loading HM² 223 AR mold 225-62-1

[grampa243]

i didn't get to the Unique yet. i did shoot some of the .227 sized boolits with the IMR4198 load and it seams ok so. hoping to test more this week.

then it's time to get ready for deer season. so the little boolits may have to wait for awhile.

[runfiverun]

some tips for the 4064. [back the load down to 18 grs and add a tuft of Dacron if this starts looking good omit the Dacron and replace it with the same weight of powder then try again with the dacron]
the first trick to 223 accuracy is you gotta sort and cull the boolits ruthlessly. [look at them like they owe you money and it's payday]
I weight sort into .1 gr weight groups. [I can generally get the middle of a run to drop my boolits within a .3gr weight distribution and i'm casting them to have rounded bases on the gas check]
I also take care with my brass getting the cases out to the end of the chamber, and sweating the anneal, I don't want the necks too soft but almost hard.
i'm also picky about neck tension [I use .0015], and case thickness [the thickness is to hold the boolit in the centerline of the barrel as close as I can]

once those few things are done then you start load development and changing your alloy will help too.
I started with linotype and kept cutting it down until I got close to my 4/6/90 alloy I use, then just went to that.
I am thinking on cutting that back with soft lead a tick more in the future.
ww's alone are too soft even when water dropped or heat treated for the stress the ar places on the boolit.
if nothing else try a 2.5/3/94.5 [ww's with tin added] alloy and water drop into ICY cold water from the mold.
allow the boolits some time to completely stabilize from casting them and stuff.
I like to wait 6 or more months for my 30 cal boolits I push to @ 2400 in the 10 twist 308 to stabilize before I shoot them.
a bit over a month will be good enough for the testing stages though.

[AlaskanGuy]

Nice... Thanks for the tips fiver.... I will reexamine my stuff with the 4064. The case is so small that i did not think the filler would be needed... I have not played with fillers before, but when i started playing with unique, i was wondering if it would be necessary. Now i gotta run out and try to find some dacron. Dont have much for supplies around here... I need to find a pillow that uses it... Will tissue or cotton ball work as filler??

Thanks for keeping an eye on this thread fiver.... It really helps to have a designer watch over his design and throw a few tips out there...

Alaskan

[Wayne S]

AG,
Don't know about cotton, the bulk might work as it would be fluffier that cotton balls, I've also herd of using dryer "lent", the stuff that come out of the trap.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...use-of-fillers

[mookiie]

@ runfiverun - how would I get the mixture you are using for 223 with lead/Linotype mixture? I am currently using 1 lb lead to 1 lb Linotype.

[runfiverun]

50-50 [lino and lead] and 2% more tin. [makes 4/6/90]
in the old day's when things were cheap I would buy store bought cast and add the tin.
now day's it's cheaper for me to buy linotype at our local print shop.
I can also get super close by mixing ww's 3 to one to linotype and adding about 2.0% tin.

stuffing from a stuffed animal works too.
I have tried the t/p and it sucks so do cotton balls.
some of my loads use dryer lint I grab when we do levi's or towels the lint seems to just blow apart at the muzzle and looks like snow. [a little dog hair doesn't hurt anything/never tried cat hair]
it does leave the bore a bit dryer and interacts with the lube a bit.

[AlaskanGuy]

I have pleanty of dryer lint lol.... Does it matter what i dry? Were you being serious about the levi's and towels or can i just use dryer lint from my wife's lacy panties.. Lol... Any lint should work right??

[Hamish]

REGARDING THE USE OF DRYER LINT IN YOUR FIREARMS:

Last year I was trying the dryer lint trick with 7.65x54R, in the 1600fps range. Twice I ended up with a chihuahaha turd stuck in case. The powder burnt AROUND the lint. YMMV, of course, but, I'm done with it.

(It does look funny as he** ploofing out of the barrel, especially with low velocity, low report loads.)

[runfiverun]

I never tried the lint with low end loads, every time I have tried it I was up in the 2200 fps plus area.
maybe the dog hair helped [shrug] but I did fill the case with it and not try to just fluff it out like Dacron.
I don't think it really matters what you dry to get it, I just wanted something semi-consistent.

[AlaskanGuy]

Tomorrow, i am gunna head out and try fivers advice with the 4064 at 18 grains with a tuff of dacron now that some magically arrived at my post office box thanks to a very nice guy that will remain nameless (Wayne)..... I will see if the filler does the trick... I will start at 18 and move up the ladder a few grains with the dacron to hold the powder in position...

Thanks again Wayne.

[grampa243]

so i was at the range Saturday.. is was about 38 deg. out had a little feeding trouble with the last round from the mag. i'm thinking maybe my load is to light for the temp.??

i guess more testing is in order.

other wise they are shooting fine..

[Cmm_3940]

Grampa243,

I noticed the same thing when the temperature dropped in the fall. I figured it was likely due to thickening gun grease. I'm using Lubriplate SFL-O on the BCG. Since we are already on the borderline of accuracy/function, this will probably be an issue.

[upnorthwis]

Might want to give 20 gr. AA2520 a try. In my 1:9 twist with WW 22-055FP RCBS I get 2360 fps, reliable function, and good accuracy. Temp was 10 degrees.

[A pause for the COZ]

I have done a little bit of work with these so far. Unfortunately its been to darn cold to get any real results.
So far I am getting my best performance with strait cast using about 18.5 gr of Varget.
With the Powder coated I have had fair results pushing them harder with H335. Still to early to tell 100% Need a few range trips.
But accuracy was very good with the 1st 25 I tried.

[grampa243]

Grampa243,

I noticed the same thing when the temperature dropped in the fall. I figured it was likely due to thickening gun grease. I'm using Lubriplate SFL-O on the BCG. Since we are already on the borderline of accuracy/function, this will probably be an issue.

maybe i'll run the bolt group dry and see what happens in the cold.

[grampa243]

so i was at the range Saturday.. is was about 38 deg. out had a little feeding trouble with the last round from the mag. i'm thinking maybe my load is to light for the temp.??

i guess more testing is in order.

other wise they are shooting fine..

by adding 1 more grain of powder things work fine.

i'm going to try tumble lubing the next batch i load with 45/45/10

[grampa243]

i'm going to try tumble lubing the next batch i load with 45/45/10

i loaded 100 rounds lubed with 45/45/10

lets just say after not getting any grouping at 100 and 50 yards

i shot this groups at ten yards


as you can see some are going sideways. i guess i'll stick with ben's red.

[pacomdiver]

any new news? im the owner of a hm2 62g mold

[louism]

Bumping this up to see if anyone has done any more with the bullet

[Patricklaw]

i loaded 100 rounds lubed with 45/45/10

lets just say after not getting any grouping at 100 and 50 yards

i shot this groups at ten yards


as you can see some are going sideways. i guess i'll stick with ben's red.

Tumble lube means that the bullets tumble BEFORE you load them. haha

I've Pc'd mine and pushed up to 2550 but couldn't find any paper at 50 yards. Gas checks helped immensely.

Currently mine are PC'd (yellow HF shake 'n bake 2x, cure at 400 for 20 min) over a case full of 7383, ~23 gr, with a gas check, I managed about 3" at 100 yards from my Remington Sportsman 78, 1:12 i think.

I'm sure I'd do better with faster powder and slower velocity. But I can still buy .223 bullets, even green tip, so I'll be devoting my cast bullet time to larger bores.