making a better load

[Kevin Stenberg]

I have made a good load for jacketed bullets. But i am interested in making a better load. An was wondering how to start looking.
The load is for a standard AR15 - 16" barrel - 1/9 twist. My bullets are 55 to 65 gr. jacketed pointed soft points and FMJ
The powder is Varget / 26.8 gr. for a compressed load.
I assume i have to go with a powder that has a faster burn speed. If that is the case how much faster should i be looking at?

 

[Brad]

Define “better”.
Lots of really good 223 powders out there and you are using one of them.
For better accuracy the first place to look is the bullet you use. Bulk 55 Fiji are not going to be as accurate as a Sierra or Hornady match bullet. For a 9 twist a 52 HPBT can be very accurate, just watch the seating depth as they can jam the rifling even at a length that easily feeds thru the magazine. Been there, done that.
If you want to reach out a bit farther and buck wind then the 69 Sierra is a good one. I loaded them with 24.5 gr of RE15 and they shot very well in my 7 twist.

 

[RicinYakima]

Kevin, Many years ago I read an article by the #2 guy at Frankfort Arsenal on making National Match ammo. In their tests from 1918 thru 1950 they determined that the bullet was 80% of accuracy, EVERTHING else, powder, charge weight, primers, cases, etc. was 20%. When you get a load for a match bullet, just seat the "banger" bulk bullets to have the same run to the bore as the match load. That is as good as you and I are going to get. HTH, Ric

 

[358156 hp]

Since I have a 1-10 in twist in my scoped AR15 I tend to run lighter weight bullets in all my loads, primarily 55 to 65 grains. My plinking loads use Hornady 55 gr FMJBT, which are about as good as it seems to get for an FMJ, softnose plinkers are Hornady 55 gr JSP. Both of these bullet designs are available in bulk. My "I'm serious" loads use 55 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, and seriously outshoot my plinking loads. My 223 load is exactly the same for all of them, 21.5 gr of RX7. The only other difference are the cases. My plinkers use processed (by me) LC or Winchester military cases (only), while I use Remington or Winchester commercial cases for serious loads.

My plinkers average about 3/4 inch at 100 yards from the bench, and the serious loads run about 3/8 inch or so, depending on how much coffee I've had that day. I developed this load independently of any major loading manual a long time ago. I now see it's essentially the same as Sierras recommended 55 gr "accuracy" load. This all ties in really well with Rics recommendation above. I also gave up shooting from a bench quite a while ago, favoring field positions and shooting while standing up on my hind legs, but I always know that if I miss something I have to take all the credit for that miss myself. My load and my equipment are all tested and proven extensively.

As I get older though, I'm more and more tempted to give bench work another try. Even ARs get heavy after awhile.

 

[RBHarter]

Funny thing about ARs . While they are designed to be accurate there are also about 20 platform things that make a big difference in how good your best load is . I worked up a good load for a 6.8 , 3 powders , 2 primers , 4 different cases , and 3 different bullets plus 3 different factory loads , and a cast load work up . Plain Jane Milspec M4 reliefs on a basic A2 upper . Best factory hovered around 2.25-2.5" @ 100 yd . As it turned out the trigger was very good as was the sum of lower parts , luck of the draw I guess for the kit gun . Not satisfied with best loads of 2-2.25" with Sierra GK and Game Masters NOE 279-124 or Horn SST 120s with RL10x , H322 , and H4198 , all 21 run in S&B , FC , and RP . Of those 62 loads I tweeked the most promising with partial sizing , length etc .


The M203 cut barrel in shadow profile resembles a rat maze . Among other things I removed the bird cage , pulled the upper heat shield that rubbed on the gas tube , eventually replacing the A2 parts with free float parts .
I managed to get it down to an occasional 1" honest 1.5" ....... Then I went to a heavy profile barrel rifle length gas that was .900 out to the gasport step and .745 on out to the 20" 5/8-20 FH . With all of the other fussing and the change to the premium ARP 5R it is an honest 1" rifle .

The 1-8 223's with the same treatment in both A2 and M4 styles and mostly GI parts in the A2 and a free float M4 and melonite barrels with the "hour glass" and M203 cuts hover just under 2" with several flavors including LC and FC GI , Hornady , FC blue box , WW and RP . I've closed them up but it's not consistent with 50,55 gr or the 225-55 NOE . Im looking for an 80gr mould and a bargain buy on 69-75 gr SP like a Game King .

 

[freebullet]

Kevin
back down the varget load to 25-25.5gr, set the oal about .020 of the throat, & use just enough neck tension/crimp so you can't set them back with body weight against your bench. I bet you'll clean up the group's you have that way.

The 69smk is outstanding, the 40gr flat base varmagedon is pretty stellar too. Varget is one of the least temperature sensitive rifle powders.

 

[Kevin Stenberg]

You guys sure gave me alot to look at. An all suggestions will be looked at and tried.
Before my post i was thinking strictly one dimentional concerning load. There are many options now. Kevin

 

[Ole_270]

My 1-9 twist Rock River Coyote rifle(20" mach barrel) so far does better with a couple of the 50gr bullets than anything I've tried over 60. I don't normally buy match bullets, prefering to use something I can hunt coyotes with as well as punch paper. This one reallly likes the 50 gr TNT and the Nosler Shots that I buy as bulk from Mid-South as the Varmint Nightmare Extreme. With a little focus and concentration they'll group better than I'm going to post here, nobody would believe me. Pretty much the best of both worlds, bulk pricing and target quality groups. I've taken several coyotes with either of them as well.