Rem 700 .223 Caliber

[Wally]

I have a Remington .223 Cal 700. Using a RCBS 55 SP-GC bullet and Unique powder I have had inconsistent accuracy. On some days it is not bad, on others terrible. Last month I was shooting 100 yards with a rest at 12 ounce soup cans. With a bolt actiopn .22 RF rifle I had no problem nailing them with each & every shot using bulk .22 RF ammo no less. With the .223 using 7.0 grains of Unique I was hitting them 50% of the time. However, on other days I can nail a business card sized target, at the same range, with virtually every shot. Perhaps someone can suggest a better load..I'd sure appreciate it.

[runfiverun]

12 grs 2400 and work it some.
that rem airc has a 1-12 twist put some slower powder behind it and go for 2400 fps. to start

[jameslovesjammie]

Some of the new 700's are 1-9. What is the exact model you have?

[GabbyM]

7.5 grains Unique over a small pistol primer.

no crimp on the case neck.

Have never tried 2400 powder runfiverun suggested but it should shoot good. Have had good luck with 14.5 gr 4198 over SR primer.

if you do have a 1-9" barrel you'll have to slow the bullet down to 22 mag rim fire velocity to get accuracy, generally. In a bolt gun that's not so hard as you don't have to worry about auto cycle gas pressure.

Whether you use a SP primer or not I’d try 7.5 gr Unique before I gave up on Unique. NO crimp!

[Larry Gibson]

Some of the new 700's are 1-9. What is the exact model you have?

That's probably the real question.

Larry Gibson

[Wally]

Some of the new 700's are 1-9. What is the exact model you have?

1 in 12"

[Wally]

7.5 grains Unique over a small pistol primer.

no crimp on the case neck.

Have never tried 2400 powder runfiverun suggested but it should shoot good. Have had good luck with 14.5 gr 4198 over SR primer.

if you do have a 1-9" barrel you'll have to slow the bullet down to 22 mag rim fire velocity to get accuracy, generally. In a bolt gun that's not so hard as you don't have to worry about auto cycle gas pressure.

Whether you use a SP primer or not I’d try 7.5 gr Unique before I gave up on Unique. NO crimp!

Ok, will try that---I have tried 7.0 and 8.0

[Rocky Raab]

With that bullet, I had very good results as follows:

2.5 TiteGroup - 1050 fps - 0.6"@50

3.5 TiteGroup - 1335 fps - 0.9"@50

10.0 2400 - 1950 fps - 0.7"@50

14.0 H4198 - 2000 fps - 1.2"@100

14.0 5744 - 2170 fps - 1.1"@100

I chose mil brass for its smaller volume, and WSR primers for all. 20" barrel 1-12"

[Wally]

With that bullet, I had very good results as follows:

2.5 TiteGroup - 1050 fps - 0.6"@50

3.5 TiteGroup - 1335 fps - 0.9"@50

10.0 2400 - 1950 fps - 0.7"@50

14.0 H4198 - 2000 fps - 1.2"@100

14.0 5744 - 2170 fps - 1.1"@100

I chose mil brass for its smaller volume, and WSR primers for all. 20" barrel 1-12"

Thank you for sharing...

[Larry Gibson]

Also try H4895. Start at 19 gr and use a 1/2 gr dacron filler, Work up in 1/2 gr increments until accuracy goes south then "tweak" the load. My M700V with 12" tist has always been partial to 225462 but does well with 225415 (similar to the RCBS bullet) also. I push into the 2400+ fps range with RL19 and RL22 with the 225462.

I use 4 gr of Bullseye at 1525 fps for my squirrel load with the 225415.

Larry Gibson

[Wally]

7.5 grains Unique over a small pistol primer.

no crimp on the case neck.

Have never tried 2400 powder runfiverun suggested but it should shoot good. Have had good luck with 14.5 gr 4198 over SR primer.

if you do have a 1-9" barrel you'll have to slow the bullet down to 22 mag rim fire velocity to get accuracy, generally. In a bolt gun that's not so hard as you don't have to worry about auto cycle gas pressure.

Whether you use a SP primer or not I’d try 7.5 gr Unique before I gave up on Unique. NO crimp!

Ok I loaded up 100 to try---7.5 Grns of Unique with a SP primer.

This time I scrubbed the barrel and have it squeaky clean--perhaps it was fouled a bit as I hadn't used a brush in it for years.

[runfiverun]

it should take about 10 shots to re-season the bore with lube so don't be disappointed if your first groups don't look to good.
i have also had good luck going for velocity with 4895 and have gone as high as 22.5 grains for just over 2700 fps.
you need to scrutinize and weight sort if you keep seeing flyers or large groups
the smaller diameter boolits are very sensitive to small voids or weight variances.

[Wally]

it should take about 10 shots to re-season the bore with lube so don't be disappointed if your first groups don't look to good.
i have also had good luck going for velocity with 4895 and have gone as high as 22.5 grains for just over 2700 fps.
you need to scrutinize and weight sort if you keep seeing flyers or large groups
the smaller diameter boolits are very sensitive to small voids or weight variances.

Thank you...

My main purpose of shooting the .223 Rem w/cast is an economical alternative to a .22Mag RF. I am trying to use the least powder and have decided to use Unique as it works so well for me in the larger calibers using cast bullets. This limits my MV to 2,100 FPS or so, which will be good enough for me.

[hedgehorn]

I have always wanted to try a cast boolit in my cz527 in 223 Looks like I will be looking for a mold.

[timkelley]

hedgehorn, I shot a hundred, or so, 22 bator thru my 527 American and then got side tracked. It started out good with 2400 and H4895. I need to get back to it again.

[Wally]

I tried again using the RCBS 55 SP-GC bullet and 7.5 grains of Unique w/ a Small Pistol Primer...the barrel was clean. Had a lot of flyers and I seated the bullet very long so that the case neck edge was in the middle of the rearmost driving band. Seems the rifle has a long leade unlike on a Rem .22-250 700 that I also have. IMHO I will not be able to obtain any decent accuracy unless the bullet is steated long enough to contact the lands...but it is impractical to seat them out that far...and they would have to be single loaded.

[Larry Gibson]

With long throat I would try 225462. My M700V has a long throat also and that is the most accurate cast bullet in it. At 2270 fps it is also quite devastating on small ground sqirrels out to 200 yards.

Larry Gibson

[Wally]

With long throat I would try 225462. My M700V has a long throat also and that is the most accurate cast bullet in it. At 2270 fps it is also quite devastating on small ground sqirrels out to 200 yards.

Larry Gibson

Funny thing is that is the first bullet I tried with it and I had miserable results, however I did not seat them out long enough...I best look into getting aother one... Thanks! Maybe someone has one and would trade with me? I have teh RCBS 55 SP-GC...

[Wally]

With long throat I would try 225462. My M700V has a long throat also and that is the most accurate cast bullet in it. At 2270 fps it is also quite devastating on small ground sqirrels out to 200 yards.

Larry Gibson

Larry, I obtained a 225462 SC Ideal mold. They cast @ .228" and weigh about 59 grains. They size nicely and a Freechex aluminum GC stays on very tight on the GC shank. Looking at a Lyman reloading manual, if I load to 1,900 FPS MV--the bullet will stay supersonic out to 200 yards. Next spring I will experiement with Unique & Red Dot to see if I can get an consistently accurate load. I can load deep enough to seat the bullet base to the bottom of the neck and still have it touch the lands. Here's hoping that I suceeed.

[Larry Gibson]

Wally

The faster powders are ok if you want 22 RFM velocities or less of 1800 fps-. I find those work well out to 150+ yards but if you want to stretch it to 200 yards on picket pins then consistent 1 moa is necessary and 2000 to 2200+ fps helpful. If you want over that you might try a slower powder. I've had much better results above 1800 fps with 4895, AA4350, RL19 and RL22. If less than 80% loading density I use a 1/3 gr dacron filler.

Larry Gibson

[JIMinPHX]

Unique did OK for me in a 1:12 .223 as long as I kept the speed below about 2,000fps. At slightly higher speeds, I did better with 2400 or RE-15. The RE-15 burned very dirty. RE-7 was cleaner, but not quite as accurate. Across the board, my accuracy dropped off after about 2500fps. I managed to get over 3,000fps with no leading if I used Moly lube, but the patterns looked like they came from a shotgun.

[JIMinPHX]

Ok I loaded up 100 to try---7.5 Grns of Unique with a SP primer.

I had much better accuracy from 7gr of Unique under a 225415 than I did from 7.5gr. 7gr was right about the tipping point for me. I was using WSR primers & seating into the lands. Seating into the lands seems to make a larger than usual difference with the smaller calibers from what I have seen.

[Wally]

Wally

The faster powders are ok if you want 22 RFM velocities or less of 1800 fps-. I find those work well out to 150+ yards but if you want to stretch it to 200 yards on picket pins then consistent 1 moa is necessary and 2000 to 2200+ fps helpful. If you want over that you might try a slower powder. I've had much better results above 1800 fps with 4895, AA4350, RL19 and RL22. If less than 80% loading density I use a 1/3 gr dacron filler.

Larry Gibson

Thank you---1,800 FPS is fine and so is 150 yards...what loads did you use using Unique that worked well for you?

[Wally]

Unique did OK for me in a 1:12 .223 as long as I kept the speed below about 2,000fps. At slightly higher speeds, I did better with 2400 or RE-15. The RE-15 burned very dirty. RE-7 was cleaner, but not quite as accurate. Across the board, my accuracy dropped off after about 2500fps. I managed to get over 3,000fps with no leading if I used Moly lube, but the patterns looked like they came from a shotgun.

Thank you...

Do you recall what powder charge that you used w/Unique to stay at 1,800~1,900 FPS? Did you try Red Dot?

[JIMinPHX]

Thank you...

Do you recall what powder charge that you used w/Unique to stay at 1,800~1,900 FPS? Did you try Red Dot?

I did not try Red Dot. This is a line from my downrange log -

.223cal 55gr13bnh Unique 7 grains 1975fps 2.005coal LC brass WSR primer Iron Sights - 1.25" group 5" low Rear sight @ 4/5 high 22" max penetration in crumb rubber

[Wally]

I did not try Red Dot. This is a line from my downrange log -

.223cal 55gr13bnh Unique 7 grains 1975fps 2.005coal LC brass WSR primer Iron Sights - 1.25" group 5" low Rear sight @ 4/5 high 22" max penetration in crumb rubber

Thank you--I shall try that load in mine...will have to wait for the spring to do so though.

[JIMinPHX]

I have a Remington .223 Cal 700. Using a RCBS 55 SP-GC bullet and Unique powder I have had inconsistent accuracy.

About 10 years ago, I had issues with inconsistent accuracy on a .22mag bolt gun. At first, I suspected loose scope rings. I tried all sorts of mechanical alterations to stiffen them up, but saw no improvement. Next I suspected the scope itself, so I tried iron sights. Again, no joy. I tried 5 or 6 different types of ammo. All had good days & bad days. I checked all my metal to metal fits & the quality of the muzzle crown. Everything looked good. Then I read somewhere about the stock to metal fit being important. It seemed silly to me at the time, but I free floated the barrel & my 8" patterns went down to 1.5" like clockwork.

Also, have you found the 3-part series on cast in the .223 that beagle posted on cast pics? It's a long read, but it's worth it. It saved me a lot of time in the long run.

[Wally]

About 10 years ago, I had issues with inconsistent accuracy on a .22mag bolt gun. At first, I suspected loose scope rings. I tried all sorts of mechanical alterations to stiffen them up, but saw no improvement. Next I suspected the scope itself, so I tried iron sights. Again, no joy. I tried 5 or 6 different types of ammo. All had good days & bad days. I checked all my metal to metal fits & the quality of the muzzle crown. Everything looked good. Then I read somewhere about the stock to metal fit being important. It seemed silly to me at the time, but I free floated the barrel & my 8" patterns went down to 1.5" like clockwork.

Also, have you found the 3-part series on cast in the .223 that beagle posted on cast pics? It's a long read, but it's worth it. It saved me a lot of time in the long run.

I have read the excellent "works" by Beagle. I have not free floated the barrel but I have experimented with shimming it. Perhaps I should free float it to see what that does..it may very well be the solution.

[Larry Gibson]

Thank you---1,800 FPS is fine and so is 150 yards...what loads did you use using Unique that worked well for you?

Work up to 5.5 gr Bullseye and 6.8 gr of Unique.

Larry Gibson

[dbarnhart]

Perhaps this is a stupid question, but it sounds like there are a lot of variables in play here.

Have you fired some normal 55gr FMJBT reloads thru the gun and what kind of accuracy did you get?

Next I would try to achieve the same velocity with the FMJBTs and see what happens. If things are still looking good THEN switch to the cast bullets.

If your true objective is to lower the cost, MY .223 reloads are costing me just $118 per thousand using milsurp powder and milsurp pull-down FMJBT projectiles.

[Wally]

Work up to 5.5 gr Bullseye and 6.8 gr of Unique.

Larry Gibson

Will do--thank you....

[Wally]

Perhaps this is a stupid question, but it sounds like there are a lot of variables in play here.

Have you fired some normal 55gr FMJBT reloads thru the gun and what kind of accuracy did you get?

Next I would try to achieve the same velocity with the FMJBTs and see what happens. If things are still looking good THEN switch to the cast bullets.

If your true objective is to lower the cost, MY .223 reloads are costing me just $118 per thousand using milsurp powder and milsurp pull-down FMJBT projectiles.

Sure have--very good accuracy with WW 55 Grain FMJBT bullets and a no. of powders. But I have a private range and have to worry about ricochets. I want to use a cast load for plinking and shooting at steel plates---the FMJBT bullets ruin them.

[JIMinPHX]

On some guns, free floating & glass bedding make no improvement at all. On other guns, that have fitment problems, the difference can be like night & day. I had happily shot more than a dozen rifles before I ran into the need to free float a barrel for the first time.

[Wally]

On some guns, free floating & glass bedding make no improvement at all. On other guns, that have fitment problems, the difference can be like night & day. I had happily shot more than a dozen rifles before I ran into the need to free float a barrel for the first time.

As per your prior post--on some days it shoots cast quite well--on others, it is very inconsistent. The 700 has a wood stock and I dare say the difference in the humidity must shift the barrel just enough to give me problems,

[runfiverun]

or just a screw somewhere that can move.
or the bolt lug being pressed on by the wood.
or the mag box is being pushed on.
or...

[JIMinPHX]

As per your prior post--on some days it shoots cast quite well--on others, it is very inconsistent. The 700 has a wood stock and I dare say the difference in the humidity must shift the barrel just enough to give me problems,

Try sliding a piece of paper between the barrel & the stock. If you can't slide it freely all the way from the muzzle end of the stock to near the action, then you might have a prime candidate for some barrel channel relief.

[Wally]

Work up to 5.5 gr Bullseye and 6.8 gr of Unique.

Larry Gibson

I tried 225462 w/ 7.0 Grns of Unique---shot very well and I was busting soup cans quite regularly at 250~300 yards... the key is seating the bullets out long enough to contact the lands.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

OK guys,'
now I have something else to add to my project list, casting for 223
thanks a bunch, I had plenty to do already
off to look at 22 molds :holysheep

[9.3X62AL]

I tried 225462 w/ 7.0 Grns of Unique---shot very well and I was busting soup cans quite regularly at 250~300 yards... the key is seating the bullets out long enough to contact the lands.

THAT has to be satisfying! I'm not deeply experienced with 22 centerfires and castings, but that is bound for change in short order. My only mould at present is the RCBS 22-55-SP, which has shown some promise in a Ruger 77RC x 223 of known accuracy (1-9" twist). The 22-250 is getting re-tubed with a 1-12" twist/Shilen #3. A 2nd or 3rd mould design might be a good idea.

[Larry Gibson]

Will do--thank you....

I should add that 5 gr Unique was my most accurate load at 1660 fps. My M700V w/12" twist 24" barrel would keep 8 out of 10 shots in 1 moa at 100 yards with the other 2 shots opening to 1.2 moa. I did not weight sort but only visully sorted the bullets for defects. Weight sorting may have eliminated the flyers.

6 gr of Unique was running at 1850 fps with pretty consistent 2 moa accuracy which was alright for larger rock chucks and jack rabbits but wasn't accurate enough for the smaller belding graound squirrels.

I was using older WWs that had a higher content of tin than todays WWs. These days I use WWs + 2% tin for the same results.

Larry Gibson

[HangFireW8]

I have a Remington .223 Cal 700. Using a RCBS 55 SP-GC bullet and Unique powder I have had inconsistent accuracy. On some days it is not bad, on others terrible. Last month I was shooting 100 yards with a rest at 12 ounce soup cans. With a bolt actiopn .22 RF rifle I had no problem nailing them with each & every shot using bulk .22 RF ammo no less. With the .223 using 7.0 grains of Unique I was hitting them 50% of the time. However, on other days I can nail a business card sized target, at the same range, with virtually every shot. Perhaps someone can suggest a better load..I'd sure appreciate it.

I don't see anywhere the shooting temperature or what lube you are using being mentioned... these two variables are linked at the hip, and could be the cause of variable accuracy.

HF