Load for .223 with XBR8208 (50/55 gr)

[vonb]

What's your load in .223 with 8208 using either a 50 or 55 gr bullet? Also, what is your barrel length with said load?

 

[Idaho-45]

Waiting patiently here...... I shoot a lot of Hornady 53 grn V-Maxes, & have some XBR8208 on hand...... Hopefully folks will chime in soon...... Idaho-45

 

[Mark M.]

Went to the range a couple of Sundays ago, 53gr V Max with ladder loads with 8208 and benchmark, benchmark was the powder by far 5 shot grps.@100 .320 with a CZ 527 223 sporter

 

[vonb]

I have 8208 on hand and want to use it. I've used Benchmark in the past with great success.

 

[varmintshooter]

I like 8208 with 50gr vmax in my Cooper varminter 24" 14 twist barrel @ 3400. I like Benchmark in my 18" barreled AR's. I lost to much velocity in the AR's with 8208. I don't have my book with me but IIRC I loaded 25.7 gr of 8208 with the 50's, very accurate.

 

[dstoenner]

23.7 for 52 and 55 class bullets. Middle of the road but doesn’t stress anything. Works for my bolt and AR15 rifles

David

 

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

I share your goal of developing a load for use with 8208 XBR. I'll be shooting in Portland and Tucson and need as much temp stability as I can get. I don't have the final load yet. I found a node at 24.5 grains of 8208 but it's not max potential.

Here's my OCW work up plan: I have attached an excel file as well
Remington VSSF .223 Rem 26in Barrel 1:12 twist

Fire Sighters at 100yds and zero. check for pressure signs, prepare to abort.
Fire Groups round robin and clean as needed.
Use Sighters to foul barrel

Load Details:
Hornady FMJ-BT 55 gr IMR 8208 XBR Federal Brass CCI SR primer
Max Load: 25.8 Hornady 10th edition
First Sighter group: 24.0
Second Sighter group: 24.5
Third Sighter group: 25.0
4th Sighter group/Max Pressure Test: 26.0

First Group: 25.5
Second Group: 25.7
Third Group: 25.9 * Over Max
Last Group: 26.1 * Over Max

 

[jepp2]

Hornady FMJ-BT 55 gr

I'm curious what kind of accuracy you got with the Hornady FMJ bullets. I have shot a lot of them with poor results. And the Hornady 55 gr spire tip, which I would expect to be a decently accurate bullet also yielded poor results as well. I did some searching one day on the spire tip, and the majority of comments declared them Ok for shooting pop cans.

And I'm not condemning 55 gr. bullets, just the Hornady hasn't done well for me.

I will share the velocities I got on a recent test in a 26 inch barrel. I was not happy with the accuracy (shot at 100m) as this rifle usually does much better. But it was slightly slower than the Hodgdon data.

 

[hunter67]

Heres mine. 25.8 8208 Lapua brass 205m 2.5 coal. Savage PC 3/8 at 100 1.25 at 300. This load has shot in four rifles two being AR's.

 

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

I'm curious what kind of accuracy you got with the Hornady FMJ bullets. I have shot a lot of them with poor results. And the Hornady 55 gr spire tip, which I would expect to be a decently accurate bullet also yielded poor results as well. I did some searching one day on the spire tip, and the majority of comments declared them Ok for shooting pop cans.

And I'm not condemning 55 gr. bullets, just the Hornady hasn't done well for me.

I will share the velocities I got on a recent test in a 26 inch barrel. I was not happy with the accuracy (shot at 100m) as this rifle usually does much better. But it was slightly slower than the Hodgdon data.
View attachment 1102284

I'm curious as well. All my testing so far is with 55 Gr Berger targets. I'd keep going but want to see if I can find nodes with cheaper bullets then fine tune seating with something more accurate.

I'll probably test 52 gr next where more people are reporting accuracy. With my twist I can't get into the 70s & 80s.

My node with Bergers and 8208 was 24.5 with single digit spreads and SDs. Reading that 8208 works better near max or at least higher pressures, I felt my node was a nice but not a best result. Hence the test data. Rounds are loaded pending a gap in my chore schedule. Weather is breaking here in Oregon, Suns out, time to get rid of the winter moss etc.

Hunter67 lists a load of 25.8 as his go to and that's in the middle of my test rounds so I'm cautiously excited. If the results are poor, I'll retest with Bergers.

 

[hunter67]

forgot to say that is with 55 b-tips

 

[hunter67]

fat fingered the coal its 2.250

 

[Oso]

Hornady 55gr FMJ is a great bulk bullet (periodic sale price $0.10/bullet) for plinking and AR15. No issue getting sub 0.5" groups. The 55gr Vmax is hard to beat on price / accuracy.

You could always spend a little more for 53gr Sierra Matchking.

I'm doing workups for a couple of rifles with 8208. Powder range will be 24-25.5gr. I did notice that for every 0.1gr of powder the velocity increased approx. 15 fps.