Blowby on 223 WSSM

[jrdung78]

Hello

First time for me here. I was wondering if anyone has any experience reloading a 223 WSSM. I know people don't like this round and believe it to be dead but I'm still working with it. I just got back from test firing some loads and am perplexed a little. I am getting blowby when shooting smaller than 55g bullets. By blowby I mean the case is blackened by powder all the way back to the head. With heavier bullets I am not getting this. I was wondering if I should increase the loads on smaller bulets or just abandone them all together?

Thanx

 

[bozo699]

How much neck tension are you running? are you able to Jam the bullets that are causing the problem? and what is your loaded neck diameter and what is fired neck diameter?
Wayne.

Oh and what powder are you using? and welcome to the forum

 

[Nomad47]

The WSSMs have very thick necks and sooting of the necks is common even with loads close to max pressure - especially if you don't anneal.

This is a very fine forum with lots of guys with a lot of knowledge, but over at the wssmzone forum you will find lots of guys with wssm specific experience. Don't give up on it. The WSSMs can shoot but they are sometimes a little finicky.

 

[Catfish]

I get sut on the out side of my 357 max. cases even with max. loads. I just tumble them and for get it.

 

[gmorganal]

Lack of pressure from a mild load keeps the case from sealing off the chamber. I had this problem with another overbore cartridge, the 7mm Remington Ultramag. Mine was so bad that it dented in the sides of the cases along with sooting them up. In the 7 Ultra, it went from denting and sooting the case to leaving ejector marks on the case head in something like only 5% increase in powder charge. Very spikey cartridge.

 

[jrdung78]

Im not jamming any bullets. Too worried about an explosion. Maybe I'm just a wimp! heavier bullets such as 55 and 60 grainers didn't give me any blowback or sooting but with Varget I was starting to get pressure signs ( hard bolt release, brass flow, cratered primers ). I was thinking of reducing by tenths and trying again. Stick powders give me good accuracy but high pressures. Ive got one good load so far and it is Big Game. Gave me a .680 4 shot group with a 60 grain bullet at 100 yds out of a factory rifle. I'm gonna start there and work on that, increase by tenths. My bullets are seated .020 back on all loads. I was thinking about jamming on smaller loads but am just a slight bit hesitant. I haven't really checked neck size yet. I'm fairly new to the shooting game here. I am going to rebarrel and true this rifle but I'm going to see what it can do on squirrels this spring. Gunsmith is backed up six months and I wanna shoot this gun in the spring. Hey thanx for putting some more ideas into my head.

Thanx
Joe D.

 

[Bert]

Try a faster burning powder on the small bullets. I have a .243 wssm and either you anneal the necks or change the powder burn rate. In the end you may be better off annealing necks. See reloading forum annealing with out a machine.

 

[Nomad47]

W-760 works well with 55 NBTs and VMax's. IIRC, I settled on .035 off the lands.
Factory (Winchester & Browning) rifles are chrome lined and 10 twist. Barrel life with the chrome lining is slightly better than the 22-250. And the 223 wssm in 10 twist has enough velocity to stabilize 69 grain bullets. Just FYI.

 

[carrollshooter]

The problem is the thick necks. This problem is so pervasive in this cartridge that Sierra will not publish data on this cartridge. I got this directly from Sierra when I was having this problem. The Tech told me that with some powders there was less than one grain difference between the neck not sealing against the chamber and max load. With all of the variables in handloading Sierra did not feel that it was prudent to publish loads for this cartridge. I gave up on the cartridge.

 

[medicineman]

How long is your barrel? If the barrel is too long it create the soot problem you have.

 

[Juma]

Heavier bullets require a slower powder. i.e. 62 Barnes we use 2209.

 

[Hal]

medicineman

Why does the longer barrel cause sooting ?


Thanks
Hal