WC860 in .223/5.56 - Yes But....
This thread is dedicated to Don Quixote as I begin my latest personal effort in tilting at proverbial Wind Mills. Those who have perused the many pages of our Cast Boolit Forum will immediately recognize that I am off on a Fool’s Errand as I attempt to use an exceptionally slow Powder (WC860) in a case that obviously requires a much faster burn rate. Many will ask “Why, Why would you do this? The answer is: Because it was in front of the WC872 and WC867 jugs in my Powder Locker; and I was too lazy to move it and get something slower. The real answer is because I did not know what the results would be and I was curious.
(For those who are new and less experienced in Reloading, go to the below posting, and do some Internet searches on Powder Burn Rates to understand my Tongue in Cheek references). http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=133889 .
Well it was slightly cooler this morning here in the Nevada Desert, just North of Las Vegas, so I sucked it up after feeding the horses and moving the irrigation watering and decided to head to the range. By the time I had loaded the jeep with the targets, rifles, and shooting support equipment it was 07:30 and the temperature had already reached 90 degrees. Oh well; it was an enjoyable, albeit short morning, where I was able to collect some initial data on using WC860 in a .223. Let me assure you, the results would surprise and confound me.
I had prepared two different loads of four (4) rounds each. Yes; I know that you can’t expect to validate any load and derive any decent statistical data unless you shoot 10 round strings, and repeat each string multiple times, and hand weigh each bullet, and hand weigh each charge, and do a water volume comparison of each case, and ….. Keep in mind; I did not set out on this quest to develop the most accurate, most efficient, most perfect .223/5.56 load; no, I set out on a Fool’s Errand in order to TILT and see what happens. Back to the Loads:
I had previously selected eight (8) cases with the same LC-78 head stamp from the storage pail of mixed head stamp brass I keep in the garage. All were measured to ensure they were not too long, then sized, de-primed, re-primed, and made ready for loading. I had determined that given the Burn Rate of WC860; it was far below any listing for loads listed in any of my reloading manuals, so a full case would not get me in trouble. I do not have any .224 cast boolits on hand, so I opted to use surplus pulled M855 62 Grain projectiles (For those purists wondering why I didn’t Cast some .224 Boolits for this exercise; did I fail to mention the Nevada Desert North of Las Vegas and that it was already 90 degrees at 0730?)
For this Tilting event, I thought it would be interesting to see how a Full Charge of WC860 in a .223/5.56 case would fare in a match against one with a “Kicker/Booster” charge, a shameless effort to get better ignition of the powder. Remember, I said there were some surprises, this sets the stage for one of these surprises.
.223/5.56 Load #1:
Powder: WC860 - 26.0 Grains
Primer: CCI 400 Small Rifle Primer
Projectile: Pulled M855 military 62 Grain FMJ Ball (Actual Weight – 63.5 Grains)
.223/5.56 Load #2:
Powder: WC860 - 23.6 Grains
Booster/Kicker: Unique - 2.4 Grains
Primer: CCI 400 Small Rifle Primer
Projectile: Pulled M855 military 62 Grain FMJ Ball (Actual Weight – 63.5 Grains)
CAUTION: THE USE OF A BOOSTER/KICKER IN A LOAD SHOULD ONLY BE UTILIZED BY THOSE WHO ARE HIGHLY EXPERIENCED IN RELOADING, AND WHO HAVE EDUCATED THEMSELVES EXTENSIVELY IN THIS AREA BEFORE ATTEMPTING. THERE ARE MANY CONSIDERATIONS AND IF DONE INCORRECTLY THE RESULTS COULD BE A DESTROYED FIREARM, INJURY, AND EVEN DEATH.
So it was off to the range this morning to see what the results would be. My expectations were pretty low, I even thought I heard the .410, 28, 16, 20, & 12 gauges in the safe snickering as I left the house, claiming their groups would be much better if they were allowed to go. After setting up at the range I began to shoot and here are some of the surprises:
1. Velocities were much lower than I thought for both loads. I was anticipating somewhere in the 1200 to 1400 FPS range. Instead what I got was repeated “Error” messages from my F1 Chronograph. I know it was working because I had just previously shot 30-06 Cast Boolit and Jacketed loads over it.
2. I was amazed when the Booster/Kicker load was showing velocities in the 377 FPS range; while the pure WC860 load was producing velocities more than twice that rate at about 890 FPS.
3. I had anticipated that the Booster/Kicker Load would get a more full burn of powder; resulting in a tighter shot grouping; but that did not occur. Instead the WC860 26 Grain Load produced a Shot group of ~ 0.6 x 0.6 inches; while the load with the kicker produced a group that was much larger at ~ 1” x 1.25”.
4. I was surprised that even with the Booster Charge, there was unburned WC860 all along the barrel bottom from the Chamber to the Bore. Looked like sludge in a sewer pipe.
My Load and Record Data for both Loads is attached below as Pictures. Hopefully it's readable. Click on the thumb nails below to see a larger image on the screen. Also a pic of the barrel and unburned powder is attached, it is as I could get with my camera. If you enlarge you can see traces of debris in the barrel at 7 O'Clock.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imag...c72e92eb11.jpg
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imag...c6e626a97d.jpg
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imag...c6e627e5f6.jpg
So what did the Wind Mill tell me? It may be theoretically feasible to only use a single powder for loads ranging from the .223/5.56 all the way up to the 50 BMG; but it is not very practicable. We can explore the what if’s of reloading, and continue to learn from those in this forum, but we need to always remain safe in doing so.
Best Wishes – Mustang (Don Quixote for the Morning)
27Grains of WC860 Load Test
Well, I got out Saturday morning for some further Range Testing of the WC860 in .223/5.56 using military M855 Ball. For this one I used 27Grains of WC860; which results in a compressed load. About 60% to 65% of the M855 projectile is below the mouth. This results in a portion of the projectile being below the case neck. I mention this because when I migrate Load Testing to .225 Gas Checked Cast Boolit; this might become a critical issue. Not as much of an issue with the Bolt Action .223 I am currently using as the primary Test Rifle; but when I move to the Colt AR-15 I will have to be concerned with the deeper Boolit Seating required; particularly with 60grain and above Boolits.
I followed S. Wheeler’s (Post #2) & Wayne Smith’s (post #3) comments and used my CH .223 Taper Crimp Die for these loads. The good news is that the unburned powder I previously experienced with the 26 Grain WC860 is practically all gone. I noted only 2 or 3 very small “mummies” (little small flecks of brown partially burned powder) in the entire barrel. This was a dramatic improvement.
Accuracy was not as good with this 27 Grain test load compared to the previous 26 Grain load. Below is a picture (Click on picture to enlarge) comparing both loads. The 26 Grain Load with four shots (on the right) gave a ¾ x ¾ inch group. The 27 Grain Load with nine shots (on the left) gave a 1 ¼ x 2 inch group. There is the potential for incorrect interpretation of results since the previous test was with 4 Rounds; and this test used 9 rounds (One round failed to fire; primers used are from a large batch I bought back in the mid 1980’s).
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imag...eb5b08bef4.jpg
The last test was shot in 106 degree temperatures. I am sure that my shooting was impacted by the heat; and there is the potential for the powder burn to be impacted. I know that the Department of Army and Department of Navy have both had extensive testing and development programs to deal with impacts of high ambient Desert Temperatures on powder burn rates for both the 7.62 and 5.56 loads to be used in Afghanistan and Iraqi theaters. Before moving on; I am going to load 20 Rounds more to load test WC860 in .223/5.56; ten at 26 Grains plus ten at 27 grains. If I get one set that shows better accuracy; then I’ll have a good load for M855 Ball that I can use for comparison. That will allow me to move on to Load Development using .225 Cast Boolits from my RCBS .22-55-SP mold with a higher level of confidence in Load Development.
My Data Record for this Test is attached as a pdf. I continue to have Error’s, Unregistered Shots, or I believe erroneous readings (e.g. the 885FPS ) from my Chronograph with the .223/5.56 loads. Earlier I had fired about 40 rounds of .30 Cal Cast Boolits over the same Chronograph at speeds of 2000fps to 2550 fps with not a single problem.
Mustang
Back to the range to validate WC860 load in .223
We had a drop in temperatures Saturday Morning (High 90’s) so I got out to do some follow on testing of WC860 in the .223/5.56. I loaded 10 rounds using 27 Grains of WC860, and another 10 rounds using a 3 grain kicker of H4895 over the flash hole with 23 grains of WC860 over that. Both loads were individually weighed and slightly compressed. After firing the 10 rounds using 27 Grains of WC860, I inspected the barrel and there was a small light trail of unburned powder in the barrel from the chamber to the muzzle. I did the same for the load with the H4895 kicker; and the barrel was relatively clean with no unburned powder trail.
As discussed in previous posts, I have been having Error and no readings on my F1 Chronograph when testing previous M855 .223/5.56 loads. For these two strings, I had the chronograph 12 feet from the muzzle, and all 20 rounds had the noses painted with a black magic marker as recommended by S Wheeler. This session I was able to get reliable readings on these strings. (I was talking to the wife on the first 3 rounds with the kicker load and failed to record the velocities for those 3 shots). A visual comparison of the two strings follows (Click on the picture to enlarge).
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imag...130ff52275.jpg
The 3 grain kicker of H4895 over the flash hole, with 23 grains of WC860 over that, seems to produce a fairly clean load that operates in Cast Boolit velocities; with an average velocity of 2160 fps. I’ll load some of these and see how they perform in my Colt AR for operating the gas system, accuracy, and cleanliness/fouling. At a later date I’ll see how the same charge ratio fares using WC872 powder I have on hand, substituting WC872 for the WC860.
These tests are a prelude to developing a .223/5.56 load using Cast Boolits from RCBS and NOE molds with WC860 for my bolt and gas guns. Should give me something to do as we move into the fall and winter. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imag...icon_smile.gif
My Load Data Sheets for this Test session are attached as PDF’s.
Mustang.