Today I tested out two loads, these are similar to the last two loads, but I had 50 rounds of each this time, and tested them at 50 and 100 yards
To summarize, its hard to tell if there is a difference between the loads. One load I shot 6 rounds at 95 yards and the other 11 rounds. This is because one fits in the magazine and the other doesnt. The 11 round load has a couple fliers which make it a bigger group than the 6 round load, but if you delete those flyers, the groups are basically the same.
My shooting is getting better in real-time because I'm a beginner, so there are big improvements magazine to magazine. This makes it tricky to figure out whats going on.
But regardless, I was able to get a 1.65 MOA 6 shot group at 95 yards, and I dont think thats a fluke. This is my best group yet. That load was:
2.340" COAL (this is a 20 thou bullet jump)
full length sized (full shoulder bump, probably 14 thou)
55gn FMJBT
21gn RL-7
1.750" trimmed once fired range pickup lake city brass
no crimp, just deflare
But really, I think the other load may be just as good, and its exactly the same except the COAL is 2.250", and it fits in the magazine
Obviously I'm contributing to the accuracy error, so this ammo may be good enough for me for the short term. I will see if I can try it at 150 or 200 yards.
I dont think I will be fine-tuning this load much more. My next experiment will be:
Lapua 223 brand new brass
69gn sierra match king bullets
Load will be direct from sierra as "most accurate" for this bullet
Powder charges trickled to the limit of the scale (0.02gn)
Brass trimmed using a much higher quality method (the lee quick trim die is a joke)
variations of shoulder bump and bullet jump
In theory I should see a quantum leap with those changes. If I dont, that will also be interesting.