Variance in C.O.A.L loading 223 with 75g BTHP

[toyotaguy]

So I bought these awhile back from Wideners http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8438
75g BTHP made for Wideners.

I'm loading them for an AR-15 with 23.5 grains of TAC, Ramshot says the Max should 24.1 at 2.260 OAL. I'm getting variations from 2.243 through 2.265 a variance of 0.022. I am using a Lee seating die on my Hornady LNL.

Is this a safety hazard as far creating too much pressure when they are seated deeper? I'm not really worried about the longer ones as long as they fit in the magazine.

[AndrewTannerCA]

How are you measuring these?

[toyotaguy]

How are you measuring these?

Frankford Arsenal digital calipers that have historically been very reliable for me.

[cpatbay]

If you are not near max powder charge, you should be fine.

[highpower790]

you need to measure off the bullet ojive.as far as any pressure issues your good to go,no worries.

[jglabe]

I load the same bullets, got them from wideners also. First off, the bullets do have a range in length and weight. If you measure and weigh each one you will see what I mean. I just set my seating die so that the longest COAL will still fit in a magazine. The difference in COAL that you stated is pretty standard for these bullets. If you really want to be anal you can separate them by weight and length, which would give you more consistent results. But I don't even bother. I am getting 1.25" groups at 100 yards, and am hitting a 14" x 24" steel plate at 700 yards about 90% of the time. So they are good enough for me. All in all, a good bullet for the price I think.

[ducky_0811]

get a comparator with .22 cal insert, I used to think my seating die was all jacked up too using 175SMK's in .308, measure off the O-give and those variations will disappear. simply put, no meplat is uniform, and will therefor give you length variations, and will drive you crazy

[jglabe]

Oh, and I couldn't get TAC to group that well at all in my 18" 1/8 barrel. So far Varget was good, but Benchmark was better. Still have a couple of powders to work up that I hear are good with the 75 grain bullets.

[toyotaguy]

Thanks for the feedback, I feel better about the 80 rounds I loaded this afternoon.

[6mmintl]

Depends if your using a magazine fed rifle, then 2.260 is std. measure your mags and go .015" shorter then mag length.

[toyotaguy]

I load the same bullets, got them from wideners also. First off, the bullets do have a range in length and weight. If you measure and weigh each one you will see what I mean. I just set my seating die so that the longest COAL will still fit in a magazine. The difference in COAL that you stated is pretty standard for these bullets.

This ^^^ is what I ended up doing, I shot several hundred of these in a 3 day class and had 100% success, so I think I'll stick with this method in the future.