newb 62gr load powder question

[Flat Broke]

My brother and I are assembling everything we need to start loading .223/5.56. We're going to be working on a Lee 1000 press. We have a good amount of brass saved up, and are trying to put together a ingredient list for a solid 62gr load. I was planning on going with the Armscor 62gr FMJBT bullets so they'd pass the magnet test at local ranges. I'm thinking CCI #41 primers, which only leaves the powder as a variable. Asside from trying to find whatever may be available locally to avoid shipping, is there a reason to run one type of powder over another?

I've been reading online, and it seems like Varget is a "middle of the road" powder that works in a variety of calibers and bullet weights, but may only excel with heavier bullets when talking about .223. Winchester 748 seems to be popular, but again, I'm not sure why. Other than those two powders, are there other powders I should be considering? I'm looking for range ammo that will be consistent, then maybe switch to M855 bullets with the penetrator for SHTF stockpiling.

Any insight is greatly appreciated. As an asside, is it pretty much a wash in terms of cost between buying powder and primers at gun shows, vs online and paying for shipping?

Thanks,
Chris

[NRAhighpowershooter]

H335

748 is too temperature sensative for me....

[Triple R Munitions]

Ramshot Tac, H335, 748 are good powders. buy 1lb and do some testing before buying in bulk.
R

[stphnman20]

H335 here..

Read up on this

[Flat Broke]

H335 here..

Read up on this

Thanks for the link. I had skimmed that when first built my AR and had twist rate questions, but with more experience with the platform and familiarity with shooting in general, it was more meaningful a second time through. I assume the main reason you pointed me to the article was because of my predisposition towards 62gr bullets as opposed to 55gr?

I'll look into the H335 as it's a commonly mentioned powder as well. As far as buying samples and testing, I have to wait until I buy a chrono to do any meaningful testing that can narrow down variables between invididual loading components.

Thanks for all the information so far in the thread, if anyone else has any gotchas or recipes they like for a 16" 1/7 twist barrel, feel free to post em up.

Chris

[kmca]

It depends on what you want from your rifle. If you're going for accuracy, you've got a lot of work to do. From what I've seen, different rifles require different components. You'll have to try different primers, powders, different charges, bullets and brass. What works in your rifle will probably be different that any other. That's a lot of testing.

If you're going for plinking ammo, choose a middle of the road load from any loading manual and go with the listed components.

[Flat Broke]

It depends on what you want from your rifle. If you're going for accuracy, you've got a lot of work to do. From what I've seen, different rifles require different components. You'll have to try different primers, powders, different charges, bullets and brass. What works in your rifle will probably be different that any other. That's a lot of testing.

If you're going for plinking ammo, choose a middle of the road load from any loading manual and go with the listed components.

It will be mostly for plinking/practice, but wouldn't by virtue of the ammo being hand loaded/inspected, it be more consistent than bulk stuff like PMC etc? I get what you're saying about finding the perfect match of case, bullet, powder, and primer that creates a synergistic effect when used with the rifle it was developed for, but I will still see better consistency in my groupings (excluding the shooter from the equation) by rolling my own, correct?

Thanks,
Chris

[mstlaurent]

I just finished loading 1000 rounds of 62gr .223 last night. I used Ramshot TAC, 24.5gr gets me to 2715 fps out of a 16" 1/7 barrel. (But do not just go out and use that load data, always work up your own loads with your own rifle and brass.)

TAC is cheap, easily available, meters really well, shoots clean, and it gives me decent groups. I highly recommend it.

[mif_slim]

TAC Ramshot will work for your app. Have you tried AA2230? I see them everywhere and no one ever wants to buy them or something. I use them on all my .223 reloads and it seems to work just fine. I use AA2460 for my match loads, from my gun, they seem to work better then R15 which also works better then varget. You gotta try what your gun likes and then stick with it. Like some posted here, get the 1lbs and try first. Find the powder you gun likes, then send me the rest that your gun doesnt like. :P

[Bug Splat]

This may just be me but I had awful luck with the Armscor 62gr FMJBT bullets. I could not get them to shoot better than 3MOA with 2 rifles that shot under 1/2MOA. Might just be me.

[Flat Broke]

This may just be me but I had awful luck with the Armscor 62gr FMJBT bullets. I could not get them to shoot better than 3MOA with 2 rifles that shot under 1/2MOA. Might just be me.

I'm assuming you isolated the rifle/bullet combo with a sled or something right? The main reason I was going with the Armscor was because it would pass magnet tests at the range, but if the stuff is inconsistent, I'll keep looking. This is exactly the type of info I'm looking for, so keep it coming.

Thanks,
Chris

[mstlaurent]

I'm assuming you isolated the rifle/bullet combo with a sled or something right? The main reason I was going with the Armscor was because it would pass magnet tests at the range, but if the stuff is inconsistent, I'll keep looking. This is exactly the type of info I'm looking for, so keep it coming.

Thanks,
Chris

I use these from Widener's:

http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=7436&dir=278|281|727

They are cheap, non-magnetic, very consistent in weight, and they grouped fairly well for me, although I'm not shooting matches.

[Flat Broke]

I was litterally JUST looking at those in another tab. The main issue with no cannelure is the possiblity of bullet setback, but I can't seem to find consistent accounts either way that this is a repeatable problem.

Chris

[mstlaurent]

I was litterally JUST looking at those in another tab. The main issue with no cannelure is the possiblity of bullet setback, but I can't seem to find consistent accounts either way that this is a repeatable problem.

Chris

I use a Lee Factory Crimp die at the last stage of my press, it gets them in there good and tight. Haven't had a problem with it.

[Bug Splat]

I'm assuming you isolated the rifle/bullet combo with a sled or something right? The main reason I was going with the Armscor was because it would pass magnet tests at the range, but if the stuff is inconsistent, I'll keep looking. This is exactly the type of info I'm looking for, so keep it coming.

Thanks,
Chris

Yeah I tried it in my benchrest bolt action, AR, and SU16 with 3 different kinds of powder and difference charge weights. I've read reviews about the same bullets shooting 1 MOA so I bought 1000. In my bench gun the best group I got was about 1.5 MOA. Now this gun will shoot in the .180 range so 1.5 MOA is like worlds apart. For what ever reason I could not get them shoot very well. Its entirely possible that my rifles just do not like them or I got a bad batch. There are more positive reviews than bad ones so I don't know. Would not be the first time I tried a quality bullets and came out with bad results.