What would you start off with loading .223?

[mjmagee67]

I personally like the 55Gr soft points I find for blasting ammo they are as good as the FMJ of V-Max/Z-Max. The just don't look as cool but they shot well. I have read online that people with scoped guns are getting as good groups with the as SP's as the V-Max's. YMMV but I like'em.

So what do you all think of the Hornady 55 grain soft point bullets as far as accuracy? That bullet with 748 looks like a good combination. The price is right too.

[em9sredbeam]

tagged. I have used Montana Gold for 9 and 45, and it is excellent.

[sargenv]

There are other reasons for using fmj-bt's.. the main reason I use a bt bullet base is that they drop right into the case without much risk of getting my fingertips pinched.. Flat based 223's need you to chamfer the case mouth making the case mouth very sharp.. boat tailed bullets drop right into an unchamfered case mouth.. If you are only loading 100 in a single stage, this isn't such a big deal, but if you are loading 223's on a progressive (dillon 550, 650, 1050, hornady pro-jector, or equiv..) well, it's all about production.. and the less contact my hands have around the case mouth, the better. I'll load my precision stuff on a single stage, but for blasting ammo or anything inside 200 yards, I load it on a progressive, and I like to keep my finger tips from getting pinched..

Hornady's in the 6000 pack are good.. but Montana Golds are just fine also. They are both a pretty good deal for bulk bullet purchases.

[sammy]

Thanks everyone!!

Here is my shopping list

CCI #41 primers
Hornady 55 grain soft point
Hornady 60 grain fmj
Winchester 748 powder
Dillon carbide die set
trimmer, de burr tools and lots of other stuff.

The trimmer is backordered until mid month but should be ready to rock if I can talk Bruceflinch into trimming some brass for me.

I will update later!!

Sammy

[lpspinner]

The trimmer is backordered until mid month but should be ready to rock if I can talk Bruceflinch into trimming some brass for me.

I will update later!!

Sammy

hmmm, hey Bruce, I have about 500 rounds that need to be trimmed. The brass is already primed. Can I come over too?

[LexLuther]

I started on a 650 with A2230 and Montana gold 55 gr...great combo all around.

[bruceflinch]

Thanks everyone!!

Here is my shopping list

CCI #41 primers
Hornady 55 grain soft point
Hornady 60 grain fmj
Winchester 748 powder
Dillon carbide die set
trimmer, de burr tools and lots of other stuff.

The trimmer is backordered until mid month but should be ready to rock if I can talk Bruceflinch into trimming some brass for me.

I will update later!!

Sammy

hmmm, hey Bruce, I have about 500 rounds that need to be trimmed. The brass is already primed. Can I come over too?

Priming before trimming?
I only have a standard Lyman hand trimmer. It's ugly to use. BUt you can use it. I'd invest in a WFT or Possum Hollow if on a budget. Last batch I did I borrowed a Dillon trimmer from a Pal.

Sammy, you could have bought your primers & powder @ USI. Did you buy 1 lb ea?
USI sells both 4064 & 4895.

[bigdawg86]

I started off loading with BL-C(2) powder and 55g FMJ BT because that's what was given to me... I never worked up the load for accuracy because finding a 100 yard spot hasn't happened for me living in the Inland Empire. I just made several sample loads to make sure my gun would at least cycle them well... I ended up with a modest 26gr BL-C(2) with the 55g projectile. This is just plinking ammo and have yet to truly test at or beyond 100 yards so your mileage may vary.

[lpspinner]

Priming before trimming?
I only have a standard Lyman hand trimmer. It's ugly to use. BUt you can use it. I'd invest in a WFT or Possum Hollow if on a budget. Last batch I did I borrowed a Dillon trimmer from a Pal.

Long story, I ended up receiving about 500 reloads and I decided they needed to have a little more punch, so I pulled the heads. Being as anal about this, I decide to neck size them (with the decapper pin removed) and now I want to trim them.

[sammy]

Priming before trimming?
I only have a standard Lyman hand trimmer. It's ugly to use. BUt you can use it. I'd invest in a WFT or Possum Hollow if on a budget. Last batch I did I borrowed a Dillon trimmer from a Pal.

Sammy, you could have bought your primers & powder @ USI. Did you buy 1 lb ea?
USI sells both 4064 & 4895.

Thanks for the offer Bruce. For now I will sort out some if my brass that is in spec and load those first.

I got 8 lbs of the 748 and 5000 primers with 2000 of the 55 grain v-max's.

At this point i am not concerned with super accurate ammo. The shooting I do is all offhand with iron sights anyway. If I had match grade stuff it would not matter.

[bruceflinch]

Long story, I ended up receiving about 500 reloads and I decided they needed to have a little more punch, so I pulled the heads. Being as anal about this, I decide to neck size them (with the decapper pin removed) and now I want to trim them.

I see! My Lyman trimmer uses the flash hole to index center of the case for trimming, so that won't work. I'd get a PH for now, in your case. Keep the primer end up so you don't get any shavings inside the case mixing w/ your powder!

[problemchild]

My cost on pulled powder, wolf primers, w/new hornady bullets, is 12.2 cents each for loaded .223

[CptDan]

I'm on my 3rd pound of CFE223 and I really like it. My fav load for my Mberg MVP and my Savage 12FV is 60 grain Sierra HP with 26 grains of CFE, Federal Match Primers. These are both 1 in 9 barrels. My AR's are 1 in 8 and they like the 69 grain Sierra Match kings with 25.5 of CFE...... Other powders that I've tried Varget, Reloader 15, AR Comp, H335 and BLC-2, TAC and XBR8208