First time reloading .223...did I do something wrong?

[Rusty_Shackleferd]

Oh, I think I might'd made too many for my first batch then. I wanted to test out a few different loads.

I'm not sure myself. I'm new at this too.

[snowdog650]

How many rounds should I make on the first batch to test? I don't wanna make too many, but at the same time I don't wanna make a trip to the range just to test out 10 rounds.

I load up 50 when developing new loads. 10 different charges ... 5 shots each.

[bazineta]

Since you're getting dinged for the hydraulic dimples in the cases from too much lube...if you completely lube the cases, that's likely to happen to at least a few of them, unless you clean out the sizing die frequently, as the lube on the neck area tends to start building up in the die.

An alternative to consider is to not completely lube the cases, but instead to use two types of lube -- regular on the case body, dry lube on the neck. For example, if you use the Redding wax on just the body, then just dip the neck into their neck lube, which is, I think, powdered graphite with little ceramic balls in it to make the job simple, you'll never dent another case.

Oh, and on the original question, just buy bullets without a cannelure.

[CSACANNONEER]

Different bullets have different profiles and seated to cannelure may or may not be the best length for your rifle.

Is this a mag fed auto, a bolt gun, or ???

This. There is no COAL that is right for all bullet profiles or in all chambers. In fact, each chamber is a little different and will accept and/or like a different COAL for each different bullet profile.

[Eljay]

How many rounds should I make on the first batch to test? I don't wanna make too many, but at the same time I don't wanna make a trip to the range just to test out 10 rounds.

For the very first loads on a new caliber I'll load up 10 somewhere on the low end of the powder range just to make sure there's not something bizarrely wrong. I'll mostly shoot something else so it's not a wasted range trip.

Then it's time to start exploring the loads. There's no fixed number but you have a min and a max, right? I'll typically make loads .1 or .2gr apart depending on how big that spread is, and 5-10 rounds each.

All that being said...

For ARs there are so many cookbook recipes for certain standard powder/bullet recipes that seem to work well on all ARs you might just kind of sanity check a little bit above and below the recommended load. I don't feel like I have to explore every possible load the same way.

[kcheung2]

There isn't a 1-size-fits-all answer. You want to make enough of each charge so that an errant sneeze won't skew your group size, but you don't want to make too much in case it's a bad load & you have to discard the rest. Same with the range of charge weights, you want enough to cover different velocities, but often hitting the min & max load is pointless. A 0.1 grain difference likely isn't perceptible, and a 3.0 grain difference could skip over an accuracy node.

Also bring some factory ammo to get a good baseline comparison.

I'm about to start loading 30 carbine & I've narrowed it to a tight range so I plan to load 30 of the light charge, 50 medium and 20 heavy. I'm confident all charges will cycle & I'm only going for reasonable accuracy, hence this choice. With other rounds I was more traditional with 10-15 rounds x 4 or 5 charge weights.

eta: I'm not sure if I'm reading your handwriting correctly, but it greatly helps to arrange your loads in numerical order, either ascending or descending charge weights. It looks like you've arranged yours 23.0 grains, 22.5, 23.5, then back to 22.0.

[Metal God]

My plinking 55gr FMJ-BT rounds are seated right to the bottom of the crimp groove @ 2.240 , No crimp .

I recommend you label your box better to clearly define what each charge or set of charges are . At times you will not get to shoot what you loaded for a long time . In the past I thought I labeled things well only to realize I forgot what I meant .

Here's what mine look like now with clearly defined charges and components as well as high lighted over max charges .



Here's a rifle load development

[Capybara]

My plinking 55gr FMJ-BT rounds are seated right to the bottom of the crimp groove @ 2.240 , No crimp .

I recommend you label your box better to clearly define what each charge or set of charges are . At times you will not get to shoot what you loaded for a long time . In the past I thought I labeled things well only to realize I forgot what I meant .

Here's what mine look like now with clearly defined charges and components as well as high lighted over max charges .



Here's a rifle load development

Great tip! Thanks!

[stand125]

I use a sharpie to mark powder type and charge on my cases. It comes off when I tumble for the next loading.