Looking for a good place to start loading .223 for an AR 15

[Phil]

Putting together a .223 in an AR platform and i`m looking for some starting places.

24" .223 Wylde chamber 8 twist.

Looking for 55r. to 69r. info, but up to 77gr. info would be great also, just not sure if it would apply to my scenario.

Any info on Whitley`s .224 AR would be great too, i was thinking about the new Sierra 69gr. bullet in one of these......


Powder, primer, accuracy info please.

Basically built as a colony varmint rifle with a 2nd. upper for calling coyotes....


Phil.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I am shootin Sierra 69's and 65's outa my 7 twist.. Usin W748. My other upper a 9 twist liked TAC and 50's..

 

[watercam]

Buy one or two reloading manuals for starters...
For my AR used for NRA competition, 77 grainers and 25 gr. of Varget worked great. Sort brass by headstamp and use 5.56 or Magnum primers.

 

[Michael C]

Lots of powders work for your AR loads, and most that work in a 308 also work in a 223. I have used 24.2g Varget, LC case, Rem 7.5 primer in NRA HP competition for years. I switched powders to IMR 8208XBR when Varget became hard to find and I think I like it even better. 23.2g of 8208 with a 77 or 69 works very well. I load my 77 mag length ammo to 2.235-2.240; so a little shorter. Another powder works really well is H4895, also Reloader 15. 223 is really easy to get shooting well.

 

[yotehater]

For the 55's H322 meters well and shoots bugholes. It has always functioned through any AR I have fed without issue. 12, 9, and 7 twists.

 

[Phil]

Buy one or two reloading manuals for starters...
For my AR used for NRA competition, 77 grainers and 25 gr. of Varget worked great. Sort brass by headstamp and use 5.56 or Magnum primers.

Watercam,

Not new to reloading, just new to the AR platform.

Solid advice on the manuals, but that`s already covered.....

Just looking for starter advice to shorten up the learning process with the AR platform, maybe............

Phil.

 

[RonAKA]

Sierra have some specific loads for the AR-15.

 

[Phil]

Thanks Ron.

 

[SaulGoodman]

77gr SMK and TAC has been my pet load for years. 69gr smk and Rel-15 was a great combo for me but I don't really shoot the 69's anymore. I get surprisingly good results with Hornady's 75gr BTHP and TAC also. Varget works well too but the metering difference between TAC and varget is night and day

 

[spclark]

Phil, there's a wealth of info here you may want to look over, then decide if any of what's shown will serve you for a starting point.

True enough there are newer bullets and powders out there since this was written & put up but with the popularity of 223 in an AR platform build this data still works.

 

[hogpatrol]

Start at 23 gr of RL-15 with 69 gr SMKs at magazine length. I've gone up to 24.7 but there are lower loads that work equally as well.

 

[Hosted]

I really like AR Comp powder for 50-80 grain bullets. For varmints we use a 53gr vmax with AR Comp just under 3400 fps in a 24" AR. The 53 vmax has a pretty decent b.c. for a lighter bullet and we bought a ton of them for .15 each.

 

[Liven The Dream]

Having shot AR's for a long time and Built many ,hear is a good rule of thump .

1-7, 17.7 or 1-8 Wyle chamber 20" to 26" barrel.
Winchester or Remington Brass Full Prep on Brass when New.....
Primers short Range Wolf SR ,600 yard Fed. 205M
Powder of Choice R-15
Bullets of Choice :
200 yards Sierra 69
300 yards Horn. 75 BTHP
600 80 gr. Sierra or Horn , Berger 80.5
24 -24.5 gr. of powder.

In my Day of Service Rifle Shooting with Krieger Barrels in 1-7.7 with Wyle Chamber
24.5 Gr. of R-15 with any bullet listed at each yard line listed put me and our Teams in the Winning Circle .

H322 gave the Smallest groups at 200 yards with 69gr. Bullets
Never got good results past 200.

Good Luck,
Don

 

[joshb]

My best groups are with H335. I don't have my book with me. I can edit later.

 

[hogpatrol]

Having shot AR's for a long time and Built many ,hear is a good rule of thump .

1-7, 17.7 or 1-8 Wyle chamber 20" to 26" barrel.
Winchester or Remington Brass Full Prep on Brass when New.....
Primers short Range Wolf SR ,600 yard Fed. 205M
Powder of Choice R-15
Bullets of Choice :
200 yards Sierra 69
300 yards Horn. 75 BTHP
600 80 gr. Sierra or Horn , Berger 80.5
24 -24.5 gr. of powder.

In my Day of Service Rifle Shooting with Krieger Barrels in 1-7.7 with Wyle Chamber
24.5 Gr. of R-15 with any bullet listed at each yard line listed put me and our Teams in the Winning Circle .

H322 gave the Smallest groups at 200 yards with 69gr. Bullets
Never got good results past 200.

Good Luck,
Don

Heard or read somewhere, RL-15 is what the Army uses in their match ammo for both .223 and .308.

 

[hpshooter]

"1-7, 17.7 or 1-8 Wyle chamber 20" to 26" barrel.
Winchester or Remington Brass Full Prep on Brass when New.....
Primers short Range Wolf SR ,600 yard Fed. 205M
Powder of Choice R-15
Bullets of Choice :
200 yards Sierra 69
300 yards Horn. 75 BTHP
600 80 gr. Sierra or Horn , Berger 80.5
24 -24.5 gr. of powder."

If your AR doesn't shoot these loads you have a problem. Not to say you can't refine them to your specific rifle but they are where I started and saw no reason to change them.

 

[snowpro440]

22.5gr. H335 and cci 450's 55gr Hornady Varmagedon's
24.5gr Varget and cci 450's 69gr SMK's
These work for me very well. Ball powder is usually the go to powder in the .223

 

[jepp2]

For primers I would default to CCI 41 primers as they are a magnum primer and will light off any powder you want to shoot. They also have reduced sensitivity to slam fires. If you don't want to spend the extra $ for the CCI 41 primers use the CCI 450 magnum primers. Do not go with the thinner cup primers like CCI 400 or Rem 6 1/2 primers. For a more complete discussion on primers read this: http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=56422.0
http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=56422.0
Lots of great powders already mentioned.

 

[spclark]

Good read on primers... thanks for that link!

 

[Spike A]

Not trying to hijack at all but was learking in shadows , and noticed no one mentioning CFE 223... is it that uncommon or not popular or just doesn't work well? I thought about trying some because I thought it was designed for AR use, which I am slowly getting one put together so just trying to decide ahead of time what I might try ..