• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

223AI initial results

I just re chambered my 26 inch Krieger 8 twist 223 Remington chamber to Ackley Improved. The chamber was originally reamed with a PTG 223 match reamer. I had increased the freebore to achieve COL of 2.565 with Hornady 75ELDM touching the lands. That accuracy load was 24.3 gr TAC with CCI 450 primer. It ran 2980 fps MV. After studying the prints, I established that it would require setting back the barrel tenon 0.020 to complete the chamber rework. I used a pilot extension to locate the reamer in the beginning of cutting. The AI chamber finished at 0.000- -0.0005, PERFECT! I fire formed my Lapua brass. Because the chamber is so close I had to remove 0.005 from the top of my shell holder for resizing the brass to a 0.001 shoulder bump. I also used the reamer to cut my Redding bullet seating die insert for the AI brass. Loaded up 30 pieces. Used 26.5, 26.8 and 27.1 gr of TAC powder, 450 primers and 75ELDM bullets seated to touch at 2.545 COL. Averaged 3123, 3168 and 3210 fps MV. My goal was to reach 3100 fps. No clickers, cratered primers. 27.1 may be getting ejector swipes but I’m not sure because this is 10 times fired brass. This is my concern. GRT predicts 27.1 to be over pressure by a few thousand psi. The most accurate load was 26.8 at about 1/4 MOA at 100 yards. The case volume increased by 0.2 grains of water from fire formed to second firing. I’m thinking I need to fire the brass at least once more to see if the shoulder gets sharper and the volume settles in. I’m about to test 26.6, 26.7 and 26.8 along with bullet seating depth. My old 223 load with these bullets liked being 0.005 jump. Any experience would be appreciated but so far I’m really impressed with the AI. By the way, at 700 yards in the wind I shot the remaining 15 rounds (5 from each load) and adjusted come up for velocity. They all landed within a 7 inch group circle and that really impressed me. More to come.
 

Attachments

  • 72082187128__BCF5594B-F52E-4CF8-831E-4C852DC6D2AB.jpeg
    72082187128__BCF5594B-F52E-4CF8-831E-4C852DC6D2AB.jpeg
    349.1 KB · Views: 64
  • IMG_3715.jpeg
    IMG_3715.jpeg
    873.8 KB · Views: 63
AI makes that cartridge fun doesnt it..After years of reloading 223rem the 223 AI is an exciting change at both the reloading and shooting bench
I was set up to shoot the 69gr and heavy bullets.
It was a 7.5 twist 24" krieger...pretty cool..
I had best results with
Remington BR primers
IMR 8208xbr
And Alliant reloder 15.
and of course hodgdon varget...I get sick of that powder...it thinks it's so damn perfect...almost everything I shoot can have varget tossed in the case and it will perform...its the duct tape of powder...the Alka Seltzer plus of powder....
If you can't make it go with varget...then forget about it....hahahaha...some times I don't use it out of spite...how can it be so good..but it is...
any one else experience this phenomenon alone in the basement at the reloading bench....get upset because you want a powder or some combination to work soooo bad..and it wont..
Hahahaba...that fun stuff
I almost forgot I was also using Lake city brass..with lots and lots of case prep and Anneailing (a few times).
My 223 AI love to split cases because the headspace was a just a kiss to long..
Oiling the cases and annealing help this..
Accuracy was great...case life not so great...the rifle needed sent back for tweaking ...
 
AI makes that cartridge fun doesnt it..After years of reloading 223rem the 223 AI is an exciting change at both the reloading and shooting bench
I was set up to shoot the 69gr and heavy bullets.
It was a 7.5 twist 24" krieger...pretty cool..
I had best results with
Remington BR primers
IMR 8208xbr
And Alliant reloder 15.
and of course hodgdon varget...I get sick of that powder...it thinks it's so damn perfect...almost everything I shoot can have varget tossed in the case and it will perform...its the duct tape of powder...the Alka Seltzer plus of powder....
If you can't make it go with varget...then forget about it....hahahaha...some times I don't use it out of spite...how can it be so good..but it is...
any one else experience this phenomenon alone in the basement at the reloading bench....get upset because you want a powder or some combination to work soooo bad..and it wont..
Hahahaba...that fun stuff
I almost forgot I was also using Lake city brass..with lots and lots of case prep and Anneailing (a few times).
My 223 AI love to split cases because the headspace was a just a kiss to long..
Oiling the cases and annealing help this..
Accuracy was great...case life not so great...the rifle needed sent back for tweaking ...
I just got 8lbs of Varget and I’m going to try it out in this. I’ve got a 7 twist barrel coming and I’m experimenting to see the velocities before it arrives. I’m planning to run 88’s and Berger 85.5 with the new barrel. I didn’t expect the 200fps jump but I’m hoping it settles in good at just above 3100 with the 75’s. That predicted 1400 @ 1000 yards.
 
I shot it again today and the velocity keeps going faster with a reduced charge of 26.7 getting 3200 with CCI 400 primers. I switched to the 400’s to help detect pressure signs and just got slight craters. I’m going to reduce below 26.5 and retest. Also a weird situation is that it’s 3/4MOA at 100 yards today and 1/2MOA at 700 yards. Sometimes I shoot tighter at 700 yards but usually it’s relatively equal. I was impressed with the 1/2moa groups at 700 yards but I really almost didn’t even shoot out there because the crap groups at 100. Here’s something funny, my fire forming load today (30 more cases) was 25.5 grains of Winchester 748 with 69 grain Speer Match Burners and they were 3150 and shot 1/4 MOA groups at 700 yards. I should have taken a picture of the target. I’m thinking about buying another box of those 69 grain bullets.
 
My 223AI is a 26” 1:8 Hart with .095 FB. With 80.5 Bergers jumped .010 and 26.2 of Norma 203B (similar to RE-15), I can get 3050 fps without pressure signs. Not much room for additional powder without compressing the load IIRC. Accuracy was very good. Considering that in my standard 223 that 80.5 was just shy of 2800 fps, an additional 250 fps is a worthy upgrade.
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
165,771
Messages
2,202,890
Members
79,110
Latest member
miles813
Back
Top