Reloads for AR .223

[ptt811]

I have a friend who just bought an AR-15 .223... What do you guys recommend for a recipe on target loads and general plinking. Or is it worth reloading VS. buying in bulk ???

 

[mikeplan14]

I've been loading .223 for around 15 cents/round, not including brass. A case of .223 is prob around $300 shipped, so its definitely cheaper to reload (assuming that you have the press, etc)....I also don't take my time into account because I enjoy reloading. If I did, it may be cheaper to just buy it in bulk The loads I use for plinking are 55 gr FMJ-BTs backed by around 25 gr of Benchmark. I buy everything in as large of bulk as available.

 

[Redemption]

25 grains of WC-844 pulldown or H-335 and a 62 grain bullet.

 

[walker]

general plinking: 27GR - 748 55GR winchester PSP

 

[O'Shark]

general plinking: 27GR - 748 55GR winchester PSP

That is pretty close to my ultimate .223 load. 27.2 grains hit the spot on both my Model 70 and my 1/9 AR with 52 grain Sierra MatchKings. The 55 grain Winchester PSP bulk bullets make a solid plinking load with that powder charge. The thing that bothers me now is that http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp shows 26 grains as maximum for 748. That's a huge difference from my Speer manual. Read the data and decide for yourself what is safe

 

[ViperJock]

I run 69 grain Sierra HPBT match with 23.1 grains of Hogdon benchmark for targets 300 yards or less which I assume you would be shooting. Hop up to 77+ grain HPBT for longer range to help with wind. Still cheaper than buying the cheap stuff (not counting the steel casing crap) if you already have the press. Buy the bullets and primers 1000 at a time and powder in 8lb+ tubs. Go in with friends and buy from powder valley in bulk. Up to 48 lbs on the same hazmat fee. Try to get all 48lbs to minimize fees.

For plinking go with the cheaper 55 grains or pretty much whatever is cheapest.

You can get a nice indoor/close range subsonic with 55 grain bullets and ~3.8-3.9 grains of Hogdon titegroup. super cheap and very accurate at 25 yards or so.

**Note that the SS loads will not cycle the bolt, so you will have to pull the charging handle each time. Also be careful not to double charge these since you can fit several charges for 3.8 grains into a .223 brass.

 

[firemedic140]

24 gr. Accurate 2230, 52 Gr. bullets. Still trying some different one. But they all shoot pretty much the same. For me anyway.

 

[RTDoug]

Win. 748 and Montana Gold 55gr works for me.

Regards

 

[miles2253]

The current load I am working up for my AR is Hornady 55 Grain SP with 25 grains of Reloader-15 and CCI-400 primers.