What is your favorite .223 bullet & Load

[bhp9]

What bullet and powder do you use in the .223 Remington?

[Doc Highwall]

I have quick twist barrels for my .223 guns as I am only interested in accuracy and I regularly shoot to 600yds and some times at 1000yds with mine. In my Rem 40x with 1-8" twist I shoot Sierra 80gr HPBT that I moly myself with 25grs. Varget, Federal 205m primers in norma cases. This load is right behind my Palma rifle shooting 155gr Sierra HPBT again with Varget for wind drift at 600yds. A lot of people that I have talked to use Varget with 55gr bullets also. IMHO I would recommend Varget for your .223 Rem. If you just want a blasting away powder look at H335 and and AA2230 being ball powders they will flow good in a powder measure for high volume loading. I hopes this helps, Doc Highwall.

[Mumblypeg]

that's an easy cal. to load for. I have a Rem700 that I shoot 52grHPBT with 28.0grs of H380 with Rem.benchrest primmers that has made some very small groups at 150yrds. and as well on out to 350yrds. I haven't shot much passed that. Also have 4 AR's with different twist and they all shoot about anything. Powder wise I've used 3031,H322, 4198,WCC846,H380 and Win748 has always been a good one. Bullets(J) 50 to 63grn all work well... never shot cast in those though. I found that Rem Benchrest primers are the most acurate in mine but Win are not far behind and cheaper for blasting stuff. I have alot of surplus WCC846 that I load for the AR's(26.0grs). There is not much to NOT love about them.

[SWIAFB]

My go to load for the .223 Rem is 55gr Hornaday, 25.5 grs of 4895, ww primer. I've got three .223"s and that is my non-specific to rifle loading . Each one has it's favorite but this load shoots good in all rifles.

[Calamity Jake]

"CB Loads, Your Favorite Cartridge" CAST BOOLETS guys, I'm interested too as I have and AR with 1 in 12 twist comming.

[bhp9]

sorry I meant a cast bullet load that you can seat within the case neck of the very short necked .223 cartridge.

[joedapro]

26.3 varget, rem 7 1/2, rem cases, 69gr sierra molly. woa wilson 1/7 upper

[joedapro]

for cast, i use 8 gr unique. any primer, any case, 40 to 55 gr bullets.

[Three44s]

Nearly compressed load of RL15 and the Hornady SX 55 gr. J-word!!!

More accurate in my CZ 527 than Varget.

Three 44s

[9.3X62AL]

Not a lot of experience with castings in 223, but recently got some positive indications with 11.0 grains of IMR-4198 under an NEI 55 grain GC that looks like a Loverin-inspired design. Twist rate in the Ruger 77RC is 1-9".

This rifle's pet J-word load is 25.0 grains of WW-748 under the Nosler 55 grain Ballistic Tip. Velocity and pressure is modest, only about 2875 FPS from the little rifle's 16.5" barrel--but they land right on top of each other. My nephew shoots 1.25" 5-shot groups at 200 meters with this load, and I can almost duplicate that feat with my older and more worn-out eyeballs.

The Mini-14 shoots almost acceptably with 69 grain Matchkings and 26.0 grains of WW-748. It is really a 2" rifle, but if I keep the barrel cool and space out the shots--it will do 1.5" at 100 yards. This rifle also has 1-9" twist. All loads use WW small rifle primers.

[sundog]

24.0/2230-C and just about any ole 55 grain bargain varmint bullet. Mdl 700 hvy bbl laminate stock that had to be floated and bedded. Tasco mildot varmint scope. VERY accurate.

This rifle does not handle cast very well --- YET. Needs either a lot of hot condums thru it are a throat reamer as it appears the it is rather abrupt.

[TNsailorman]

I haven't shot cast boolits in my Mini Mark X but it is deadly accurate with the Winchester 55 gr. JSP, 24.5 grains H335, Winchester SRP and a R-P case. I have no problem shooting under an inch at 100 yards. I have had more loads go closer to 3/4" than you can shake a stick at. As long as you feed it jacketed bullets at 50 to 55 grains, it doesn't seem to care whether you are feeding it H335, 4198, H322 or even 4895. I had a few loads go as low as 1/2 with the 53 gr. JHP bullet but when it does as well as it does with cheaper bullets, its not gonna get a steady diet of expensive ones. My scope is a Burris 4-12 compact with AO and target knobs. It has Control bases and rings. I reworked the original stock to look like one of the old English African Express rifles and it is light as a feather. I took every ounce of wook off that I dared. I don't think it would weigh over 6 lbs. scope and all, but I don't have a scale to weigh it on.It will be my grandaughters soon. I've given the gransons all a rifle and this one will go to her.

[jjamna]

Wish I could find one.

[jjamna]

22.7 gr IMR 3031 65 Gr Sierra BTSP One hole at 100 yds

[Ben]

TNsailorman :

Could you post some pics of your reworked stock, I'd like to see it.

Ben

[BigBlack]

24.5-24.6 H335 over Hornady 53gr HPBT Match. Shooting right now .3" to .5" at 100yrd from a bone stock remington 700 adl. I have floated the barrel but that is it.

[9.3X62AL]

As can be discerned from the responses in the thread, it seems that the majority of the castaholics herein consider the 223 to primarily be a jacketed-bullet caliber. Goodness knows it is usually easy to get accurate work out of the caliber in a decent rifle using decent bullets.

That NEI mould mentioned above kind of resurrected my interest in 22 caliber cast boolit attempts. My only previous attempt with the caliber occurred years earlier with Lyman #225415 in a slow-twist Rem 700V, and the work done was not impressive. I knew a lot less about casting and refining castings for rifles back then, but the poor accuracy of the pourings in contrast to the great work of the j-words in the same rifle was very disappointing. I avoided cast boolits for over 15 years in the caliber, until the NEI tool came available. I believe with some load tweaks and scaled boolits, some very fine work might be possible with the Ruger 77RC. 55 grainers at 1700-1900 FPS have definite field applications for my hunting activities, if accuracy better than 22 WMR can result.

[Bass Ackward]

For 223s especially, it pays to to get a slug of your throat as some are cut WAY long for in case you chamber and discharge a military round.

If you have a good tight throat for the 225415, 27.5 grains of IMR 4831 is 2820 fps and shoots well enough for you to call me a liar.

[Hipshot]

Do you guys cast your Sierra, Hornady, & Speer bullets ?????????

Hipshot

[PatMarlin]

Yeah I cast all of those right into the lead pot.. :mrgreen:

I'm to lazy to get up and look at my data right now, but RL-15 abd milsurp 4895 have worked very well with my .223s and copper.

Cast with my prior one and only lyman I think the 224462 doubled the group open at least. That was with a 1-in12 twist. Now I have a 1in9 heavy 26" BBL Savage coming that may make a difference,. Also bought a bator mold.

[PatMarlin]

Evaluate everything you read for safety and Bass Ackward.