AR plinking load with W748, 8208xbr or CFE223???

[Idaho-Lefty]

Josh,.. I've been using, slightly less than, 25 grains, THROWN charges of, W-748 and CCI std. primers with, 60 grain Ballistic Tips and 65 grain Sierra GK's for SUB MOA 100 yd groups out of, a 1-7 Twist, Alexander Arms, AA -15 Piston Rifle.
You will be, HAPPY with IT !

 

[ebb]

Josh b stop don't crimp those 223s.

 

[hoz53]

Josh b stop don't crimp those 223s.

+1 on that one. I dont crimp mine and I never get bullet setback with decent brass in AR 15s.

 

[joshb]

Josh b stop don't crimp those 223s.

Really? I thought it was required. The bullets have a cannelure for it.

 

[joshb]

+1 on that one. I dont crimp mine and I never get bullet setback with decent brass in AR 15s.

Well DANG!!! Thanks for that! I haven’t loaded for an AR in years. Kinda forgot how I did it when I did it!
Luckily I have only loaded twenty test rounds!

 

[searcher]

I use 25.8 grains CFE223 with the 55's for "blasting" load in one of my A/R's. Does under 1/2" MOA in a Criterion 1-8 tw. 20" barrel. I use Remington 7 1/2 primers, though have also used Tula 223 with same results

 

[littlebuddybr]

24.5gr of 8208, and a 53gr sierra, with a rem 7.5 produced-1 moa in 4 different a.r's.
In one of them it shoots 1/2 moa out to 200 yards.
I never knew a.r's can shoot that well.

 

[Hohn]

+1 on that one. I dont crimp mine and I never get bullet setback with decent brass in AR 15s.

I had setback happen yesterday at an XTC match when I dropped the bolt and my single fed round didn’t get picked up correctly and got a FTF. Short of that, I’ve never had it happen.

 

[Hohn]

24.5gr of 8208, and a 53gr sierra, with a rem 7.5 produced-1 moa in 4 different a.r's.
In one of them it shoots 1/2 moa out to 200 yards.
I never knew a.r's can shoot that well.

8208 is the most consistently accurate powder I’ve tried in .223 loads. It’s temperature sensitive but that seems to only affect speed, not accuracy because the nodes are so wide with 8208.

 

[hoz53]

I had setback happen yesterday at an XTC match when I dropped the bolt and my single fed round didn’t get picked up correctly and got a FTF. Short of that, I’ve never had it happen.

i had that happen and i think the bullet tip hit something and caused the setback. Ive been thinking of trying 8208 in my 223 s and i have some so thanks for that tip.

 

[searcher]

Really? I thought it was required. The bullets have a cannelure for it.

The cannelures are there to allow solid crimping and to prevent bullet movement. The problem is - you will seldom wring the best accuracy out of a load with it being crimped. There are several reasons- the bullet usually gets tweaked a bit by most dies. The bullet itself often gets scratched badly upon exiting the crimped neck. The effects of these "accuracy robbers" can be mitigated a lot by turning the necks, being very careful to not over-crimp and being very careful to smooth the inside case mouth opening. Even doing everything perfect - one can usually get far better accuracy simply using a bushing die to apply the required amount of tension to allow solid bullet hold without inducing the bad. If I were loading for combat or service use - I'd absolutely crimp as one cannot risk a jamb, powder dumping into the trigger, etc. at an inopportune time. If accuracy is the objective - I'd not crimp.

 

[rwj]

+1 on that one. I dont crimp mine and I never get bullet setback with decent brass in AR 15s.

A question for those that don’t crimp... what interference fit do you use between the bullet and neck?

 

[hoz53]

A question for those that don’t crimp... what interference fit do you use between the bullet and neck?

in an ar 15 alot of people use 004 to 006 neck tension

 

[hoz53]

I had setback happen yesterday at an XTC match when I dropped the bolt and my single fed round didn’t get picked up correctly and got a FTF. Short of that, I’ve never had it happen.

sorry to hear that-- thats is a hard one to take in a match- id wanna take precautions to try and avoid that for sure.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I use 748 and a 63/65 grain soft point. What ever I can find.

 

[GuitarmanNick]

If the rounds will be used in an AR platform, a light crimp is a good idea. I crimp all of my rounds for semi-autos and revolvers. Bolt gun rounds are the only ones that do not get crimped.

My loads are intended to function reliably and be reasonably accurate in any mil-spec AR, into which they are loaded. Loading for high accuracy in the AR platform will usually mean long COAL which can cause feeding reliability issues.

If you want an AR for shooting one hole groups, build it solely for that purpose and please, do not rely upon it for defense.

When I am ready to load for extreme accuracy, it will be for a bolt gun.

 

[Hohn]

sorry to hear that-- thats is a hard one to take in a match- id wanna take precautions to try and avoid that for sure.

It was my first xtc and I was shooting rather casually and got lazy. Entirely my fault. Single feed.

 

[jelenko]

in an ar 15 alot of people use 004 to 006 neck tension

There are also some that use 003. This is a common 'neck tension' used in 'cross the course'. I've yet to hear of anyone having their mag length bullet come out of the case. A factor could be that in this format, the most rounds in a mag are 8.
That said, many competitors use 005.

 

[hoz53]

It was my first xtc and I was shooting rather casually and got lazy. Entirely my fault. Single feed.

ok

 

[hoz53]

There are also some that use 003. This is a common 'neck tension' used in 'cross the course'. I've yet to hear of anyone having their mag length bullet come out of the case. A factor could be that in this format, the most rounds in a mag are 8.
That said, many competitors use 005.

good info thanks---