223 AI

stdilbeck12

New member
Doing some bench testing 223 ai with Varget, Anyone have any luck with Varget were starting with 25 gr pushing a 52 gr Sierra Match king. Getting MOA but think could be tighter. Might add Barrel is a 1-14 twist
 
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Varget gets magical once it gets to a slightly compressed load. With a 52-55 grain bullet you will probably reach 100% at around 27.5grains of varget
 
Since your gun is Ackley improved you most likely will go past that number. VARGET is slow enough that you cannot get into pressure trouble with a 223. Pretty much fill it up to the point where the shoulder meets the neck and ladder up from there.

A good 223 load is 27.5 varget, 55gn spire point. 2.22oal. (Powder nearly overflows the neck and you crush it in with the bullet)
 
I'd say step on the gas.....

For reference, I shoot several 22-204's that have basically the same capacity as a 223 AI, and I'm at 27.5-28 grains of Varget with 75 or 80 grain Bergers.
 
Varget is too slow for bullets in the 50gr range, save that stuff for 65gr or 69gr, get some Benchmark or something around that burning range. I agree that you wont be able to fit enough varget to cause any harm, I remember getting compressed loads with 69SMK at a little under 27gr with no pressure issues, in standard 223.

I've got a poly twist black hole Weaponry barrel that I have thrown the reloading books out on. I started HBN lubing bullets and adding powder until I saw problems, and I almost never saw problems...

I just copied and paisted these numbers from the electric notepad as some backup notes.
"223 HBN...53 TSX 26.9gr H322, 50 Vmax 26.4gr H322, 65 SGK 26.4gr Benchmark or more."

Way way way outside of published data! But these are HBN lubed and shot through a polygonal twist barrel, everything is keeping pressure low. 53 TSX lab radared at 3330fps from a 16" AR and the primers show little pressure signs.

I've been slacking, I've been meaning to test the HBN in my 260AI 30" barrel but I haven't got around to it.


 
53gr Vmax(no HBN) and CFE223 gave me an honest 12+ MOA grouping from my black hole weaponry barrel.

Ive never seen anything like it, it was a wildly horrible combo for my poly twist barrel. CFE223 has poor temperature stability and the copper fouling eraser in the CFE seems to eat away or do something weird to the jackets of bullets when stored, my 65gr SGK have the jackets pulling away from the SP, ive never seen that before. Even if I went hunting and shot a time or two the rounds in the magazine exposed to the CFE residue would start tarnishing in a couple days....
 
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