Pressure? What Happened? 223 (long read)

[K22]

One conclusion I’ve come to is, I’m only buying new brass going forward. Fired brass is false economy.

This is probably one of the wisest decisions you ever made relative to reloading.

 

[K22]

True. But carbon rings will form up there and if you dont check every case, a long one will cause pressure problems. I trim to 1.750 every loading.

You'll have to excuse me, I just an old shooter from and old school. I am not trying to start a "peeing" contests, just curious.

I never heard of a carbon ring before I joined this forum or got access to the internet. It's clear they exist; the borescope images don't lie. But I wonder about the affect they have. It supposed to be bad, right?

Here's my difficulty. I had well over 5,000 rounds through a 222 Remington. I only cleaned it with mostly Hoppe's No. 9 and bronze brush then later Shooter Choice (internet told me No. 9 wasn't any good) and a bronze brush about every 50 rounds. However, the performance on target remained the same with both solvents which was very good, at least for my applications. I trimmed with necessary. Never had any problems with chambering cases or pressures signs. More importantly I never had any problems with clean barrel flyers or other accuracy issues from a precision varmint hunting perspective, not benchrest. This rifle would routinely group in the 1/2 to 5/8 moa range with 50 grain Sierra bullets and IMR 4198.

Similar results, a 243 Rem 700, well over 3,000 rounds, 223 Rems several rifles over 2,000 rounds to date. Different bullets and different powders but similar results.

Had a brief detour a few years back when I got the "copper fever" and started using Cu+2 because of all the dire warnings about "copper fouling". This copper fouling is bad too, right? The only thing that I accomplished with Cu+2 was creating clean barrel flyers and the need to re-plate the bore with about 5 to 8 shots depending on the rifle before consistent POI was restore. But it did a "cracker jack" job of removing copper for sure. I quickly suspended the use of Cu+2 because it seemed to create more problems than it solved.

Just wondering about these strange things.

 

[ronemus]

I find a fair bit of brass left on the ranges I shoot (private clubs),and I pick it up but it goes straight into the scrap bucket. I am currently using LC brass from Black Hills remanufactured ammunition, but it's about done (I've fired it 10 times). I think Black Hills has fairly good quality control, and I've never had an issue with their brass. I have 4,300 WW cases prepped and ready to go which I bought from a fellow competitor, which he bought as new primed brass. There are too many unknowns with range pickups and commercial "once fired" from small vendors. I'll spend a little more for good brass; the cost is small compared to reloading equipment and components, barrels, gunsmith charges, etc.

 

[DLT]

I’d

What is your N133 load to get near 3600 on the rounds, if you don’t mind me asking. I’m using 24.2 of the N133 with 52 SMK’s and getting like 3200 on most rounds. Lapua brass.

I would also like to know. Those are 22/250 speeds

 

[Murray Brook]

@AccelR8
The case that gave you problems, was it a once fired case or virgin. TKS

 

[Benchrest Braxton]

I’d

I would also like to know. Those are 22/250 speeds

post #39 i made a post. n133 is THE magic powder for 35-55 grain bullets in 223.

 

[SecondsCount]

True. But carbon rings will form up there and if you dont check every case, a long one will cause pressure problems. I trim to 1.750 every loading.

I'm not saying you are wrong...

My experience is that trimming to 1.759" has not created any pressure issues for me in 223, and I shoot a lot of that caliber in several guns with tight match chambers all the way to looser 5.56 chambers. The only time I have ever had a primer pop out is when I got too aggressive when removing a primer crimp, or tried to get one more firing out of a piece of brass with a worn out pocket. I've pierced a few, but that was when I was using the wrong primer for the application.

To be fair, I don't reload on the ragged edge of pressure. Living out here, with cool mornings and a hot afternoon sun, has taught me to find nodes that are a step below maximum.