AR Load Development

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longshot66

New member
I've been hand loading for my bolt guns for quite some time but have never loaded for my AR. It's a Rock River Arms ATH carbine with an 8 twist barrel. It shoots Federal Gold Medal Match quite well and was wondering what might be a good recipe to start load development with. It will be used mostly for coyotes and hogs. I was going to put this in the Handloading forum but wasn't sure if it was visited by many AR shooters so I apologize if this isn't the appropriate forum.
Thanks
 
In answer to part of your question,,Since you are used to loading for your bolt guns, the primary difference is that you will have better success by Full Length Sizing for the AR, while you can sometimes have better accuracy by Neck Sizing for a bolt action..

The chambers on semi-autos are usually slightly larger to allow easier extraction and feeding and while some can get by with neck sizing the brass, it usually leads to feeding problems in most cases..You just need to be sure that your FL die is adjusted to bump the case shoulder back to specifications, as it tends to expand in the chamber upon firing..

With a 1/8 twist, you can easily shoot bullets in the 40gr-75gr weight scale as long as the heavier ones will fit in the magazine, unless you want to shoot them as a single load, and if that's the case, you might be better sticking with the bolt action...For Predators, it seems that the 50gr-60gr rounds have the best reputation for putting down fur..

Powders used for AR will vary by shooter and their specific needs/experience...I tend to prefer W-748 and TAC, but then I don't push the velocity envelop and concentrate on consistent accuracy..
 
Thank you for the info. I have some 55 and 65 GameKings (lead tip)I'd like to try. Or would these not be a good choice because of the lead tip? If they are OK to use, any recommendations on powder choices for these bullets?
 
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As to what powder to use with the 55 or 65 gr pills. Any of the powders that are in the reloading manual will work well. With 55gr NBT I run h335 and my second and third picks would be benchmark or 8208. In no order. The biggest thing would follow what Turtle said about resizing. And then the only powder that I could not get to cycle in my ar's was IMR4198.
 
Longshot, I bought my 1st AR about a year and a half ago. Old turtle is right, you will need to full length resize your brass every time. I set mine up to bump the shoulder back .003 to ensure reliable feeding. The 65gr sierra should be great for hogs and yotes. While most of my load work has been with the 53gr vmax in my AR I did try some 65gr sierras as well. I had pretty good accuracy with H4895 at 24grs. Around 1" or less. I was initally gonna make this a "two load" gun and was gonna use the 53's for yotes and the 65gr for longer range hunting and targets. I have since decided to just go with the 65gr for everything instead of switching back and forth. For the 65gr I think you might look at Varget, H4895, RL15 etc. As of lately, I have been wantin to try W748 as I hear so much good about it. Good luck with the 65gr if you try em.
 
I've read lots of good things about the 65 SGK and am loading up an OCW test now using Varget. If I can't get decent accuracy with that, I may try H4895 or H335.

I'm currently shooting 69 SMK in a BCM 16" stainless, 1:8 and getting sub-MOA groups (~.6 MOA) but want to try the GameKings.
 
Longshot66, This is the load that works the best in my Rock River 20" Predator Pursuit 1-8" twist.

55gr. Hornady V-max
25.5gr. charge of H-4895
CCI Benchrest Primer
3120 fps with my CED M2 chrono setup 10 feet from barrel.
1/2" 10 shot groups at 100 Meters
Good Enough For Me!
smile.gif
 
Thanks again for all the information. I have a few of the powders mentioned above and will load some rounds this weekend and see what shoots best.
 
Originally Posted By: RiflemannLongshot66, This is the load that works the best in my Rock River 20" Predator Pursuit 1-8" twist.

55gr. Hornady V-max
25.5gr. charge of H-4895
CCI Benchrest Primer
3120 fps with my CED M2 chrono setup 10 feet from barrel.
1/2" 10 shot groups at 100 Meters
Good Enough For Me!
smile.gif


Riflemann whats is your seating depth? I have the same exact gun and would like to try that load. I've been messing with the 65g gamekings and 69g matchkings with decent results with H-335 varget and benchmark but nothing that has really impressed me all that much. I have plenty of 55g v-maxs since i use them for my .22-250 and H-4895 for my .308win
 
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