First time casting & loading for .223 Remington=Complete Success

[ShooterAZ]

I've been wanting to try casting for my 14" scoped T/C Contender for a while now, and I'm not disappointed! I bought the RCBS 22-55-SP mold and cast a few hundred boolits using 2.5/2.5/95 alloy, air cooled. I think I had only 4 rejects out of the whole batch...thanks RCBS. I sized to .225 and lubed with CR. I tried a couple of ladders of Red Dot, Unique, 2400, Titegroup, 5744, and 1680. I shot them at 50 yards with a sandbag rest. Most groups were under 1", with the largest at 1-1/2, so really no bad ones. Two powders showed excellent results, surprisingly 3.5 grains of Titegroup, and maybe not so surprising 11 grains of 5744 grouped nearly all shots touching at 1/2"!

All in all, a great day at the range. I spent hours & hours doing research & searches here for cast data for the .223 and it paid off. I had the most fun ever with this! Imagine how many boolits & loads can be had from a couple of pounds of lead with these little boolits. I found that you REALLY have to cast fast with this one. 3.5 Titegroup will go a heck of a long ways. Thanks to this forum for the info and thanks to the members that sent me a few boolits to try out, although I haven't tried any of them yet, I will be soon.

ShooterAZ

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Good for you. May your success continue. May our needful casters profit from your approach.

BvT

[Plastics Savage]

Nice to hear about your success.

I've been thinking about boolits for my 223 but seems to be pretty tricky.
Still trying to make up my mind.

[geargnasher]

Yup, that mould sure will teach you the meaning of "haul butt" at the casting bench. On the plus side, I don't think it's possible to overheat it and you can cast close to 800 boolits per hour with a two-cavity.

Thanks for sharing the results, I'm going to re-visit this caliber in a bolt gun at some point, and have been taking notes on the lower-velocity loadings you fellers keep coming up with.

Gear

[ShooterAZ]

Nice to hear about your success.

I've been thinking about boolits for my 223 but seems to be pretty tricky.


There is no trick to it really, I keep a hot plate right close by, so if I need to stop for whatever reason I just set the mold on it. Sprue plate temp seems critical, just pour large puddles. I end up with way more sprue than boolits. For whatever reason, Unique is not producing the tight groups some of the other powders have. Still good, but not what I am looking for <1/2" at 50 yds. My next powders to ladder will be SR4759 & Universal Clays. Then I need to see what my best loads will do at 100 yds. It's been a lot of fun.

[jmort]

I'm just getting started on .223. Got a Handi Rifle to check out. Hoping to get this accuracy, more like dreaming. From Handloader Magazine.

55 RCBS SP Alliant Unique 7.0 1,966
Remarks: group size 0.59

[ShooterAZ]

My 223 Contender is crazy accurate with 40 grain jacketed bullets, but I just wasn't sure if the RCBS 55 would shoot well in it. This is one of the reasons I wanted to try some other boolits from guys here. 7 grains of Unique produced around 1" groups at 50 yards...not bad, but not as good as 1/2". One funny thing I noticed after loading and handling these tiny boolits...a 30 Cal 170 gr FP looks like a howitzer now in comparison.

[Vinne]

ShooterAZ, now you gone and done it...I gotta pack up my range bag and get in some pinking!!!

[bgokk]

I' just getting started on .223. Got a Handi Rifle to check out. Hoping to get this accuracy, more like dreaming. From Handloader Magazine.

55 RCBS SP Alliant Unique 7.0 1,966
Remarks: group size 0.59

I have a NEA .223 and have loaded the Ranch Dog TLC .225-50-RF over 6.0 Gr. of IMR 700X for an est. 1770 fps. The load is 1/2" capable when I do my part. I took my first CB kill with this load. A beaver @ about 30 yards.:)89191

[fastfire]

Do you know the twist in your barrel?


My 223 Contender is crazy accurate with 40 grain jacketed bullets, but I just wasn't sure if the RCBS 55 would shoot well in it. This is one of the reasons I wanted to try some other boolits from guys here. 7 grains of Unique produced around 1" groups at 50 yards...not bad, but not as good as 1/2". One funny thing I noticed after loading and handling these tiny boolits...a 30 Cal 170 gr FP looks like a howitzer now in comparison.

[ShooterAZ]

If I remember correctly, T/C used a 1/12 twist for 223 Rem.

[bgokk]

If I remember correctly, T/C used a 1/12 twist for 223 Rem.
Mine is 1/12 and came with a note to limit bullet weight to 55 Gr. The RD boolits weigh 53.2 Gr. with lube and GC.

[ShooterAZ]

That beaver looks like he has a headache....good shooting! I made a skunk look like that, but I wasn't gonna skin him.

[fastfire]

Thanks for the 1/12 tw