AR15 From mould to target

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
Just wondering,....
Traded for about 200 lyman 62 grain cast, gas checked and lubed . 223 a while back. I have developed a nice powder puff H-Universal, 50 yard practice round but it will not cycle. If I push hotter the primers show signs of pressure and the round looses accuracy.
..... Has any one made the full trip with a standard 223 carbine in the AR15 from casting to target and came up with at least 4moa that will cycle, and not lead up, or dirty up the gun, too bad.
Interested in successes, failures, powder choices and why.
Want to study on this a while, after I get the 06 rounds down I am currently working on, this may become my next project.
Links are also appreciated.
Thank you for your I put on this,
Emmett
 
Last edited:

waco

Springfield, Oregon
S&W M&P sport. First gen.
Lee 55gr fp cast with ww air cooled. pc with no gc and sized to .225"
Loaded in random FL sized military brass with 19gr H335 will bust clays offhand at 70 yards all day using an old Gen 2 Bushnell Holo sight.
They run the gun perfect and hold the bolt open on the last shot. It's my go to practice round for the AR's
 

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
That's interesting, my rifle loves H335. I just did not thing it would work for lead.
Learn something new every day. Thanks for your input, It will go in my possible loads book.
I have a 1-8 twist and wild chamber. But as I have found 55 grain shoots "ok" In it, just may work for me.I actually have a book I write down loads to consider twerking for my guns in.
 
Last edited:

RBHarter

West Central AR
ATI Omni Hybred 556/223 , 1-8" .
NOE 225-55@62 gr
Hornady check
Modified Darrs lube
H322 21.0
CCI #41
Rem 223 brass .
STD RCBS dies .
Lee push through sizer @ .225
Alloy 75/24.5/.5 WW/1-20/cu , copper from the 1-20 from lead tamper/antipilferage seals melt out .
Water dropped
Shoots around 2.5" with the M4 styled barrel A2 sights and birdcage .
16" carbine gas 2050 fps .
 

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
@RBHarter .. . Is fitment, and over time growth, a major issue with this recipie?
Seams like the alloy you chose is pretty tough compared to what I have used, thus far.
 
Last edited:

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
I copied Ed Harris information from this article except I use NOEs 5 cavity copy of the RCBS GC bullet, and a bit more RX7 than the starting load listed. I haven't shot this load for awhile since losing access to my old shooting spot because the neighbor is grazing cattle right now. Load development is load development, I'd suggest following the procedures listed, and developing your own load.

https://www.hensleygibbs.com/edharris/articles/Cast In an AR.htm
 

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
A lot of good info there. scanned over it real quick. Might just have to read it a couple times. A lot to soak in.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
get you the rcbs 055-22s or the LEE copy and go from there.[ I use that same alloy I sent you a sample of]
I run 22.5grs of IMR-4895 with wolf primers in LC cases at around 2800 fps and well under 2" groups,,, depending on the rifles quality.
[my 1-8 varmint AR shoots better than my 1-9 standard weight]
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
get you the rcbs 055-22s or the LEE copy and go from there.[ I use that same alloy I sent you a sample of]
I run 22.5grs of IMR-4895 with wolf primers in LC cases at around 2800 fps and well under 2" groups,,, depending on the rifles quality.
[my 1-8 varmint AR shoots better than my 1-9 standard weight]
Wow, that's cookin'! One of my ideas was the old "lino HPs at nearly full velocity" plan to function as a cheap frangible bullet for steel. Then I started hearing about guys still damaging steel targets because of the velocity involved, and scrapped the idea. Still, for varmint hunting the idea does seem to have some potential merit.
 

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
Just amazing how many different approaches can be used to obtain the basic goal, of getting the AR to shoot well with cast, also the different expectations - goals, each person has for a round.
Lamar
Have not cast any thing yet with your alloy, as I have only casted 3 times this far, and my current mix(about 100 lbs left) of 2 parts range scrap, 1 part plumbing pipe, 1 part coww, +1% tin works well for what I have done so far.
I think I will actually save your alloy for the. .223 .
 
Last edited:

fiver

Well-Known Member
when i started experimenting with them I started with linotype.
why not? a few lbs. makes a couple hundred bullets...
well the why not was because lino-type wasn't near as accurate as linotype cut in half with pure lead and more tin added.

the AR type rifles have their own set of peculiarities.
you have a couple of different throat shapes to deal with and you have to get the round up from the magazine into the chamber.
then the case gets jerked out while it's still in transition from gripping the chamber walls.
nothing is easy or gentle, even when we are being easy and gentle on the powder supply.

the trick is to sneak up on case fitment, and overall length of the round.
we know we are going to have a jump from the case into the lands so we need to make that work for us instead of against us.
and we need to take into account how the bullet is going to interface the barrel when it gets there.
we can mess with our neck tension too, it isn't imperative to run .003 tension but .001 doesn't really work well either.
combine your neck tension with your bullet diameter.
227 will chamber and scuff but your beating things up getting it there.
226? well? maybe better, but there again your moving a bit of alloy around when it starts into the barrel.
225? probably just enough to seal everything pretty good if your nose is making a good straight transition.
224.. could also work but your taking a chance at getting some pretty good blow by in that 5.56's throat to barrel transition.

so you start sneaking up.
225 diameter.
case neck with .002 -/+ .0005 tension on your desired diameter.
play with the primers.
find that case size that just squeaks into the chamber smoothly.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
There are just some battles I don't bother fighting. Jacketed .22 caliber bullets are the cheapest out there. I can spend my casting time on bigger calibers.
I once worked up an accurate .222 bolt gun load right at 2,000 fps, then I remembered I had two .22 mags. Casting .22 caliber bullets was tedious at best.
I really admire fiver's #9 post. 2,800 fps and 2" groups sounds outstanding to me.
My biggest gripe is chasing brass from semi autos. I save mine for situations where saving my brass is the last thing on my mind.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
@RBHarter .. . Is fitment, and over time growth, a major issue with this recipie?
Seams like the alloy you chose is pretty tough compared to what I have used, thus far.

As of yet I haven't had any issues . With growth .
That alloy does interesting things , it ends up 18 BHN but resists shear like a 22 but acts more like 14 on impact . The 222 load @2640 will mark an AR 500 gong at 100 yd . The 223 at 2050 not so much a threat . I've shot that load across 2 ARs an Axis and Stevens 200 .
The "fat neck" of the 556 chambers is likely the reason the non issue of growth . Because of the intended use everything is sized to the smallest chamber dimensions .

Knock on wood , should I ever "need" the boys rifle for business we have a supply of cheap factory ammo mostly FC .

6.8 .... there's a clear showing barrel quality to end results .
I wish I had H bar rifle gas 18-20" and about a 10" twist for 223 . I don't and I'm too cheap to buy them on purpose . ;) .
 

Bliksem

Active Member
There are just some battles I don't bother fighting. Jacketed .22 caliber bullets are the cheapest out there. I can spend my casting time on bigger calibers.
I once worked up an accurate .222 bolt gun load right at 2,000 fps, then I remembered I had two .22 mags. Casting .22 caliber bullets was tedious at best.
I really admire fiver's #9 post. 2,800 fps and 2" groups sounds outstanding to me.
My biggest gripe is chasing brass from semi autos. I save mine for situations where saving my brass is the last thing on my mind.

Same here, I went down that rabbit hole and spent a lot of time and money just to end up with a solution needing a problem to solve. My solution was to build a 20" .223" rifle and to stick with bulk factory bullets for reloading for it. The other experimental rifles all ended up as .30 caliber platforms, 300BO, 7.62x40WT and 300HAMR. These are easy to get cast working.

As for chasing brass there is no need to, just hang a quality brass catcher on the rifle and all is good. I use the 3BUCC catcher and have 3D printed mounts for each of my rifles so I don't lose any brass.
 

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
I always pick up about twice the 556 I am going to shoot, before I get started, then just leave mine lay, unless it's lake City or Remington. Then I try to get what I see close.
Now the 06 brass is like gold around here. I literally count each one while picking them back up.
 

Ian

Notorious member
You won't leave it lay after you've painstakingly prepped it to work just right in YOUR rifle.

why not? a few lbs. makes a couple hundred bullets...
well the why not was because lino-type wasn't near as accurate as linotype cut in half with pure lead and more tin added.

Heheh! Reminds me of Molly's old thread on the other site "If you think so, try this!" 45 2.1 took him to task on linotype and nobody understood why he was right. That's because ALMOST nobody tried more ductile alloys due to "knowing" it would fail terribly. Some of us did, though.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
chuckle.
cheap 22 bullets.
I have the ability to make all the jacketed bullets I want with 22LR cases for about nuthin dollars.
all I gotta do is pick them up, and grab the 22 lead out of the berm then stroke the handle.
or I can always buy J-4 or sierra jackets for about 9-10 cents each, and mold my own cores.

I'm still okay with casting and shooting lead bullets it really isn't that hard.
plus the brass work carries over to shooting the other ones even better.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
BT snipers last build kit puts it at 735ish for basic bones dies and anvils and around 1200 for the full package based on a Lee classic cast press (It's the heavy O frame with a new ram) .