.223 Rem data please

Well, I walked out of the gunshow with a set of dies,1 box of 40 grain Hornady VMax and 1 box of Sierra 40 grain Blitzking.I know starting and max loads with BL-C(2) which is what I plan to feed this cartridge.If somebody could give me Sierra`s recomended OAL for the Blitzking I would appreciate it.I have Sierra`s fiftieth anniversary edition reloading manual and the only thing listed in 40 gr is the Hornet and the 40 grain HP.

The kid busted me for 50 peices of Win brass for his .243 at gunshow prices.But at least he has plenty of brass to prep and work with .That oughta keep him out of  my hair for fifteen or 20 minutes...

I bought me a few hundred Win SR primers to start with.I figure I`ll get on Midway tonight and see about 500 peices of Winchester or Hornady brass.I`ve never really paid attention to small rifle brass prices...Any advice from you fellas who load this cartridge is appreciated.

Gene

Evening TIMBER  >>  Can't help ya with that bullet weight, but I'm using BLC2 in my .223 with the 75 gr. A-Max's.  I do like the velocity it's allowing me.  Didn't think I'd be tip-toeing around that 3000 fps range with this heavy a bullet, but it's doing so easy enough.  CCI 450's are the primer used.

My O.A.L. is 2.515" for my last batch of reloads.  Throat on my 12 FV is certainly a long bugger.  Handy for the heavier bullets.

I did have a light load worked up some time back using a 37 gr. Calhoon DHP, but the powder used was H335 so that wouldn't help either.  Anyway, good luck to ya with your reloading !!!  >>  klallen

Dave, yes sir.I know how to load for the throat.Thanks for the information,I will put it to use.I put the caliper on a factory Hornady cartridge last night.2.242" was factory oal.I made a dummy cartridge at 2.358" oal and the Weatherby chambers it fine.No stiffness closing the bolt but the bullet is way out there in the neck.I mean way out there.That is not bad at all but I need to do some testing with feeding the rifle.One shot is ok but I have run up against 2 yotes more than once so I want to be able to feed the rifle fast and try to drill the second dog befor it escapes me.I`ve come close to it with the first dog hit at 250 yards , second dog was already on the run when I picked him up in the crosshairs.I was slinging gravel all over him out to about 335 yards ...but no hit.That is more the shooter`s fault though.I`ve put the gun on paper to 300 yards and it does it`s job fine.

Klallen, fantastic velocity.I am glad to hear that with this powder.I want to be about 3600 fps or better if I can get it, but I demand accuracy for this cartridge.I mean I really need it.This is my go to gun to fuel my obsession with being the coyotes worst nightmare.Your oal sounds about right, I am nowhere near the lands with the dummy cartridge I made .But the 1 in 14" twist in my rifle will screw me if I try to go to heavy a bullet.I may be wrong,I`ve never fired that heavy a bullet in it.Might need to experiment a bit more.Macca, thanks for the weigh in on the Benchmark powder.I hope it is going to work with BL-C(2).I only have about 20 peices of Hornady brass to begin with but that should suffice for load trials.Waksupi also speaks highly of BL-C(2) in the .223 Rem so it will be a good start.

Thanks for info fellas and anybody else that cares to weigh in with advice for a cherry small bore loader I appreciate it...

Gene

Hey GR, I`ve been shooting some loads today.

I started with the 40 gr Sierra Blitzking.Load started at 26 grains of BLC2.Accuracy sucked.At 27 grains it sucked at 27.5 it began to tighten at 28 it is slightly under one inch.At 28.5 it yielded a nice clover leaf of .62" in a 10-15 mile an hour wind trying to shoot between the big gusts.Extraction is easy, but the primer shows very very mild results of starting to flatten.Waksupi,you were right.Glad I paid attention to your posts about the little .223

Anyone that reads this particular load and wants to duplicate it, please start low and workup .I am .2 grains over Sierra`s max load.The case is full.It is not what I would call a whopping compressed load but it is close enough.Things look great in my rifle but that doesn`t mean so in yours.I dont want it on my conscious that somebody lost an eye,wrecked a good rifle or worse.Be safe about it... as I am working this load for a particular purpose and a rifle with a 1 in 14" twist with a 23.5 inch barrel.

Specs for this load are;

Hornady once fired brass.Trim is at 1.75"

Bullet:Sierra 40 grain Blitzking

My oal is NOT by the book at 2.248"

Winchester SR primers to set it off.

I am new at handloading these small cases so anybody interested in and wanting to duplicate this load, I reiterate be careful.I looked up pressure and this little booger is about 45,400 CUP.

I am gonna load me 10 or so at my smallest group load and set them aside for a good evening with no wind and shoot again , hopefully I can tighten my group to at least .50" but at .62'  IT IS DEFINATELY SHOWING COYOTE WASTING ABILITY..

Have a good day.

Gene

Hey CB, Can you privately ship primers through UPS?I have no clue

I have always bought my primers from the gunshop in Temple.If any of these fellas here are close to you that use SR primers they oughta jump on that offer.That is mighty kind of ya.

On another note I went ahead and loaded me some 40GR VMax at loads of 26.5,27 and 27.5 gr of BLC2.I had the big head after my results with the Sierra bullet.Boy oh boy did I get my ass handed back to me.I was sure that the Hornady was gonna shoot great.Hell every group I shot looked like one of John Kerry`s benchrest match records..It was terrible ...so much for BLC2 with the VMax.

I can`t figure it why there is so much difference in the Sierra and VMax as far as the accuracy.The Sierra is a flat base bullet and the VMax is a boattail.I seated the VMax a little longer but that should not hurt its accuracy. Any thoughts on this one fellas?I`ve been down this road befor with my 7x57, but I finally figured out what it liked to eat.I suppose I am gonna have to do the same thing with the VMax.

Have a good one,I gotta go subsidize Midway`s stock for a while.

Gene

Howdy John, My load with the Blitzking  is .2gr over Sierras published max with 40 gr bullet weights.I stopped at 27.5 gr with the VMax bullet.It didn`t show much sign of promise tightening up any.You think I should work the VMax load up to book max or till I see signs of pressure increase with it?The accuracy was reallyreally  crappy, like 2.00' crappy at 100 yards.I could easily push it another grain up but what I saw tends to make me think it is a waste of powder.I appreciate the info John......Talk at ya later

P.S. it was a little chilly at 4:30 am this morning.The first tingling  of rifle season kinda chilly...

Gene

Fella's;

I've had excellent results with the 50 gr. V-Max in my .220 Swift.  Never had the inclination to try the 40's, as I'm getting 3960 fps with beautiful accuracy 1 full grain under max load.

900F

Hey fellas, thanks on the info about the 50 gr and heavier bullets.

Hey Dave,I dont know about a Hornady block.I was shooting Hornady factory 40 gr VMax moly coated in it and it was shooting sub 1" groups easily.

 Dave, good info again and I appreciate it.I seated my Sierra bullet at 2.248".That long seated dummy cartidge at 2.358" scared me.There wasnt much bullet in the case neck and I didn`t like the thought of a bunch of powder in my magazine well so I pulled it in some.The Sierra groups so far are decent when pushed at higher velocity  but the VMax which shot so well as factory ammo is crappy??Perhaps I should switch to a powder with a different burn rate and  experiment with seating depth as you said.The seating depth on my 300 Win mag made all the difference in the world.

Thanks on that Berger bullet tip.I might give them a try.I am not necessarily stuck on the 40 gr bullet weight and as long as I can accurately put the bullet on the yote, experience has taught me he`s done for.Appreciate all the info from you fellas,I`ll post some pics of groups pretty soon.I have one load for the Sierra`s I want to try again that showed two cutting bullet holes and a flyer for a group of about .80".Talk to yall later..

Gene

Timber;

Those are some nice groups.  Now you're into fine tuning, not load development.

Dave; 

The plan was to aquire a bolt .223.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, that plan is history.  Daly is now offering a true mini-Mauser left hand action in their .223.  I'm very interested, just broke.

900F

Thank CB.I am gonna keep playing with ita and tune it .I seen those Charles Daly`s you are talking about.Very nice barreled actions for sure.

I took the little 6MMGHozt with me this evening.Hit my cottontail squealer for about 10 seconds, looked back around to make sure the kid was set .About two minutes later on my offside here come a yote and took me by complete surprise,with me in between the kid and the yote.I never expected a dog from that direction.He was down in a depression .I seen the top of his head and put the hairs as fast as I could on his head with him coming my direction .I must`ve overshot him, he turned and come up out of the depression as I threw the bolt and seen his shoulder.I seen him jump like a cat when I shot.I am pretty sure I put a hole in him.He went off in thick underbrush to his left.I looked for him for a bit, but I aint getting a rattlesnake bite in the face crawling around after a yote.I feel bad about the shot.It was a bad shot on my part.I shouldv`e waited  on the first shot.Either he seen me and was gone or I`d got a nice frontal neck shot.I wanted the kid to get a shot instead of me just didn`t go that way....

Gene