CC,

I am somewhat surprised that you do not have a Hornady Comparator set!!!! You buy one type for measuring base to ogive on seated bullets for die set up. And the other type of body for measuring fired brass vs sizing die set up.

The only tool i know of that gives you a "zero" is the RCBS Precision Mic. Which is an awesome tool. Its hard to justify the cost with the Hornady tool kit covering the whole caliber range for the price of 1 RCBS unit.

Though i recommend it for some things.

I no longer trust Starline brass with what i have been through.

Seems you tried mixed brass in your 16 inch gun, but only Starline in your WOA.

I don't like the bullet set back thing. You know as well as i do that crimping is not necessary for 1 time function.

If you can afford you may consider the Hornady or Sinclair tools?

Also another brand of brass from a company that has been making bottle neck brass cases for awhile.

Save a few pieces of fired brass from each of your rifles. After a while you get some sort of an average headspace to compare a new rifle with.

The primer piercing is a bit concerning also....

You have swapped firing pins each time?

The old 308 bolts used to have too large a hole in the bolt vs the small diameter firing pin. This would make the primer flow back into the large hole and aid in the firing pin piercing the primer during the firing sequence.

I believe that loading manuals are just a guideline. And some rifles need to go way over max to get working, and some are over pressure way under max.

Just sayin...


You are 1 grain over max with Nosler's data using 77 CC's

Sierra's max is 24.0 grains, which was fired from a NATO chamber not a Wylde.

Not sure what Hornady uses?

I have been shooting those 75 grain Hornady match bullets into and inch or just over an inch at 200 yards. Over and over with 5 shot groups. I love them!!!

My NATO chambers like LC NATO brass, Fed AR Match primers, Hornady 75 grain Match bullets with 23.0 grains of H4895

2675 fps out of a 20 inch 1/7 twist FN CHF chrome lined barrel.

No shine, no pressure. Just good looking fired brass


Edit: I have one rifle barrel chambered in 223 Wylde. I believe it is a factory mistake big time. It is very short throated!!

If i where to load Hornady 55 grain V-max bullets at the the recommend length of 2.200 or so, i would jamming the lands by .030

I doubt that is enough to seat the bullet back in the case? but maybe? I went with bullets with longer ogive's in that rifle, and did not even try the V-max after that measurement.

Every bullet my NATO chambers don't like, the Wylde chamber shoots them amazing.

Just to update this. I did reach out to WOA. They didn't really say much but that I could send the upper to them. Ive had to work the last few days and haven't had a chance to do anything else.

I do have comparators to measure and have also shot mixed, sorted and Starline brass through the WOA. I can't find any measurements that are out of spec.
It started doing it with the sorted 1x fired brass so I switched to Starline since I knew it had never been shot in any other gun.
If I have time I'll do some more experimenting this weekend. Im really hoping to figure it out so I don't have to send it back on my dime. I'll keep this updated

Another update. After chronoing a few loads yesterday I discovered this barrel is slower than my 16". Not by much but it's still slower. Keep in mind it's an 18".
Making up loads today I decided to just keep going up in charge weights with TAC and a 77SMK. At 25.2 it shot a .52 5 shot group. I've had a few flukes out of the barrel so I didn't think much of it and decided to shoot it again. It was .7. the third time it was .65. So now I know it can shoot.
I had stopped at 24.5 before. most guns shoot good at 24 or 24.5 grains.
I also tried some 55 gr Varmagedon's loaded with 25 and 25.5 of H335 that shot terrible. Maybe I need to go up to 26 or 26.5.
I ran out of time so I'm not sure if Its just that picky or I need to keep going up in charge weight with every powder and load I've tried.
I've tried TAC, Benchmark, H335, 8208XBR, X-terminator, and I'm sure a few more.
I've never had a barrel I've struggled with like this. It's usually they shoot or they don't.

Interesting

I shot some more loads today with TAC and 52 SMKs, 53 VMAXs and 75 HPBTs. Its very accurate. It just likes really hot loads. It took a while to get it figured out but I'm very happy now.

I still like the ARP better. I don't think the ARP is more accurate as much as more forgiving. It just shoots everything good. I actually ordered a Melonited ARP barrel a few days ago. They are just really cheap for what you get. I'm hoping it's just as accurate as the Stainless one.

Glad to hear your WOA barrel worked out. Hope your ARP melonite barrel works good for you. I know lots of folks swear by them. I guess I am just the unlucky one as I have owned 4 over the years in two different calibers and not a single one was consistently sub-MOA all were near MOA with developed hand loads. I gave up on them a couple of years ago.