AR 15 Reloading Who does it?

41rem

41rem

New member
Just getting into the AR world. Been reloading for my bolt & handguns for 40 years.

Seems pretty easy to just buy some bulk m193 ammo, zero rifle in & blaze away. Almost like shooting rimfire. Trying to resist that urge.

Have a 20" heavy bbl 1 in 8 twist flat top. Any starting points in powders & bullets?

Target shooting now out to 200m, with an eye to predator hunting Fall 2016

Thanks in advance.

41
 
I shoot no factory rifle loads...an AR is just as simple to load for as anything else. Just FL resize to ensure feeding and load to 2.260 or shorter OAL.

Everything else is the same.
 
I load just like it is a bolt action, and the urge does go to rest for the most part. I run 55 and 60 gr vmax. I started with H335, tried CFE223, and going to try XBR. If it runs good, I just cut down one more powder by finding one for 223 and 264 lbc. The 335 ran real good, did not see the carbon issues people talk about, or the heat problems. Main reason for trying different powders is I could not find 335 for a while, got some more now, may be a while till I try the xbr.

I have actually ran just about everything through all of my ars, and 335 was the best, didn't matter barrel length (all 1/8 or 1/9) for 223. For 264 XBR is best for me, just haven't tried it for the 223 yet.

Get a decent scope for it and do some load testing and you may be surprised at what it can do.

Forgot to mention but saw it above, load mag length, or you got a single shot. I found some 5 rounders that let me load longer, only one side is spot welded (one piece folded around) so the bullets can be loaded a little longer. Actually helped one of my ars a lot.
 
Last edited:
Reloading for an ar is really easy and those small cases are nice and easy to resize. I prefer to seat a tad shorter than 2.260" as some of my mags slightly scrape the tip of the bullet at that length. Your 1/8 should be able to handle a nice range of weights. I only have a max of 100 yards to play with but my RRA NM upper which has a heavy 20 inch barrel with 1/8 does nicely with nosler cc 52 grain bullets and aa 2460 (don't remember how much powder I'm using off the top of my head.) I haven't put much ammo through it yet and didn't do any load development yet either, I was to impatient to go play. I picked a mild charge and if I don't screw it up I can hold around MOA prone iron sights with a sling but I'm the limiting factor. I've got some nosler 77 grain blems to play with but haven't gotten around to them yet. In my other upper I've used Varget, imr 4895, and aa 2460 with good results. I have a small amount of H335 and tac to play with sometime as well.
 
I also reload all of my ammo for my AR. 20" stainless bull dpms 1 in 9 twist. My loves 50gr. vmax sitting over 24gr of benchmark with rem 7 1/2 BR primers. 3/8" group at 100 yards.
 
Your 1/8 twist should handle most bullet loads that will fit into the magazine, from 45gr-69gr...You will find that when you get into the heavier bullets, such as the 75gr A-Max, they have to be fed one at a time due to overall length and will not fit into the magazines.. Some 40gr bullets, may spin apart before getting very far down range.

As to powders, I've always had great luck with Winchester 748 for all bullet weights and normally would suggest that you pull up a burn rate chart for comparable powders, but I noticed that there has become a wide difference between charts produced by Hodgdon and other sources as to the rankings...It used to be that W-748 was nestled in between Ramshot's X-Terminator and TAC, now it's showing up on the much slower end of the Hodgdon chart, but not on others,,,,I'm not sure it it was a misprint or an actual change in the formula..

Depending on your particular firearm, and what is available locally, those listed on the burn rate chart from X-Terminator (faster) on up the list to BL-C2 (slower) generally work well, depending on bullet weight...

Which ever powder you decide to try, always, but always keep in mind that the case capacity for the .223 is small enough that large increments in powder charge changes can produce some serious over pressure problems and stuck bolts, split cases, etc,,,are no fun to deal with under the best conditions..When I'm building test loads for accuracy and function, I increase in .1gr powder increments and only change one factor at any given time..Generally, I start at standard seating depth of magazine length (2.26") and very seldom seat shorter unless using the lighter weight (shorter) bullets
 
My Rock River 20" with 1-8" twist likes this load the best:
25.5gr. charge of H-4895
CCI Benchrest primer
Hornady 55gr. V-Max
Chrono speed 3120fps
10 shot dime size groups at 100 meters in a Underground tunnel!(Yes 100 Meter Underground Range)!
 
Me.
20" Hbar
1:8 Twist
Sierra 69gr HPBT Match
Varget
Nosler Brass
CCI Primer
For 1:8 buy box ammo starting at 64gr+ Find best bullet weight, speed. Load in to those specifications.
Box ammo group .575" group. Hand load. .175" group @ 100 yards.
Groundhog gonna have a bad season
 
been loading for the AR for 17 years now. 748 and 55gr v-maxes for the last 3 or 4 years. 3050 fps does just fine on coyotes, but a little much for fox or cats.
 
I'm new to AR reloading, but not reloading in general. I have reloaded for .223 in bolts for over 20 years. Got a RRA with a 18" 1-8 twist barrel last fall, and have tried many combinations so far, some good, some terrible. These AR's can be fussy, never had that with my bolts. Bullets tried so far,53 vmax,55BT,55 bulk Hornady spirepoint,60 vmax,60 Hornady HP. Powders tried so far,748,CFE,Benchmark. The winner for me so far, 55gr Hornady bulk spire point. 26.9gr 748 @ 2.200, .46" group with four of the five under .30".
Next best 60 vmax, 27.3gr CFE@2.245OAL .48".
Plan to try some XBR, and work more on Benchmark loads, when it warms up some. It was 16 below this morning. I would really like to get the 53gr vmax to work better than I have so far. The best combination I have had with those so far is .89" with 25.5 Benchmark.
 
Originally Posted By: 41remJust getting into the AR world. Been reloading for my bolt & handguns for 40 years.

Seems pretty easy to just buy some bulk m193 ammo, zero rifle in & blaze away. Almost like shooting rimfire. Trying to resist that urge.

Have a 20" heavy bbl 1 in 8 twist flat top. Any starting points in powders & bullets?

Target shooting now out to 200m, with an eye to predator hunting Fall 2016

Thanks in advance.

41




I just want to suggest that you get a small base die that way things work easier and better for you. You have to Full Length size each time, with ARs. You have been given plenty of loads. You will have to try several to see what is most accurate for you. Lots of fun!
thumbup.gif
 
Originally Posted By: desertcjDo any of you guys crimp your bullets?
Most don't, it's an unnecessary variable in the overall picture.
 
no crimp here. 1:8 twist H-bar 18" barrel 60gr hornady soft points over 26gr of varget win SR primers 2.260 shoots awesome and hammers the coyotes pretty good.
 
I have seen bullets set back in the case after chambering and unloading. I'm surprised that crimping seems unpopular. Nobody else has noticed set back?
 
Over 50 years of loading for various gas guns and, unless reloading GI brass of unknown origin, have found SB dies not to be necessary. All bets are off if brass was fired in a full automatic, however, due to generous chambers common to FA weapons. Using SB dies repeatedly (once a case is known to have been fired in a normal chamber) just overworks the brass and shortens case life IMO.

I never crimped for M1, M1A or AR until I ran into a problem on the AR of loading/unloading the same round repeatedly while predator hunting; ended up pushing a bullet back into the case and dumping powder into the action. Since then I do crimp AR ammo and am more careful when chambering that first round. Normal usage have never found crimping to be necessary, however.

Regards,
hm
 
Back
Top