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.223 AI and 75gr ELD's

Think a 95gr can get up to 3100ish in a 223ai with max 23-24" barrel?

Not likely. With a straight .223 Rem Rem case, a 30" barrel + long freebore, and Sierra 95s over H4895, I could only push them in the 2800 fps neighborhood without killing the brass in a single firing. Further, they actually "tuned in" a bit slower at around 2740 fps. I highly doubt there's enough extra boiler room in a .223 AI to get 300 fps greater velocity with 6-7" less barrel. 2900-ish fps would be a more reasonable expectation
 
Think a 95gr can get up to 3100ish in a 223ai with max 23-24" barrel?


I would guess not a chance at any realistic pressure. I am working on a 22 BR improved .050 build now and I would speculate it will be maxed out at 3000 fps with that 95gr and 30" of bbl. And that velocity for the 22 BR may be higher than I can get.
 
Sorry it took so long to revisig this thread. Gun has been complete and I have been shooting it in matches and otherwise to fire form all my brass. I had originally wanted to run AA2520 for powder but it had very poor temp sensitivity and was also putting up some poor ES numbers.

After abandoning that plan I went to CFE 223 and the 75ELD. 3065 FPS (26" bbl) and .005 off the lands seems to be the ticket. This combo has exceeded what I expected for velocity and with back to back to back 5 shot groups around a half inch I am not complaining about accuracy either. Not the best shooting gun I have ever built but I have a feeling the combo will actually shoot better than I have already shot as I did not feel the most comfortable when shooting.
 

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Sorry it took so long to revisig this thread. Gun has been complete and I have been shooting it in matches and otherwise to fire form all my brass. I had originally wanted to run AA2520 for powder but it had very poor temp sensitivity and was also putting up some poor ES numbers.

After abandoning that plan I went to CFE 223 and the 75ELD. 3065 FPS (26" bbl) and .005 off the lands seems to be the ticket. This combo has exceeded what I expected for velocity and with back to back to back 5 shot groups around a half inch I am not complaining about accuracy either. Not the best shooting gun I have ever built but I have a feeling the combo will actually shoot better than I have already shot as I did not feel the most comfortable when shooting.
Bumping an old post of yours. Just curious on how your CFE223 loads are working for you? I'm running a 26" CBI barrel on an Origin and just loaded up a few in LC formed brass with both Varget and CFE223. Jumping about 0.005" as well. What powder range did you go with and what load did you end up selecting for the load referenced above? Are you getting a lot of variance with temperature fluctuations?

Thanks for any info.
 
Might as well include a picture.


kYjVtDB.jpg
 
I have a Savage LRPV with an 8 twist Criterion 26 inch. I'm shooting 75g Amaxs in it. It is probably my favorite rifle for prairie dogs out to 500 yds. Im using RL- 15 an getting close to 3000 fps.seating bullets 10th off the lands.
 
I agree but I am the guy who has to have an improved case just because. Wildcats always tempt me! You are 100% correct though and especially so in this case but again I am that guy.

A couple quick thoughts on why to go ackley from my POV.
I hate trimming brass.
Anything a vanilla .223 will do the ackley will do with less pressure extending bbl and brass life a bunch.
I need to stay below 3200 fps and above about 3050 so the ackley in 26" should easily get me there and let me find a node or sweet spot some place in between. This will be especially easy when I set the throat for the 75 ELD and have the 2.55" qvailable OAL of an AI mag.
You can fire form with incredible accuracy at times and at .5 or better accuracy nearly always.

Not sure where you're getting this. If you take advantage of the extra case volume, the AI will run equal or greater pressure to generate the modest increase in velocity, and barrel life will either be the same or less. There is no free lunch. Not taking advantage of the extra case volume and using an AI to run identical performance loads as in a straight .223 Rem, except with very modest gains in pressure and barrel life is not worth the effort, IMO. The real advantage of the AI is when you're using a specific bullet weight/barrel length combo in .223 Rem and you just can't quite hit the next node, the small increase in performance with the .223 AI might allow you to reach it.

The downside to using an AI with very heavy bullets (80 to 90 gr range) is that it is quite easy to kill the primer pockets even with standard .223 Rem case running these bullets and stout loads. The primer pocket is not strengthened in any way by the AI brass modification, so if anything, the potential for poor brass life becomes even worse. You can certainly adjust your load to minimize this issue, but what is the real point of taming down a load that you just switched over to an AI cartridge in order to make possible? Of all the cartridges that have been AI'd, the .223 Rem to me makes the least sense. The gains are really very small in relation to the parental cartridge. I've run 90 VLDs out of a straight .223 Rem F-TR with a 30" barrel for years at ~2850 fps out to 1000 yd. If I ever need anything more than that, I have a .308 Win with 200s.
 
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Not sure where you're getting this. If you take advantage of the extra case volume, the AI will run equal or greater pressure to generate the modest increase in velocity, and barrel life will either be the same or less. There is no free lunch. Not taking advantage of the extra case volume and using an AI to run identical performance loads as in a straight .223 Rem, except with very modest gains in pressure and barrel life is not worth the effort, IMO. The real advantage of the AI is when you're using a specific bullet weight/barrel length combo in .223 Rem and you just can't quite hit the next node, the small increase in performance with the .223 AI might allow you to reach it.

The downside to using an AI with very heavy bullets (80 to 90 gr range) is that it is quite easy to kill the primer pockets even with standard .223 Rem case running these bullets and stout loads. The primer pocket is not strengthened in any way by the AI brass modification, so if anything, the potential for poor brass life becomes even worse. You can certainly adjust your load to minimize this issue, but what is the real point of taming down a load that you just switched over to an AI cartridge in order to make possible? Of all the cartridges that have been AI'd, the .223 Rem to me makes the least sense. The gains are really very small in relation to the parental cartridge. I've run 90 VLDs out of a straight .223 Rem F-TR with a 30" barrel for years at ~2850 fps out to 1000 yd. If I ever need anything more than that, I have a .308 Win with 200s.

I guess you showed me.
 
Of all the cartridges that have been AI'd, the .223 Rem to me makes the least sense. The gains are really very small in relation to the parental cartridge. I've run 90 VLDs out of a straight .223 Rem F-TR with a 30" barrel for years at ~2850 fps out to 1000 yd. If I ever need anything more than that, I have a .308 Win with 200s.
This type of reasoning has always left me slightly baffled. Of course you could move up to a 308 Win for more performance. But why stop there and not use a 300 Win Mag or even a 300 PRC?

The reason you're running a 30" barrel for that F-TR Rem 223 isn't for practicality, it's to milk what little extra performance you can out of it. No different than someone running an AI over the standard Rem Match chamber. There is something fun about chasing that little bit of extra performance in the most efficient way possible. As long as you're hand-loading the drawbacks, in my opinion, are far outweighed by even the modest 100-150 fps bump you might get along with no more brass trimming. What are the drawbacks exactly? A minuscule reduction in barrel life and fireforming (is that even really a drawback)? To each their own I guess.
 
I'M SHOOTING RL-15 AND 75GR BERGERS 10TH INTO THE LANDS AT 2950FPS INTO BUGHOLES I SHOT 4 TODAY INTO A .179 GROUP I GAVE UP ON THE A-MAXS MY RIFLE JUST WANT SHOOT THEM

I have a Savage LRPV with an 8 twist Criterion 26 inch. I'm shooting 75g Amaxs in it. It is probably my favorite rifle for prairie dogs out to 500 yds. Im using RL- 15 an getting close to 3000 fps.seating bullets 10th off the lands.

Looks like I might need to try some RL15 if CFE and Varget don't quite pan out.
 
I just pulled my load data for my 223 AI
75G A max Hbn coated
26.5g RL-15
LAPUA Brass
Br 4 primers
Base to ogive 1.980 10th off in my rifle
8twist Criterion 26 inch
Velocity is 3013 fps
ES 18
SD 8.6
 
MY LOADS IS
25GRS RL-15
75GR BERGER VLD
CCI 450M
NORMA BRASS
REG 223 REM 1/8 BRUX 4 GROOVE
BASE TO OJIVE 1.978 10TH IN ON MY RIFLE
2950FPS ES 11 SD 6 MY RIFLE WILL NOT SHOOT 75GR A-MAXS
 
That's pretty cool lot of similarity in those 2 loads. I probably have between 1500 and 2000 rounds thru mine still shoots 1/2 more at 200.
 
Was in shop working today.
26" Rock Creek 7 twist
28gr CFE 223
75 ELDM
Fed 205
3065fps
loaded to 2.490 OAL .005 off the lands. Hornaday 22 comparater reads 1.954 to ogive
 
Was in shop working today.
26" Rock Creek 7 twist
28gr CFE 223
75 ELDM
Fed 205
3065fps
loaded to 2.490 OAL .005 off the lands. Hornaday 22 comparater reads 1.954 to ogive
Well if you can get velocity readings in your shop... I definitely wanna visit:D

Weekend before last, shot mine and have come to the conclusion that it will shoot the 69smk with any charge of any powder purt-darn-good...CFE, Varget, 4064...it doesn't care much:eek:
 
Well if you can get velocity readings in your shop... I definitely wanna visit:D

Weekend before last, shot mine and have come to the conclusion that it will shoot the 69smk with any charge of any powder purt-darn-good...CFE, Varget, 4064...it doesn't care much:eek:
MINE SHOOTS 69GR WELL WITH H-335 WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT POWDER CHARGES
 

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