Lee 223 55 grain loads for Savage Axis bolt action

[ncmn]

I bought a Lee 223 6 cavity mold for the 55 grain bullets years ago, and I casted several hundred good bullets with it. Lubed them with 45/45/10 and gas checked them. I also purchased a Savage Axis Gen 1 right after they come out, just to shoot these bullets in. It is 1/9 twist I believe if I remember right. Problem is after rearranging the reloading room, I found all these bullets and remembered the Axis, which I have not got around to shooting yet. I have these powders available at this time, Unique, Bullseye, 5744 which about covers the cast range I guess. I have some around 52gr with lino added and some around 58gr range lead, best I remember anyway. Sure is tough getting old aint it :-D What I am looking for is the best load in the Axis for 50 to 100 yards, somewhere around 1800 - 2000 fps. Any ideas would be appreciated, and I searched all over the place for a load on here, but not sure where to start with my twist and powders available? Not sure if it is worth the effort or time to do this, but since they are already casted and checked, I might as well give it a try, if it does not work out, I guess it will be a learning experience.

I may also PC these little fellows if I can do it without having to stand them little boolits up to get good coverage.

[Dusty Bannister]

Lee has two 55 grain bullet styles. One is the RF called the Bator. The other is the one similar to the Lyman 225415 which is also similar to the RCBS 55 gr bullet. I doubt that the Bator will chamber if powder coated. There is data for two different 55 grain bullets in the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th edition.

[technojock]

The one called the "Bator" is a copy of an old Lyman mold. I have the original Lyman mold for that boolit...

Tony

[ncmn]

I have the RF version, I also have the Lyman 4th edition and that is where all my cast bullet loads come from. I was hoping that someone had been down this road before and could help out with some load data. Now if the RF will not camber if powder coated, that may change a few things? I saw a video of someone using Varget at 19.7gr getting good results at 100 yards? I have plenty of Varget, but never thought about using it with cast bullets. Anyone else have any ideas for me, or should I throw them back in the pot and stick with FMJ's?

[sigep1764]

I load a 75gr MP boolit for my Axis in 223. I use W748, 20 grains, for about 2000fps. Use this link for more load data.

http://marvinstuart.com/firearm/Manuals/Bullet%20Casting/Lyman%20Cast%20Bullet%20Handbook%20-%203rd%20Edition%20-%201980%20-%20Reduce.pdf

[cwlongshot]

IINM, the Lyman 255438 is a 44g bullet reminiscent of the lil LEE BATOR. Its a dandy lil booger too! I have the 225415 that I like but its 50 & lil lighter cadt in lino as I like my 22's cast from.
Another fav is the Lyman 225450. Mine is just a single cav so no mass production. But my hornets and bees shoot them really well!!



After all these years I just ordered a Lee 55 g to try myself!

[Milky Duck]

varget is ar2208 same powder.....its close cousin AR2206h is considered one of the better powders for reduced loads.... there is plenty of data out there for it but the obvious choice is trailboss....
a set of LEE spoons make loading it childsplay.... good to read you arent looking to go subsonic,at speed you talking they should still be very useful,similar to a hornet or .22magnum

[Shopdog]

Got an early stainless Savage 16 flat back 223. Shoots the Lee 225-55RF into some impressive 5 shot 100 yd groups with around 18g IMR4198. Nose dimensions seem to be more critical than body size on the small calibers. I try for "about" 2 times the land width, on the length of engraving.... staying ever so short of a full jam. Full or hard here means it'll stick,and pull the bullet if ejecting a loaded round. Which,is an excellent note in that rigs log book. Two things this does... one is throat erosion but also it's a dimension check for alloy change..... I'll leave it at that,starts to get a little complex trying to describe certain nuances on nose fit(alloys,nose sizing,bumping,spinning).

[ncmn]

Thanks for the replies guys, and I let you know how much I had forgotten about the bullets and Axis. Well I used to shoot BR for awhile in 6mmBR and I also bought the inserts for .223 for the Hornady oal gauge and comparator, completely forgot about this. I got it all out tonight and with the sized bullet with Hornady gas check installed the oal is 2.760 completely in the lands. So I think a loaded round at 2.755 to 2.758 would be max length? What do you think, how many thousands should I be off the lands? I am going to load some rounds with Unique this weekend and start at 6.5gr and do a ladder test up to about 7.5gr. Bullets with gas check are only weighing 52gr, all of them I tested, so the 58gr must have been a mistake. As this is my first cast rifle bullet loading, I need your help. I have been doing cast pistol rounds for over 30 years, but never got around to cast in rifles. Any help will be appreciated.

[brstevns]

If looking for 1800 to 1900 fps give 5.0 gr of Unique or Bullseye a try. This is what I use in my Martini to get 1850 fps from it. Very accurate and makes a great squirrel load. Works well on groundhogs out to 100 yards as well.

[Shopdog]

How round the nose is on bore riders is one determination on jam....

A nose spinner is simply a 3/4" piece of O1 that has a reamed through hole. The reamers are custom ground to that mould's nose profile. You can either,spin the tool or spin the bullet ... try both,and decide for yourself which you like better. Mainly for optimizing,or "blueprinting" the ogive.... words fall short here. Watch it in action and it becomes patently obvious.

Now that you have a perfectly round nose,first thing I test is a HARD jam on accuracy. A guess would be about 20%? of the time,this hard jam will be the most accurate. Occasionally to the point of disbelief. I have a 7-08,Lee 130 rig that bugholes at starting JB book loads with Varget using this. But other than taking lunch money bets from your shooting buddies,it isn't of that much use. But you sorta asked... just sayin,try a hard jam. Normally on my varmint/bench guns finding that OAL that gives 98% loaded round ejection rate is where they stay for business.

That's absolutely not to say you can't develop a load .010,020",or more off jam to tear X's out.

Hard jams and your neck tension may not be "siblings" in this pursuit(OAL),but they're 1st cousins. Start with .002",and .004" interference.... at your test length. Keep working on the jam seeing if there's a noticeable difference between the 2 vs 4(thousandths).... if there is,then you'd go a little more or less. Yes,you will be making "M" dies spuds. Your loaded round neck OD vs existing chamber ID is one caveat. You'll likely see a point,examining soot on fired case neck... that is the "do not cross" point in closing this clearance gap. Around .0015 total clearance is where I see it happen and is already too tight.... just sayin.
Yes,turning brass makes sense,but look at this as your fine adjustment... the bullet's body size is the rough adjustment. Which,BTW...I rarely size bullet bodies....noses,HECK yeah. Lube is woefully overvalued in my observations. The consistency seems more important than ingredients. The faster the load,the less lube it's gonna take. Knurling your lube grooves is then used to slow down the lube evacuation. Like alloy strength,you're looking for the SOFTEST alloy that will work,not just keep adding lino. So,you want the LEAST amount of lube....knurling helps tremendously here. Allows some flexibility in your lube,not available by chemistry.... you're changing the characteristics mechanically.

Good luck with your project.

[quilbilly]

I have both of those Lee .22 cal. molds. Unfortunately, my rifles and Contenders all have 1/12 twists so my experiences may not apply. My 222's seem to like the Bator style while bolt action 223 likes the newer style exceptionally well. My Hornet rifle likes the Bator style. Before PC'ing, I would lube extra heavy with Alox (keeping it simple for starting) with a beginning at MV of about 1400 and work my way up to about 2000 fps. Try the PC'ed boolits at MV that seems most promising. Good luck and enjoy the range time.

[ncmn]

Well I loaded 30 rounds tonight, 3 groups of ten of different loads of unique to start with. Not going to be able to get to the range till maybe Sunday or Tuesday. I know one thing for sure, the old military brass is not going to work out for me. I have some new brass that I will have to break out for a real test later. First range session is going to be setting up the scope and seeing what issues I may have. I have a feeling that the new Lee mold may be a better shooter from the posts made here. Will keep posting my results from a new rifle cast shooter.