More load testing results

[spandit]

I would of gone 3x up in .5 over the middle.

21.5

22

22.5

See what the pressures say.

I'm going by some conflicting earlier advice on here. Need to fire off some more Hornady factory rounds so I have the empty cases before I make up larger loads...

[fieldwanderer]

Why? You said you'd be getting new brass so unless you buy hornady brass, that'll be a waste.

 

If you're working up a load, you need to keep things consistent. A 1/2 moa load in hornady brass might well be more like 1.5"@100 in lapua brass even though everything else is precisely the same.

 

The same goes for any component

[Dougy]

I think that,

 

Its just my opinion

. Chuck all the brass away you have, buy some new, if you can get some lapua, if not just bog standard remington will be good enough.

 

You cannot get a starting point with bits and bobs odds and **** of cases.

[Amazed]

I'm going by some conflicting earlier advice on here. Need to fire off some more Hornady factory rounds so I have the empty cases before I make up larger loads...

 

Everyone does things different mate,

But I agree with everyone here you need a solid start and new brass will do that.

I have in the passed used new ppu when I couldn't afford lap.

It works well and for learning it's good as you can kill it with no tears.

But you will only see a few firings rather than maybe 10 from lap.

Ppu is about £23 100 cases new.

[Redgum]

I'm still improving my technique and trying to line up with the chrono meant I wasn't in the best position

Just checked, the primers are Remington 6 1/2 - I've heard that 7 1/2 are better

I chrono my grouping tests with a new load, I find bipod on the front and shooting sack on the back lines up a perfect position both for a firm firing position and height to go over the chrono. Within reason I'm looking for accuracy rather than max velocity, the two don't always go together.

[neutron619]

I think the trouble you're seeing is low pressure, not high, and I'm wondering if the primer question is a red herring, so I've got two questions for the OP.

 

1. The fifth case "down" in your picture looks like it's got a concentric circle around the primer pocket, stamped into the brass. Was this there before firing?

 

2. Do the factory loads you've tested also leave soot / powder residue on the cases after firing?

 

Regardless of the primers being good or not - others will know that better than I - the signs you're seeing look rather like they could be caused by low pressure. I've done some reloading for my rifle, working carefully down from the starting loads to try and duplicate the trajectory of a second calibre with a light bullet and reduced charge. Most of what you're reporting above is what I see with those loads.

 

The primers of my reduced loads end up all over the place and sometimes pierced because the case fails to obturate with the chamber wall and slams back into the bolt face - especially if one happens to have over-trimmed one's cases and there's a lot of distance (relatively) from neck of case to throat of rifle. That failure to obturate lets the combustion gas out past the neck and down the sides of the case, blackening them, and can produce an impression of the bolt face on the headstamp. I don't see any sign of brass flow into the extractor groove - associated with over-pressure - which again points in the low-pressure direction. The fact that .223s tend to have a very long throat would also contribute slightly to lowering overall pressure, I believe.

 

If that is what's going on they're not inherently unsafe, but I agree with the poster who suggests working the load up a bit in .5 increments to 22.5gr and see what happens. You'll know if you're getting to high pressure when the bolt is hard to open - I wouldn't pay much attention to primers. The fact that your numbers are coming out 150-250fps lower than published figures (that's a big energy drop - enough to make you deer-illegal) makes me think something more than bad primers is going on here.

 

All that said, I'm no expert, so be careful and go as slowly as you feel comfortable with, toward the maximum, looking for your accuracy load. New cases will help and save you running down factory to test new batches - very worthwhile if you can afford it.

 

One last thing - I agree with whoever it was that said V-Max is a bad plan on deer. You're producing a load which is potentially going to give 3000-3100fps and you're doing that with what is a pretty light bullet, even for a small deer. Generally anything going 3000fps plus is going to be destructive anyway, without adding an especially destructive bullet to the equation. However you choose to shoot them (head / neck / engine room) you will see a lot less damage if you use a SP and plug them from side to side, rather than trying to turn their innards into soup with an "explosive" bullet. You will also avoid the unlikely, but potential problem of the bullet blowing up when it hits a shoulder blade and taking a leg off or causing other non-lethal surface wounding. If you were shooting a 150gr bullet, I'd say it wouldn't matter so much, but with such a small bullet, you need to be sure you're getting proper penetration. Save the V-Max for Charlie and anything similarly small.

Edited August 26, 2014 by neutron619