I am not new to load developement but this is my first venture with the .223. I have been lurking around in different forums to find a decent plinking round for my Del-Ton 1/9 cl 16" M4. I picked up a pound of h335, 1000 hornady 55fmj-bt w/c and I already had 5000 cci 41 primers to use. I am usung once fired Federal brass.
Ok here is were the problem starts. Hodsgons, hornady, and Lyman all have different min and max loads. So I loaded up 5 rounds each 21.6-26.1 (no signs of any presssure) in .5 increments loaded to 2.200 with a slight crimp from lee FCD. I am shooting from a bullbag at 100 yrds and for some reason i can not get a group less that 5-6 inches. what am i doing wrong?
My thoughts were to go to (1)2.260 on the length (2) not crimp.
Not according to the Hornady manual, they specify 2.200 on the FMJ-BT’s.
OP: I charge 24.5 to 25.0 of H335 with the Hornady 55gr FMJ-BT w/c for my 14.5 BCM middy and there’s a ton of user data out there on this load but I do NOT crimp them. I’ve had good success so far with them. 5pins asked the key question - how does your Del-Ton normally perform?
Wrong…I just checked my Hornady loading manual…They list the 55gr Hornady FMJBT at 2.200 OAL… I also use these and seat them to the top of the canunlure, and get a OAL of 2.215 +or- .002 …I’d try some a box of factory ammo and see how it shoots with that…How many rounds has been through this rifle? I’d say if you get the same size groups with factory ammo as you do your loads then, maybe look at the barrel…
DId you trim to length its very important in the ar? What dies are you using and how are you throwing youre charge weights? I want to know the dies cause you may be having issue with neck tension.
The rifle is used for 2 gun competition. Most of the courses are at close range So I use a red dot zeroed at 25 yards. I do pretty good in the couses . I just moved my scope off of my 6.8 to do the load development. I have not shot my m4 out to 100 yards with factory ammo and a scope but at 100 yards with a 3moa red i can get about 4" shooting off a bull bag.
Lee dies and throwing them with a hornady powder thrower then trickling them to the desired charge weight. Have not needed to trim becuase the brass is between 1.744-1.748.
I’m using Lee’s (Pacesetter) and the same Hornady setup as you. Put a batch together without the crimp @ 24-24.5. My Lee seating die applies good neck tension without the FCD.
I just needed an ar that was capable of shooting an 8" plate at 100 yards and not a tack driver for a 2 gun competition. And for this my poor quality Del Ton AR works well. I just need to find a load that my rifle likes. If i need a tack driver i will use my 6.8!
I had problems also when I first started reloading the .223… Drove me nuts as I can load up some very accurate .308… so when I started loading .223 and was getting horrific inconsistencies, I was kinda bummed to say the least.
I just had to keep working at it. Was more careful with my powder charges (had trouble getting powder into that little hole!), put less crimp on the case, moved my sizing die up a bit, and lastly I loaded a bunch of different powder charge and primer combinations till I got the accuracy I was looking for.
Well, the OP was asking about Hornady bullets, and 2.200 is what Hornady reccomends,(I figure they ought to know) and if you want to seat to the cannunlure on that bullet, that’s pretty much what it’ll have to be…
I’ve been seating 55 gr. IMI FMJBT bullets in Remington cases to an overall length of 2.260 and they work flawlessly in my Colt HBar and LWRC. I used 25.8 gr. of AA2230 for the thousand IMI bullets I purchased but I have a few thousand Hornady 55 gr. I will be loading with the 8 lb. of TAC I bought the next time around. The Speer manual shows 2.215 OAL for their 55 gr. FMJBT. This is just for reference on OAL that is working for me rather than suggesting a load for you.
Do the ammo of known quality thing first. When reloading your are trying to meet or exceed what you and your setup is able to do with good ammo. Otherwise you might be just pissing in the wind (or not), so figure that part out first.
I get around 2 MOA or so (five shots only) with the Hornady FMJs loaded to 2.223" with 24.5 grains of TAC - over several rifles. Brass is usually trimmed and I use a very-very light taper crimp in the cannelure; (just enough to insure the case mouth is closed since I also expand the mouth a hair).
Assuming you get decent results with a good test ammo (inside ~3 MOA), I would first toss the LFC die and go w/o any crimp at all. Assuming proper neck tension and you are not belling/expanding the case mouth. You really don’t need to crimp 55 grain ammo and the chance to screw a crimp is greater than the probability of improving the load with one. Less is often more with most bells and whistles.
