I have been reloading for pistol calibers progressively for a couple of years now, however I have always loaded my rifle caliblers on a single stage press.
I plan on tring to load some 223 in my progressive press and was wondering if anyone had any experince with a good metering powder. I normaly use varget etc., however it does not meter well at all. I have notice that Win 231 and Titegroup both meter very very well in my progresive press, any rifle powders that work as well as them?
Thanks in advance.
The Winchester or Hogdon ball powders should meter pretty well. I don't care for the Winchester and only used a little bit of Hogdon (BLC2 I believe) prior to moving to Richmond and giving up the hunting/shooting/reloading thing. I always preferred IMR 4198 for my .223 loads but it won't meter well either. You'll probably need a ball powder for what you are looking for.
Shaky-Jake,
I have a friend who likes H335. He uses 26.7 gr. of H335 and a 55 gr. FMJBT to replicate Ball, M193.
DISCLAIMER: I have NOT tried this load or even checked it in loading manuals. You must do this if you decide to try this load, I WILL NOT be responsible for any results you may get with this information.
Buckshot
I have had great luck with tac. Meters like mercury and gives very consistant velocity
I use IMR4895 and just made a small flywheel vibrator for it to keep it from bridging
I attached the off balance motor/wheel assy in the strong mount
seems to keep it consistant also
I am using the Dillon 550 system
Farmritch
Thanks for the responses. What is tac powder?
Is this a quiz? ;)
A type of powder from Ramshot. Instead of a number it's called Tac Shot or something like that.
Personally I've never used it although it does sound interesting. ;D
Rob
Thanks again for the response, I will let you know how you done on your pop quiz ASAP.
I've had good results with Win 748, a ball powder. Pretty much fills the .223 case, just short of a compressed load, using either the 55 or 62 gn bullets when duplicating GI ball.
OK, under the assumption of using a Dillon press, I have a very accurate answer.
My father uses a Dillon, and he tells me that Ball Powder tends to jam the measure.
Therefore, I highly recommend using 4895 as your powder of choice in a progressive press.
IMR 4895 has bridged & jammed in my press
That's why I made the vibrator
Farmritch
For .223 Accurate 2230 works well for me.
ditto on the AA 2230
26.7 of H355 is over max for .223, I was getting flattened primers at 70F with 25.4 ,a 5.56 chamber and brass sized .004 over length. I backed off to 25.2
Every gun is a little different than the next.
Differences in the chamber dimensions can affect pressures.
Differences in the primers used can affect pressures.
Differences in the cases used can affect pressures.
Differences in how deep you seat the bullet can affect pressures.
Some powders are affected by ambient air temperatures, heating from the sun, heating from the chamber and can affect pressures.
That's why its never a good thing to blindly load up someone else's "pet" load for your rifle. Use their powder? Sure. Start at a lower amount of powder (10% is what is usually recommended) and work your way up to your rifle's preferences (I load for accuracy vs. velocity, but each to his own).
BE SAFE!! Having all your fingers and eyes makes it easier to teach at Appleseeds. Don't be a poster boy/girl for the rest of us reloaders. ~~:)
Here is another vote for AA2230.
I use a Dillon 550B, and use only WC844 surplus ball powder for 62 grain projos and under - no problems to date with powder measure, but I will not profess to be in the same class with Nickle's dad on this subject, as I have less than one year of experience under my belt.
4895 is a short "stick" powder and it can be used for 55gr, but I know that the LC XM193 is loaded with ball powder. I know that my fellow NRA HP shooters like the 4895 for .30 and I believe that's where the military uses it as well. Stick or "extruded" powders burn slower (less surface area) and as such are required for heavier projos, which take longer to get moving - using a ball powder on a heavy projo develops unsafe pressure levels.
I recently finalized my "recipe" for XM193 clone loads. I use a Hornady 55 FMJ round and 27.4 grains of WC844, which is said to be very similar to H335 in terms of data and performance. My rounds are running an average of 3255 feet per second, and group like match ammo. It took me a lot of testing to get here, running up very slowly from 25 grains, checking every round for signs of OP, and I did not see even acceptable accuracy until I exceeded 3000 FPS. That little teeny round has to go really fast to stabilize from what I can tell.
Now, understand that the above info applies only to a 20" A2 Colt GI HB, with a 1:7 twist / chrome lined barrel - truly rack grade - 80's surplus upper with no mods. Further, my scale may be off and the weather here is hot and humid in October, so your results may vary.
FWIW, the AR was actually designed to use IMR "stick" powder. IIRC, the original load was with IMR 4475.
This was a cannister powder, not available to the public, therefore much like WC 844, WC 845 and WC 846.
Now, in the 3 years since I've posted this, I now own the business. The Dillon I use for pretty much just pistol ammo. Never cared for a progressive when loading rifle ammo, always used a regular press and measure for that.
The relevance is, ball powder runs great through an RCBS Uniflow or a Lyman 55 measure.
Which was one of the contributors to the early problems with the rifle.
Testing was done with IMR powder (compared to ball powder it was relatively clean and had a lower burning temperature). Later ammo was loaded with ball powder (Winchester I believe, Nickle??) which burned dirtier and hotter cooking the carbon on the parts and making the rifle less reliable.
There were other cleaning issues as well. I feed mine IMR powder and always have. The ball powders never gave me the accuracy the IMR powders gave me. I'll do some more experimenting with ball powders and hope for the best.
Ramshot TAC is by far hands down the best for a 223 in a dillion. RL 15 works good too.
Woody
"Never cared for a progressive when loading rifle ammo, always used a regular press and measure for that."
Me too..Got more time than brains! :)...O.L.
Quote from: Old Dog on July 31, 2010, 06:39:16 PM
BE SAFE!! Having all your fingers and eyes makes it easier to teach at Appleseeds. Don't be a poster boy/girl for the rest of us reloaders. ~~:)
I like this thread.
Years ago, and I do mean years, as a teenager I used to reload shotgun with my dad and his friends. One of the 'buds' built benches around his garage so they could set up presses for 12, 16, and 20 gauge. A typical Saturday prior to dove season was spent reloading, telling old war stories, smoking cigarettes #), and inbibing in the favorite alcoholic beverage also #). Thinking back, they (and me, too, although I did not drink or smoke) had a great time preparing for dove season. And, also thinking back, no one ever got hurt, lost fingers, burned down the house, etc.
It is with these memories as background that I have shied away from reloading rifle ammo. Last year I began acquiring reloading equipment. I started with hand equipment for .223, .270, and, 7.62x39. While at a popular sporting goods store in Buda, TX, a man probably 15 yrs my senior, big stetson, struck up a conversation with me after observing I was shopping for gun powder. He spent probably half an hour with me on his experiences with reloading starting by holding up both hands and asking me the question "What do you see." The appropriate answer was supposed to be "Ten Fingers." I walked out of the store with my very own copy of Lyman's Reloading Handbook and the gentleman's admonition that if I wanted to keep all ten fingers I should memorize the handbook word for word.
Here it is some 6-8 months later and I have not attempted to reload ... yet. Glad I waited. I'm learning all I can first by reading and talking with fellow Appleseeders. Still have not memorized the entire LYman's. Keep up the great comments on this thread and, keep your fingers. O0
POP