Reckon this will be easier casting for

[Wolfdog91]

Well finally found on of my dream guns. A H&R ultra varmit in .223. Reckon I'll put the Cast 5.56 out the AR on the shelf for a little bit . Eveyone keeps telling me how much easier is to make single shots shoot cast well so guess we'll see. Hopefully it's not too easy, honestly trying to make work as well as they did out my AR was half the fun ,if they just work might end up loosing interest lol
https://i.postimg.cc/8FKnjVBj/IMG-20211231-125259170.jpg (https://postimg.cc/8FKnjVBj)

Question though other then reworking my COAL/CBTO about how much you reckon I should drop my AR charge down to start up with this ? I mean the gas system eats a good bit of the energy to get 2180fps so I'm guessing with a single shot with no gas system it's gonna alot faster with the same load. Mabye cut the original charge by 25% ? And work up from there ?

[Bakebfr480]

Sounds like a good plan!

[JimB..]

I’m not sure what you’re after specifically in terms of bullet performance, but I wouldn’t feel any need to drop more than 10% from max book load from a safety perspective.

[Thumbcocker]

If you are loading for accuracy start low and listen to the rifle.

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[Dusty Bannister]

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th ed uses the Universal receiver to work up their data. Any reason to NOT use their suggested starting load and work up to accuracy load from there?

[cwtebay]

I think that you will be hard pressed to find any meaningful velocity difference between the gas ported AR and the single shot (I think that is what you mean by energy). There was an article in the NRA publication a while ago about just that question.
And yes, I do believe that single shots are easier to get cast shooting well out of.

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[gwpercle]

Just start with the starting loads or , better yet , mid-range loads in your favorite loading manual ... Lyman Cast Bullet 4th edition uses a single shot bolt action universal receiver for load development in this one , so look at those loads ... starting too low just ends up wasting time and primers ... my most accurate loads fall in-between the mid-range to maximum loads ...usually just below max.
Make sure your 25% reduction doesn't put you too low ... the nice thing about single shots is you don't have to be concerned about the cycling and just about any boolit can be made to work . Lots of leeway with loads !
Good Luck ... Single Shots are Fun !
Gary

[dverna]

I do not know what powder you are using but many should not be reduced by 25%.

Good advice on looking at load data.

What are your goals? Plinking to 50-100 yards, varmints to 200 yards?

If I was going down the cast road in .223 I would start with Promo (Red Dot) as I have a pile of it and is economical. with a 54 gr bullet, 5.4 gr gets about 1650 fps and 8.5 gr about 2100 fps. Next pick would be Unique...6.7 gr for 1800 and 9.0 for 2100. But I would not use cast for varmint shooting as I have cheap jacketed bullets.

[mdi]

New gun? New load work up. I'd start with book min loads and work up if necessary (sometimes a low/min load is very accurate.). FWIW; for me "chasing the lands", fiddling with OAL is the last step n looking for "The Load"...

[reddog81]

A 25% cut is huge. Use the starting charge. It's possible you can drop down from the starting charge with the right powders. Just doing a 25% reduction is a recipe for problems if using the wrong powder.

[Winger Ed.]

I'd shoot a few of what you do in the AR.
They might do very well in the new one too.

Just a wild guess,
but any difference in barrel length may have more influence in velocity than the AR having a gas vent.

[littlejack]

Wolf dog, that's a nice piece. All the best in your endevor.

[centershot]

Wolfdog, a lot of it will depend on the twist rate in that H&R. If it's a 12 or 14 inch twist, have at it! If it's a 9 or 8 inch twist, be careful how fast you push those starting loads.

[Wolfdog91]

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th ed uses the Universal receiver to work up their data. Any reason to NOT use their suggested starting load and work up to accuracy load from there?

I don't have any of the powers listed ,have only been able to find one on occasion,and I never really use book COAL anymore always find jam and back off from it found it gives me far less head aches

[Wolfdog91]

For current load out the are for those wondering is
PC'edLee 55gr GC sized to .225 gas checked weight sorted and loaded in batches by .1 gr
Alloy : Clip on WW double water dropped around 19-20 bhn
Brass : Lake city once fired sorted in batches any head stamped annealed
Brass cleaning method : wet tumbling then drying in food dehydrator
Case trim :1.751"
Shoulder bump : .003"-.005" max .004 target
1.456" ideally for that rifle after initial fire forming
CBTO of : 1.985 for . 10thou jump to the lands
Primer :CCi Sr No.400
Powder : accurate 2015
17.2 gr = 1855 fps SD 21.74
17.0 gr= 2055fps SD 21.63
17.5gr= 2104fps SD 33.9
18.0 =2104 fps. SD 16.65
18.2. = 2150fps SD 31.60

18.1 grains is currently the best thing I got running

Then I also meds around with Win 748 but those never grouped too well. But yeah once I can fire form some brass and get some measurements I'll goa head a tweak my CBTO ( I load for each one of my rifles specific one ) and should bumping to this gun. My AR is only a 16" barrel 1/7 twist but think thins one is 22 ? And I know for a fact these have much slower twist rates but I gotta get a dowel rod and some tape and check . What else? O yeah since I don't have a gas system I really don't have to do half the work I was doing with the AR to get it to function so I'll probably drop my velocity some more. As for what I'm trying to do .... I'm not 100% on the that yet honestly probably just seeing what I can do @100yd with it then shooting crows or something probably lol.