223 rem and Hornady 62 FMJ

[asquared19]

Good morning. I am doing my first reloads for my gas gun. I have some Xtreme 55 grain FMJ, as well as some Hornady HN22760B 62 grain pills. The 55 grains I have a good plan on, and on the 62 gr I just wanted to double check something. My Lee book says max OAL of 2.260. For the 62gr jacketed bullets it also says min OAL of 2.260. First off, I found it odd that the min and max were the exact same with no wiggle. I'm a newbie, so maybe this is more common then I know. I seated it to that depth and I'm well below the cannelure. I reached out to two experienced reloaders and both said to seat it to where the case opening just to touching, or about 1/2 way into the cannelure. I played with this last night and seated to the cannelure, which puts it at 2.209, or about 0.05 below the listed min/max. I'm loading with Accurate 2460 and started at the min of 22.1 and did .5gr increments up to 24.1, which is .5 below max. I haven't shot any yet, but wanted to get input on any pressure concerns with seating to that depth.

 

[asquared19]

any thoughts on this?

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

The max is usually due to AR15 mag length. Practical max is determined by your mag length (AR's) or the length your in rifle cartridge box (bolt guns). The real max is determined by your chamber. The real max is when your bullet is seated into the lands, may require single loading. Minimum is a little harder to determine.

Frank

 

[jelenko]

Just that it's common to seat bullets with a cannelure so the mouth of the case is right on the cannelure.

I would just start with the load powder charge ones and watch for pressure signs as you go - and stop when the pressure signs show up - e.g., there's an ejector swipe on the case head.

 

[LiveFire]

The info you have received is great. I will add that just because a bullet has a cannelure does not mean you need to load to it. Unless you are crimping I wouldnt worry where the cannelure is at.

 

[asquared19]

got it. thanks for all the info.

 

[lb-ft]

The reason loading manuals hammer the Cartridge Over All Length, or COAL, is primarily because the shorter you load your overall length for a particular bullet, the more the bullet encroaches into the powder space. This can drastically and quickly increase the pressure of the load

Whenever one ventures outside of loading manual COAL, and going shorter than what the data recommends, it's always best practice to start load development at the very bottom end of the powder charge range.

On another note, Benchmark powder with that bullet has been spectacular in a 223 bolt gun I reload for.

Best of luck.

 

[jepp2]

If you window your magazine you can load much longer. Here is what it looks like.

 

[LiveFire]

I'll add to jepp2's comment and recommend ASC stainless steel 5 shot magazines. These mags allow OAL to 2.310. They are sometimes sold as Remington magazines with a .204 ruger follower but works just fine with .223. If you are concerned about capacity you can remove the factory spring and install the spring from a 20rd box mag and it will hold 10rds. I use them on the bench and in the field so 5rds is enough for me.

 

[Dave Berg]

Any idea what the empty case length is?

Most manuals assume or state that the case length or "trim to length" is 1.750". There is a lot of brass floating around that's pretty far off from that number. Plenty of new brass will be shorter than that, including some Lapua, until it's fired. Since you're crimping (I'm not opposed to it and have done it myself on thousands of rounds) it's really important that the cases are all the same length.

I would address that issue first since it's what determines the COAL on a crimped round.....

 

[Propbndr]

Here is the 60 - 62 info from Hornady. They are calling for a much shorter OAL than Lee. The 2.260 coal is the SAMMI spec for any 223 round.

I use those bullets all the time for killing paper. I buy them in bulk from MidSouth.

 

[markm87]

You're fine seating them that short. For 5.56 I've not found that seating has a significant impact on pressure.

I shot the same load using 77 TMKs and SMKs. The TMKs seat WAY deeper, but both velocities were pretty much the same... the difference was negligible. I was surprised honestly.

 

[searcher]

That small amount of additional seating depth will not cause problems. Unless you are crimping, I'd not pay any attention to where the cannelure is. If using factory dies, there is sufficient tension to not have to crimp, which, if not done correctly, can have more of an adverse effect on accuracy than is worth with the additional tension it provides.