.

Pick a primer, any primer. If you're looking for smaller groups, I've found the Remington 7 1/2 bench rest primer to give much more consistent velocities and smaller groups. WW SR seem to do as well as any for general use. The CCI 41 is the actual mil spec primer. They're around, but harder to find. I find the CCI primers to be somewhat of a pain to seat.

If you're using used military brass, do your self a favor and splurge on the Dillon Super Swage. Worth every penny.

Imissedagain · Dec 22, 2019

Always good to give the twist rate.

1:9 according to the Smith site?
Ours are 1:12 and 1:7 so the only advice is Varget seems popular.

We use 4198 and 3031 in our 223s and 458WM and now that I'm loading the 1:7s Varget is on order.
Ran some 55s and 70s in the newest 6920, with 4198, and the 70s grouped well indoors at 25yds.
Will wait for Varget and other bullet weights before headed to 100yds plus.

Wise_A · Dec 22, 2019

Depends on your goals and equipment.

Bullet--55gr for plinking, maybe a 69-grain for longer distances. IIRC, the Sport II has a 1:9 twist barrel.

Powder--I like Varget, but it meters horribly if you're not trickling. CFE223 would be my choice if I were loading on a turret or progressive and/or didn't want to trickle.

Primer--Whichever.

Crimp--None to a very light crimp.

Cannelure--Not necessary, no advantage to using one, really.

Source--https://223bulkbullets.com for bulk 55-grains. Midsouth has good prices on target bullets sometimes, otherwise I'll look for a 10% off Brownell's deal or something. Hornady delivers great performance for a reasonable price, in my experience. I use their 6.5mm 140-grain ELD-M exclusively, they do well-enough for $30/100 that I don't even want to bother screwing around saving a few dollars and getting cheap no-name bullets.

Ivan the Butcher · Dec 22, 2019

I use an 8 pound of Varget a year, I can tell you it only meters So-So!

From personal experience:
WW748 and H335 & H322 are good 223 powders and meter well.

Some powders and primers go well together:
WW748 goes well with CCI Small Rifle and Sm. Rif. Magnum.
Fed 205M and 210M go very well with Varget, Benchrest, H-335 & H-322. Rem 7 1/2 goes well with Varget
Remington 6 1/2 goes well with IMR & H 4227 and AA 1680

My personal 223 plinking load was:
Mixed Military brass
CCI primer
WW748
55 grain FMJ/BT w/cannelure (Winchester)

Primer compounds have changed since I loaded a huge batch, the amount of powder and Mag or not Mag primer will be different. But my 1:9 twist AR 20" shoots 1/4" Groups at 100 yards with 20x scope and off bags!

It all depends how well you want to punch that paper!

Ivan

jdlii · Dec 22, 2019

CFE223 and Match Rifle Powder (formerly AA2520) meter like sand and are spot on in my Dillon 550.

55 gr. bullets, as previously stated are good to go for informal shooting, 69 gr. Sierra, Nosler or the Hornady bullets are the accuracy bullets. 63 gr. spire points are great for hunting rounds.

Just about any brass will do and remember that G.I. brass has to have the primer crimp removed.

I am active in high power rifle competition and the most critical component that I have found in loading match rounds for the .223 is the primer. CCI gets the nod here and for the 600 yard line I use the CCI bench rest primer. If they are not available, I use the Federal small rifle, match primer.

Do not discount Wolf small rifle primers for informal range use and short range (200/300 yard) loads. They perform very well.

For bulk ammo, I highly recommend SGammo. Now all you have to do is choose an optic, if you want one. Have fun and good shooting!

scattershot · Dec 22, 2019

CFE223 and 748 flow like water through a measure, and give good results. 55 grains is pretty much the standard weight for .223, and a cannelure and crimp may be useful in a semi auto. Bulk bullets can be had just about anywhere that sells bullets. I use about any small rifle primer that comes along.

BC38 · Dec 22, 2019

scattershot said:
CFE223 and 748 flow like water through a measure, and give good results. 55 grains is pretty much the standard weight for .223...

That would be 55 grain bullets - NOT 55 grains of powder

Anybody have any experience with BLC-2 in the .223? How does meter? I got a couple of pounds of it from a guy and wanted to give it a try.

Moe Mentum · Dec 22, 2019

I use a 55 grain FMJBT bullet, and Winchester 748 powder. Winchester is a ball powder, and will give you the results you desire.

2ndtimer · Jan 11, 2020

BC38 said:
That would be 55 grain bullets - NOT 55 grains of powder

Anybody have any experience with BLC-2 in the .223? How does meter? I got a couple of pounds of it from a guy and wanted to give it a try.

I picked up a pound to try in my AR, and got some nice results with 25.5 gr of powder behind a 62 gr Hornady BTHP, seated to the cannelure with. CCI-400 primer. Further testing will be required to see if BL-C2 can unseat my favorite load of 24.5 gr of Ramshot TAC with the same components. Both those powders meter perfectly through my old RCBS Uniflow powder measure. The bullets are available only from Mid-South Shooters supply:
22 Caliber .224 Diameter 62 Grain BTHP With Cannelure 1500 Count by Hornady

BC38 · Jan 11, 2020

2ndtimer said:
I picked up a pound to try in my AR, and got some nice results with 25.5 gr of powder behind a 62 gr Hornady BTHP, seated to the cannelure with. CCI-400 primer. Further testing will be required to see if BL-C2 can unseat my favorite load of 24.5 gr of Ramshot TAC with the same components. Both those powders meter perfectly through my old RCBS Uniflow powder measure. The bullets are available only from Mid-South Shooters supply:
22 Caliber .224 Diameter 62 Grain BTHP With Cannelure 1500 Count by Hornady

Thanks for sharing your BLC-2 experience. I appreciate it. I will be using CCI 4100 primers and 55 gr FMJ bullets.

DWalt · Jan 11, 2020

For many years, my best-grouping load has been a 50-52 grain bullet with 22 grains of IMR 4198 and the Remington 7-1/2 bench rest SR primer. I experimented a lot to get to that load. But I have a Savage 112V heavy barrel bolt action rifle.

Forrest r · Jan 11, 2020

25.5gr of bl-c2 with 55gr to 62gr bullets +1^^^^^^

For 55gr to 62gr bullets I like to use h335 or bl-c2, both powders are excellent for powder throws. They meter extremely well/consistent.

for 69gr to 75gr bullets I use varget, rl-15, ramshot tac

80gr bullets varget.

Any primer will work for plinking/blammo ammo for the ar's. Remington 7 1/2 small rifle br primers used to be popular with the nra high power/ar crowd.

Skyhunter · Jan 11, 2020

AA 2520 (somewhere between 26.0 and 27.0 grs. was the sweet spot for my rifles) for bullets form 55 gr to 64 gr. Meters well.
Favorite primer is the Rem 7-1/2 BR - never had a slam fire.
Never needed to crimp for my AR's.

WYT-P
Skyhunter

growr · Jan 11, 2020

I have used H335, BL-C2, AA 2460, AA2520, Win 748, AA2230, with 52-55 grain JHP on prairie dogs here in Montana.

All were very accurate, so my choice is whatever 8lb jug I can find on sale..........

Randy

ArchAngelCD · Jan 11, 2020

H335/(WC842) is usually considered the 5.56mm NATO powder and BL-C(2)/(WC846) the 7.62mm NATO powder. Either will work in each cartridge, just not as well. BL-C(2) will perform better in the .223 with heavier bullets.

Moe Mentum · Jan 20, 2020

ArchAngelCD said:
H335/(WC842) is usually considered the 5.56mm NATO powder and BL-C(2)/(WC846) the 7.62mm NATO powder. Either will work in each cartridge, just not as well. BL-C(2) will perform better in the .223 with heavier bullets.

I believe that would be WC844 not WC842

Bullet and Powder Questions for .223

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