Well, today,, I was able to get out on my range & test fire my first batch of swaged .223 bullets.
I used a Ruger No. 1 rifle.
I used some Mil-Spec std .223 ammo as a base line for my test.
I loaded (3) lots of ammo, of (10) rounds each with just bullets being the only variable. All brass was identical, and trimmed and charged & primed the same.
Lot #1 was using Xtreme FMJ 55 grn bullets
Lot#2 was Hornady 55 grn Spire Pt. bullets.
Lot #3 was my swaged .55 grn HP bullets. I purposely pulled bullets out of my batch that did NOT look perfect. I wanted to see what happened with the less than perfect ones first.
My results were;
Military ammo, gave me a group of 1-3/4" . This established a base for me.
Lot #1 gave me a 1-3/8" group of 9 shots,, with one flyer. That flyer was out about 1-1/4" from the otherwise good group.
Lot #2 gave me a group of 3-5/8". (6) of those were in a group at 1-1/4" but the other 4 were all away from that bunch.
Lot #3 gave me a group of 2-3/4" with 9 shots. I had (1) primer failure. (8) of the 9 were in a group that was 2".
Conclusion? My less than perfect bullets performed in the same spectrum as other bullets. Once I make a few more,, and refine my swaging,, I expect to be able to reduce the group size.
I was very pleased.