5.56/223 load advice

[tonyben]

I haven't reloaded 5.56/223 in many years now. I have a full box of 69 grain SMK's. What's a good accurate (non-nuclear) known good load for them? I'm thinking of loading up some to test in my new 16" BCM upper. I have a bunch of factory XM193 but I'd like to do some accuracy testing and I don't see that stuff as being terribly accurate. My barrel is a 1:7" twist. It's new and never been fired except for factory testing.

Here are my available components...

Powders:
IMR-4895 (3.5lbs)
H4895 (2lbs)
IMR-4198 (1lb)
Varget (1lb)
RE-15 (3lbs)
IMR-4064 (7lbs)
H335 (.5lb)
Winchester 748 (1lb)
8208 XBR (1lb)

Cases:
LC Nato (many thousands of pieces)
PMP
Remington

Primers:
CCI 400 & 450

What headspace should I use? Also, any favorite bullets and bullet weights I should be looking at? Speer TNT's, Hornady's, Bergers? Distances will be 100 to 300 yds. I don't see myself shooting past that with these rifles (two AR's, 14.5" & 16"). This rifle is for fun/home defense. I may start building an NM 20" upper some day though.

Tony.

 

[manitou210]

Varget
RL15
H4895 & Varget being best in hot weather RL15 I have seen spike on very warm days.
And if you want to get best out of your gun with a 1/7 twist Try JLK 80gr & Berger 80.5 90gr Match Beregrs are great also, your groups will shrink at 200 y compared to the 69gr match kings the 80 gr Match king is good also

cheers
Manitou

 

[tonyben]

Thanks Manitou! I just picked up another # of Varget over lunch. I got lucky, They just put 10#'s on the shelf while I was there.

Tony.

 

[savage10shooter]

My best load with the 69 grain SMK's is with Varget. My AR has a 1-8 twist and my son AR is 1-9. With Varget I have put 5 shots mid .800 at 200 yards with my AR. My sons AR will put them under an inch at 100.

 

[tonyben]

Thanks! I was digging through the garage this morning and found a large dry box full to the brim with LC once-fired brass which I resized and deprimed many years ago. I had completely forgot about it. I dropped a few of them in my Wilson case gauge and they were all spot on. Looks like I just need to set up the trimmer and get the seater die out...

Tony.

 

[Mikey_P]

I've found that the "accuracy load" given by Sierra here for the 69 SMK is indeed accurate - http://accurateshooter.net/Downloads/sierra223ar.pdf.

When seated to magazine length using the suggested Varget load, you'll find the charge to be a bit compressed. Shoots great in my Rock River NM w/8-twist barrel.

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[H2OBUG]

I am shooting the 69 SMK's and the 69 Nolser CC over 24 gr of H4895 in new LC brass OAL 2.370
In the AR I am shooting a 55 gr Hornady SP over 25 gr H4895 std OAL seated on cantalure.
Both guns are 9" twist.

Savage shoots sub 1/2" and the AR is roughly 1"

 

[dryhumor]

My 1:9 load of 24gr Varget, Win cases 1.750, CCI 400, 2.250 COAL. 16" heavy

 

[Rollis]

Bushmaster Varminter 1-9 twist 24'' barrel
Winchester case
SRP of your choice
IMR 4895 24 gr.
Sierra or Hornady 68-69 gr. HPBTM
seated to fit the magazine
3/4 inch when I do my part

 

[mac86951]

There is a TON of info on this site, so search around, but just about all that you listed will work great in your AR.

The 16" barrel length will keep your velocities lower, so I'd stick with the faster burning powders.

Varget, Reloader 15 are both the defaults for the 223/69gr. Stick to 2.260" COL for magazine feeding (2.255" for P-Mags), and the CCI 450s to ensure you don't get a slam fire (but I've had no problems with the 400s, or even Rem 6 1/2s YMMV).

The 4895 (IMR or H) will be a full case to launch the bullet, but won't be completely burned by 16" Expect decent performance at a mid-load value, above which you may get odd results.

IMR 4094 will be a slow burning powder, see above but more so.

I would expect your 16" barrel to respond better to H335, 8208, or the Win 748.

Next question is do you have a load-workup procedure nailed down, because you have a lot of powder choices that will work fine. You might end up letting the powder choose you (as in what meters and loads quickly as well as available locally).

-Mac

 

[Buzz]

24.2 of re15 loaded to mag length just flat out shoots in my WOA 18" barrel.

 

[Michael Courtney]

I like Varget with the 69 grainers. Consult a reloading manual or Hodgdon's web site for charges.

Save the XM193 bullets for practicing less accurate shooting positions or letting the peeps plink at tin cans. They won't be satisfying for accuracy work. The faster powders (H4895, etc.) will work fine with them, or even the ball powders (H335, Win 748).

The LC brass is your best brass. If it's once fired, you need to remove the crimp, then you're good to go. Use the other brass for your plinking loads.

We sort our LC brass by year and also do some weight sorting to weed out the outliers.