loading HM² 223 AR mold 225-62-1

[grampa243]

AlaskaGuy,
What is your alloy used on the 225's ? You should have no problem with stabilization in the 1-9 Bbl. I'm not sure how long your bullet is, I know the NOE 70 RN is longer and my Savage shot them quite well on the first time out.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...431-Noe-225-70

my alloy is 9 lbs range lead with half a lbs of 95-5(tin/antimony)lead free solder added.

[Wayne S]

my alloy is 9 bls range lead with half a lbs of 95-5(tin/antimony)lead free solder added.

The "lead calculator program shows that to be;
5.16% SN, 1.21 % SB, and 93.6 % Pb with a BHN of 11.2 Although your "range scrap" may vary from what the program shows.
More than enough tin for good fill out, if you haven't already, try smoking the mold with a "bic" or a B B Q lighting tool

[grampa243]

i loaded up 55 more to go run at the range.. i still have to group test. i'm thinking i'll check at 100 and 175 as that is the farthest at my range. i also am going to test 5 without gas-checks(just to see )

the bases are clean and ready to be loaded.
sorry it's so dark

all loaded and wiped down. next stop the range for some real testing.

[grampa243]

The "lead calculator program shows that to be;
5.16% SN, 1.21 % SB, and 93.6 % Pb with a BHN of 11.2 Although your "range scrap" may vary from what the program shows.
More than enough tin for good fill out, if you haven't already, try smoking the mold with a "bic" or a B B Q lighting tool

the range scrap had about 20% hard cast in it.

i have great fillout and release with HM2 molds and it's never has been or will be smoked. i find it beter to run at the right temp. then to smoke molds.

[AlaskanGuy]

I smoke my mold with a bic... A habit i guess... Mine drop fine, and fill out just fine considering the diameter of the bullet. But of course there are culls.... About 10% or so i think... I was also considering epoxy coating some of these to try that out.... See if that will work better for the 22-250.

[grampa243]

for rifle boolits i think 10% so a vary good cull rate.

[AlaskanGuy]

Well, something i haven't seen before... I was sizing mine and wanted to size some 224 and some 225.... I have never sized anything this small before.... I was using copper gas checks, and when i put them through the sizer, I ended up with some that little copper tails. I was using a lee sizer for both sizes.... I am wondering if the ones with tails are still gunna be ok to use.... Here is the pic.....

Attachment 82732Attachment 82731

[AlaskanGuy]

Also, with my savage i was wondering what i should be sizing to. I have a 224 and a 225 sizer. The gun has a 9 twist, bolt action and normally a very straight shooter with jacketed.... I am going to try the 2400... About 10 grains.. Should put me at somewhere between 1900 and 2000 fps, although i have no chrono. I hope to try something out this weekend... I also do not have a crimp die for this caliber .... Any suggestions?

[Cmm_3940]

Well, something i haven't seen before... I was sizing mine and wanted to size some 224 and some 225.... I have never sized anything this small before.... I was using copper gas checks, and when i put them through the sizer, I ended up with some that little copper tails. I was using a lee sizer for both sizes.... I am wondering if the ones with tails are still gunna be ok to use.... Here is the pic.....

Attachment 82732Attachment 82731

I had that happen.. The checks aren't feeding properly through the sizer and 'smearing' down the side of the ram. I wouldn't bother loading anything that unbalanced. Mine went back into the pot. If you look at the bottom of your Lee size die, you will see concentric tool marks or ridges around the cone that guides the boolit into the die. I solved this problem by polishing them out so the 'forcing cone' is smooth and shiny with nothing to catch the edges of the checks as the are pushed through. Also, make sure the checks are fully seated and straight before sizing.

[AlaskanGuy]

Wow.. You are right... I can see the ridges.... I have never seen that before, and this is the first time i have seen this especially right out of the box... I can prolly deal with this with a dremel.... Never had to before, any suggestions? Thanks so much for the quick post.

[Cmm_3940]

Wow.. You are right... I can see the ridges.... I have never seen that before, and this is the first time i have seen this especially right out of the box... I can prolly deal with this with a dremel.... Never had to before, any suggestions? Thanks so much for the quick post.

I used an appropriate blunt object with a small piece of 320 wet sand paper wrapped around it, followed by 600, followed by 1500. The butt end of a sharpie worked pretty well.

Edit:

that should be wet-sand paper, not wet sand paper.. the paper was dry..

[Cmm_3940]

Cast from 50/50 COWW/Lino, with a splash of extra tin for luck

Loobed, checked, sized, and ready to experiment. Initial functionality test puts me around 17.5-18gr of AA#2230. Test bed is 22" 1-8" Wylde chamber.

[AlaskanGuy]

Very nice CMM... Can you tell me what kind of lube you are using??? Cant wait to hear how it goes.... Please post your results with the 2230...

[Cmm_3940]

I'm using White Label Carnauba Red. http://lsstuff.com

I initially tumble lubed in 40/40/20 to make sizing and seating GCs smoother, but sizing scraped most of that off.

All results with iron sights at 50 yds., I only have a 50 yd. range in my back yard. I do NOT consider myself a good shot with irons, but I don't have any optics on this rifle yet. I spent all my money building it.

To establish a baseline, here is 20 rds of Federal XM855:

Attachment 82811

I started at 17.4 grains of AA2230 and went up in .2gr increments to 18.2gr, with best results around 17.8gr.

Attachment 82799Attachment 82800Attachment 82801Attachment 82803Attachment 82805

All rounds cycled the action. 18.0 and 18.2 locked the bolt back on empty. 17.8 locked the bolt back all the way 50% of the time, locked back but NOT all the way 50%. 17.6 and 17.4 locked the bolt back, but never all the way.

Rifle consists of a laundry list of industry parts suppliers (custom build)

DPMS lower
Midwest Industries billet upper
RRA 22" heavy stainless bbl., 1-8" twist, Wylde chamber, YHM Phantom Comp/Flash hider
A3 front/rear sights with KNS Precision .034 round front post
Les Baer Custom national match BCG
CMMG Lower parts kit, KNS Precision pins, Timney competition trigger
Magpul PRS stock, Blackhawk aluminum foregrip, NOT free-floated.
LWRC standard buffer tube, JP Enterprises tuned buffer spring, DPMS standard buffer.

Hope this helps for anyone interested in loading with 2230

Chris

[AlaskanGuy]

Anything new on this thread? Any new experiments?

[grampa243]

shot these today after work. it was a little windy but not to bad.

the 100yd group has a 2 inch spread and 2 inch drop below point of aim.



the 175yd group has a 6.25 inch spread and 11.75 inch drop below point of aim.


i did try some without checks at 50yd. they couldn't find their way to the paper.

but i made use of the same target with my 45% back-up sights. 5 shot group.

[blueeyephil]

What is your load? I hope to shoot my first in the morning. But it will be up close to start with. I will be using Varget. I've powder coated my bullets and I'll probably try some with and without the gas checks.

[hamholfarm]

Blue,


Please post your load info when finished. Also whether you get cycling. What barrel length and twist are you using?
Gas or bolt gun?

Thanks

[grampa243]

What is your load? I hope to shoot my first in the morning. But it will be up close to start with. I will be using Varget. I've powder coated my bullets and I'll probably try some with and without the gas checks.

gun has mid-length gas tube and Wylde chamber. 1-in-8 twist 16 inch varmint barrel.

i'm loading 14.4 grains of IMR4198 and lubing with Ben's Red. checked with "338 RemUltraMag's" gas checks.

I think i'm going to work up the powder load a little more and see if it will shoot a little flatter.

[blueeyephil]

Arrrrgggg! Loading and shooting my powder coated or cast of these will have to wait until I can get a M expander or Lee universal expander. I made up a dummy round to check for OAL and decided to pull the bullet when I saw some shaving of pc. When I pulled it, mostly shining lead on the driving bands.

I'll report back down the road. I was looking forward to giving it a go.