I am new to this Forum and just started reloading because of our current political situtation. I have been shooting 40 plus years and have found on the internet a lot of reloading information on .224; but not much information specifically on the Ar15. The website Loaddata.com (which cost a yearly fee) has been the best information I have found.
If anyone can direct me to information more specifically tward the AR15, it would be greatly appreciated. Also any threads or posts that will help.
Thanks Shootin_Dave
www.nationalmatch.us is where to go for accurate AR loads. $1/round for Black Hills Red Box 77gr match ammo is a quick way to bankruptcy for highpower shooters, and 77gr bullets are at their best at 200-300 yards. Lotsa luck finding ANYbody who factory-loads 600-yard cartridges that need extra-length 75-90gr bullets that won’t fit in the magazine. Hunting or varmint loads, well, maybe you can use match bullets for those too.
I use 24gr Reloder 15 for my 77gr handloads and 25gr for the 75 AMAX. These loads work fine in my 8:1 twist DPMS match AR and my 9:1 twist S&W patrol carbine, but remember, the AMAXes are beyond mag length and must be single loaded.
How I got started in reloading was just doing what the Speer manual said. I haven’t blown myself up yet but I did break a bolt stop on my old Rem 788 due to not knowing about the need to trim rifle brass and then hammering the bolt open. Now I trim brass! RCBS small-base X-Dies that keep brass from lengthening are HIGHLY recommended.
I am hoping to reload for plinking, hunting, and match. I am also interested in the lower grain bullets and how they work with varnmets. I have the Hornady #6 manual.
I would like to be able to safely learn how to re-use alot of the military brass that I have saved. I have a lot of TZZ brass, which came from the M8 55 Green tip. Basically I just want to start the right way, safely, and find the information that pretains to the AR15 16" Wilson barrel 1-9: twist and other types of AR15’s. There is a lot of information about the 223 Rem, or 233win, and lots of information about the 233 round pertaining to specific rifles with barrel & twist rates. I am just starting and generally want to make sure the information I use, is OK with my AR15’s. The IMR 4198 and Vargett seem to be the most widely used for the .224 projectiles from what I have found.
Any help in any area would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks David Blevins
If concentrating on lower bullet weights I’d suggest you ditch the 4198 and Varget and switch to a ball powder. AA2230, H335, Ramshot XTerminator. Especially if you are dispensing powder through a measure rather than weighing and dropping through a funnel. The ball powders meter more consistently and you won’t get any bridging/powder spills. AA and Ramshot powders will also save you some $$.
When you say “match” then you might want to try Varget, 4895 (either variety)or RL-15, those are a couple of popular powders with heavier weight bullets, but if using light 52-55 grain match bullets, just stay with my previous recommendation. Another popular ball powder for mid-weight (68-69 grain) match loads is WW748, but it can be temp sensitive, so don’t work up a max load when it’s cool and then shoot the same load in the summer heat. You’ll have pressure problems.
Your .mil brass, you realize you’ll need to remove the primer crimp, correct? Just making sure if you are starting out that you realize.
www.scharch.com is where I get my Mil “Processed Brass” which includes resizing, decapping, primer pockets swaged, trimmed, deburred and tumbled clean.
The prices just like anything with 5.56mm are getting outrageous. This brass was around $55/ 1,000 the last time I bought it 1.5 years ago. I think it is around $80/ 1000 now. But it’s grat to get it and take it right to your press, AND you never have to worry about primer pocket swaging!
Thanks for your responce. I am really impressed with the amount of help I have recieved. The tip on the brass is great! Would you know where to find some 40gr FMJ’s and other FMJ grain bullets for the .224? I did not see a reply link for the responce from “smart”, so to him: I really appreciate all this advice. I have already made some of the common mistakes, but all this helps.
Thanks David Blevins
Because I can’t get my Hornady 55gn FMJBT w/c .224 bullet, I bought 2,000 55gn FMJBT w/c from Scharch.com (these are new, and not Mil. “Pull Downs”) for $162.00 delivered which isn’t bad these days. I can’t speak to the accuracy because it will be a few years before I shoot them, but the aesthetic quality is very good. I should probably weigh 10 or so and see what the mean average is. That always gives you a good idea of the quality.
The load I use to shoot a reduced course (100yard) NRA hi-power league is 25 grains of Ramshot TAC with a 52 grain Sierra HPBT Match bullet which gives me just over 3000 fps out of my RRA match rifle.
This is a very accurate load.
The load I use in my 16" fun gun also uses TAC, but only 24 grains with a Hornady 55 grain fmj projectile. This load load gives me just over 3000 fps from the carbine.
I load the match ammo on an RCBS Rockchuker and the 55 grain load comes off of a Dillon 550. That powder meters flawlessly.
The primer I use for both loads is the Remington small rifle bench rest.
Best tool to remove military primer pocket crimp is the Dillon Super Swage. I’ve tried them all and the Dillon is the best/easiest.
I will be working up some loads in the next month or so using Vhita Vuori N133 and N140 powders.
These powders are among the cleanest buring out there and they also create less pressure with higher velocity and a very low muzzle flash.
52 grainers are the most accurate bullet for 100yd shooting in any AR BBL twist from 1x7 to 1x13 in my experience.
I’m currently using V N133. Does burn clean and gives consistant accuracy. W748 and H335 serve me well but are pretty dirty burning.
I mostly shoot 52gr flat base Gentner’s and Euber benchrest grade bullets
with the same data. You’ll get very good accuracy with them. Eubers are my favorite.
52grain bullets will consistently get me under .7 at 100yds.
I have loaded N133 with 24.0gr’s and a have gotten good results, but I prefer 23.0 gr’s.
I either seat my bullets 20 thousandths back from the lands or just load them mag length 2.260. If I shoot 52SMK, I load those mag length…
This is using a 20" SS CLE Krieger BBL with 2.5lb KAC trigger. Weaver T series BR scope w/ 1x8 moa dot. Sinclair front rest and bunny ear rear rest.
Keep in mind that is my Match rifle load.
My all around M4 or Carbine load for 52’s is 25.0gr Varget or 25.0gr H335.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the Hornady 52-AMAX. Might want to try those sometime.
