Gallery Load for the .223 Rem?

This may have already been asked - but here goes?

I am looking for a load recomendation for the .223 Rem.
I want to use a cast 54/55grn RNFP GC (Lyman Mold) sized at 0.225"
NEF Single shot rifle w/ 24" bbl.

I want to create a light load for eliminating vermin and squirrels (aka sage rats).
I worked up a load awhile back with some help from this board and achieved some pretty good results - approx dime sized 5 shot groups consistently at 75yds at about 2200fps using the Lyman RNFP.

Using the same bullet (Just for kicks mind you) I want to tone this down a bit and make a load for short range squirrel shooting that will duplicate the .22 LR or in that ball park. Most of my data is leaning on the high end with no info for something on the lower end.

So I don't end up with a mess of testing can someone recommend to me a powder that would be a good choice for reduced loads in the .223? Perhaps Universal Clays, Unique or bullseye? I have all three of these powders on hand. I want to hit about 900-1200 fps range. Something not so hard on the ears and good enough for 50-100 yds of plinking.

Any help or thoughts would be appreciated!
Thanks
Eric

I don't have access to .224 cast bullets but have done a fair amount of reduced loads for J bullets in the .223 from 900 to 2000 fps range.

Win model 70 .223 Bushnell 16 x win. cases and srprimers.

50 gr Rem

3.5 gr. Bullseye...1245..1278..1312 fps 3 shots/50 yds/ 0.65 inch

55gr Hornady w/cannelure

3.5 gr. Bullseye..1131..1106..1120 fps 3 shots/50yds/ 0.60 inch

60 gr speer

3.5 gr Bullseye..1054..1036..1040 fps 3shots/50 yds. 0.62 inch

55 gr Rem fmj

4.0 gr. Bluedot...900..940..921 fps 3 shots/ 75 yds/ 0.95 inch..
all three holes indicte slight keyholing on paper

5.0 gr. Bluedot...1260..1243..1252..3 shots/75 yds/ 0.94 inch

45 gr. Hornady
3.5 grains Imr Trailboss..998..1041..1016 fps 3 shots/75 yds/ 0.77 inch

In my .222 rem I had just as good results with the same components/powders and also tried small amounts of A2400 .. Unique ..Reddot and Dupont 700x in the 1000-2000 fps range with excellent accuracy and would presume these powders would work just as well in the .223 with cast.

..best of luck

What powder are you using? If it's extruded (long sticks), just cut back on the powder till you get the velocity you want. If it's ball, cutting back on it will probably result in poor ignition and accuracy. In that case, switch to extruded or a fairly fast pistol/shotgun powder, like Unique or Green Dot or similar. You can find loading data in the Lyman #48 manual.

Shot lots of sage rats (aka picket pins) over around North Powder way with Lyman's 225415 (53 gr with WWs at .225) over 4 gr of Bullseye out of M70 and M700V with 12" twist. Velocity was 1525 fps which is a tudge more than Stinger or Yellow Jacket .22LRs. Accuracy was 1.5 MOA at 100 yards with carefully selected bullets and terminal performance equaled the .22LR HPs.

I cast some 225438s (45 gr) of recovered .22LR and loaded them over 2.2 gr of Bullseye for right at 1053 fps. Accuracy at 50 yards was less than 1" and terminal performance on the picket pins was equal to target .22LRs. I used these for head and high chest shots only for close range shooting. A very pleasant load.

Larry Gibson

Everyone,

Thank you for the load ideas.
Rather than take the loads in the Lyman manual and start reducing I was hoping someone had already done that and had a good range of powder charge to start with. It seems each of you did! Thank You!!

I have played around with IMR-4895, H110, Unique, Clays, Blue Dot but not Bullseye as of yet. I haven't tried reducing anything below the Lyman Cast handbook starting loads and wanted to know what worked for others.

I have found that IMR-4895 is too slow for low end loads accuracy wise and IMR-3031 is good for the 2100-2300 fps range in my rifle but not for anything slower. Unique seemed to be too touchy on the low end of the Lyman data and accuracy was mediocre. H110 - pure junk for accuracy in my rifle. With your recommendations I will try Bullseye and see what I can do.

I have found that the Lyman 55grn FP is purely amazing on sage rats for the terminal effect. I haven't hit a coyote yet but some friends say it does just fine. I would like to turn one of the cavities into a HP and see what it can do! I have heard that by turning this design in to a HP you move the weight more to the rear of the bullet thus increasing accuracy over the source design. I have seriously thought of throwing it on the lathe and seeing if I can pull it off once I get a 4-jaw chuck.

Overall it is nice to have a 2K load and a nice light casual close range load with the cast slugs. When the shooting gets hot and heavy it's nice to have a round for the circumstance!

Thanks everyone for the ideas and suggestions - time to hit the bench and put some light ones together.
Thanks
Eric

The Forster hollow point kit works for me.Was less than $20 awhile back.
Jig collar holds drill bit in alignment with seated lead bullet.

Red dot, 3 to 6 grains depending on how much speed/noise you want.

My last load was the lee bator bullet 55 gr, no gas check, 3 light coats of BLL, 3.5 grains of Red Dot.
Sounded a lot like a .22lr, 10 shots figuring aimpoint is squirrel eye, at 100 yards, I'd of had 10 dead squirrels.
Not quite MOA probably would have been with a gas check.

6 grains with gas check was a little louder, but still way quieter than normal .223rem factory loads.
Was quite accurate although it shot some 5 inches lower than factory.

I had good luck with 1.5g of titegroup out of a 16" barrel using the Lee 55g Boolit. Had a buddy chrono it and was sub 800fps.

I know you have said 223,, but, consider the 300 Blackout,
To get the noise, and velocity down, just up the bullet weight.

The high bullet weight seems to help with powder ignition, if I read correctly.
My AR functions perfectly with sub 1,000 FPS loads ,, who knows how low I can go??

I think I will be able to achieve rimfire kind of speeds, noise, etc with the 300BO, and a 230 grain cast bullet,,

To me, the 300BO is as close as you can come to a reloadable rimfire. and,, it MAY even be an autoloader!! :holysheep

Another really light load is a primed case with a .22 pellet.
Even can shoot it in the basement. Quiet.
beltfed/arnie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by beltfed

Another really light load is a primed case with a .22 pellet.
Even can shoot it in the basement. Quiet.
beltfed/arnie

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I purchased some 300BO primed brass, I figured I would "test" a couple primers,,

I was ASTOUNDED at the loud report of the primer only going off,, I am glad I was outside when I tried it,, LOUD!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by beltfed

Another really light load is a primed case with a .22 pellet.
Even can shoot it in the basement. Quiet.
beltfed/arnie

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had a set up in my basement years ago and shot exactly that out of a single shot H&R 223.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SweetMk

I purchased some 300BO primed brass, I figured I would "test" a couple primers,,

I was ASTOUNDED at the loud report of the primer only going off,, I am glad I was outside when I tried it,, LOUD!!

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A heavier bullet is good to make a load quieter, but a longer tube is much better for the subsonic, cellar loads.
A 24 to 26 inch barrel is what you need.
The 19inch barrels found on those ARs ,even 16 and 10 inch . Well, you gotta have a suppressor or silencer installed.
It's the gas expanding in the tube for the length, or the gas expanding outside of a short tube that determines s the detected sound of a gunshot or a muted pop.
Again, all this only applies to catsneeze, cellar loads using primer only or a fraction of a grain of added propellant.
Then too, this only holds true for approximately five shots in a row before you have to run a cleaning patch down the barrel to remove accumulated primer sludge. Not paying attention to this cleaning after every five shots of these quiet loads has resulted in a bullet that didn't come out of the bore.
Easy to push out with a cleaning rod, but you lose time and risk shooting another on top which can be harder to remove when it gets peened flat into the lands by another shot!
So, the quietest shots are with the longer barrels with catsneeze or quiet loads.
And frequent cleaning, every five shots usually keeps the barrel clear.
Apparently, this primer sludge is blown free or consumed by higher powered or full power loads.
I use a 24 inch barrelled new england firearms single shot in .223.
Also a pattern 14 Enfield 30/06 with a 26 inch barrel and a 303 Brit with a 26 inch barrel.
All emit a muted pop when the ultra low loads are used. The 20 inch barrelled Win 30/30 is just too short to be tamed for basement shooting, but nevertheless it greatly benefits from an ultralight short range ball only load over 2.7 grains of Bullseye or 700x for outside shooting.
Louder than a .22 short, but not quite as load as a .22LR high velocity.
1.5 grains of Bullseye and a .32 cal 77 grain cast bullet is also a good 25 yard accurate plinker and pest eliminator in the 30/30
It is effective much further out, but suffers from a deep nosedive drop without more velocity. I usually tap a flat on the bullet nose with a hammer before loading any roundnose. The lightest tap will create a flat meplat which greatly aids in stopping power. It doesn't have to be very big to make a difference, but you can even load them upside down to make it a very effective wadcutter, but it's your choice as a handloader and they are still very accurate, but only at the close range indicated.
There are so many ways to do this and experimenting is the most fun.
Good luck!

I use Unique for my powder in reduced loads for my 44 Magnum lever action Rossi R92. Seven grains to be exact under a 240 grain .431" Oregon Trail laser cast boolit = about 1050 fps. Talked to one fellow who had about 8 tables of reloading gear at the Conway gun show, and was even deeper that I was on reloading. He said that Unique was a very good choice in a large capacity case like a 44 magnum; that Unique would ignite better than most. I would try some loads with Unique. I cannot, of course, recommend the charge weight.

1.5-2.5 grains of tightgroup. Make a ladder look for accuracy sweet spot then giggle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hs45/70

I don't have access to .224 cast bullets but have done a fair amount of reduced loads for J bullets in the .223 from 900 to 2000 fps range.

Win model 70 .223 Bushnell 16 x win. cases and srprimers.

50 gr Rem

3.5 gr. Bullseye...1245..1278..1312 fps 3 shots/50 yds/ 0.65 inch

55gr Hornady w/cannelure

3.5 gr. Bullseye..1131..1106..1120 fps 3 shots/50yds/ 0.60 inch

60 gr speer

3.5 gr Bullseye..1054..1036..1040 fps 3shots/50 yds. 0.62 inch

55 gr Rem fmj

4.0 gr. Bluedot...900..940..921 fps 3 shots/ 75 yds/ 0.95 inch..
all three holes indicte slight keyholing on paper

5.0 gr. Bluedot...1260..1243..1252..3 shots/75 yds/ 0.94 inch

45 gr. Hornady
3.5 grains Imr Trailboss..998..1041..1016 fps 3 shots/75 yds/ 0.77 inch

In my .222 rem I had just as good results with the same components/powders and also tried small amounts of A2400 .. Unique ..Reddot and Dupont 700x in the 1000-2000 fps range with excellent accuracy and would presume these powders would work just as well in the .223 with cast.

..best of luck

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Three shot groups are small samples but it is interesting that small SD and ES do not automatically translate to the smallest groups on target.

I had a lot of fun getting rid of some lyman 224 cast bullets with Trailboss. I think they just broke 1000fps

I used that primer and pellet lad in a 22 hornet loaded pellet backwards. was devastating on chipmunks and the like. Also used it in makeshift testing of primers. It will work with any 22 caliber center fire case.

A 50-60 grn cast bullet at 900 - 1000 fps will be ahead of most 22 lrs do to added bullet weight over the standard 40 grn.

Contender 21" Carbine in .223 Rem.
225415 cast soft loaded over 2.1 gr Bullseye in LC cases with CCI 400 primers runs 1050 fps and with the GemTech suppressor is quieter than my pellet rifles. Wonderfully accurate and more deadly on game/vermin than most 22LR.

Attachment 271917

Then the same 2.1 gr Bullseye over the same 225415 in a 10" 22 Hornet Contender runs the same 1050 fps and is also very quiet and effective.

Attachment 271918