kawi kid Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Lolol I have had to.learn the hard way also a few times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarvismb Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Note to self:Charging die may appear harmless, but is way more intense in person.Please set to proper height before use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flounder Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 (edited) Looking good. If you ever make it to Cbus and want to crono your load to determine velocity, let me know. FYI. Obviously fire is a no no in the reloading room but the 1 thing that most people dont buy, but should have but should buys is a fire extinguisher to keep close by.Those 52 grain amax? Edited January 23, 2012 by flounder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarvismb Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Looking good. If you ever make it to Cbus and want to crono your load to determine velocity, let me know. FYI. Obviously fire is a no no in the reloading room but the 1 thing that most people dont buy, but should have but should buys is a fire extinguisher to keep close by.Those 52 grain amax?That's a great offer and some sound advice. I'd love to come out for one of those group shoots like last year now that I have something to test. I admit I hadn't thought about the extinguisher, but now that you mention it, I can't believe I didn't have that earlier. Thanks for the tip, I'll be doing that.The recipe so far is:Winchester BrassCCI 400 PrimersHodgden Varget - 25.9 grainsNosler Ballistic Tip - 55gr boat tailC.O.L. - 2.205" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flounder Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 That's a great offer and some sound advice. I'd love to come out for one of those group shoots like last year now that I have something to test. I admit I hadn't thought about the extinguisher, but now that you mention it, I can't believe I didn't have that earlier. Thanks for the tip, I'll be doing that.The recipe so far is:Winchester BrassCCI 400 PrimersHodgden Varget - 25.9 grainsNosler Ballistic Tip - 55gr boat tailC.O.L. - 2.205"WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!Depending you our bullet, you are over the max charge per Hodgen's site for Varget and a 55gn in a .223!!!!!!You should always start at the low end and work your way up. According to Hodgden, max load is 25.1 grains with a 55 grain round. You are almost an entire grain above max recommended and these are your starting loads!!!!. I would highly suggest pulling all the bullets and starting over and working your way up. Since your new at this, you have no idea the signs to look for on your brass/primers for too hot a load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarvismb Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Dammit, I was afraid of that.We got a ton of info that put Varget all over the map, and most of them put the range from 25-27, and only one put them lower (the Hodgden site). I was skeptical to go higher, but a friend told me being in the 25s would be safe, but I didn't know. I'll pull them and redo it.Better to do it twice than mess it up. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flounder Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Rule of thumb. Always start lower and work your way up to max. Load up 3 rounds each in varying .3 grain differences to determine which one shoots best.example. 24.2, 24.5, 24.8, 25.1, 25.4 When you are starting to get near max, load in .1 increments. Then take and shoot separate groups with each lot of 3 to determine accuracy.You can use factory ammo as your baseline for shooting group size if you dont have anything else to compare it to. When youre getting near max or dangerous pressures, you need to know the signs on your brass. Bolt guns are a bit different as well as far as pressure signs are concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarvismb Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Sounds like a better plan.Thanks again for the heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 That is a HOT load. I'm using 25.3 with varget on my practice macth loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarvismb Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 This is why I checked on here with people that have done this, before I go loading these into my pricey shiny rifle. It's a lot easier to remake the loads than my AR.It is a bit disappointing to see the Remington reloading bible I was using was totally wrong on this. I'm looking at it now and it calls for a starting load of 25.0 grains of Varget on 55gr bullets, with a max load of 27.8 grains. According to this, I would have blown up my rifle in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 You prob wouldn't have grenaded it but you can burn up a barrel pretty quick with high pressure loads like that. How many percent load does that book say it is? 25gr of varget I thought was around 95% it more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 if you want a good book about reloading:http://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Reloading-Definitive-Novice-Expert/dp/1440213968/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327351767&sr=1-1you can prob find it local at borders or whatever. read it. it is chock full of useful information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarvismb Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 ok guys, just went through my info again, and the Remington book, the Lee Book, and the Hodgden site all say that various 55gr rounds should range:Start-MAX----------------------25.0-27.8 (Remington)24.9-27.5 (LEE)25.5-27.5 (Hodgden)So now I'm thinking that my loads are ok. Granted these loads are for FMJ/Spire-Point rounds, but I assume that as long as it's not frangible/SinterFire I should be ok with my ballistic-tips, right? Can anyone check their books/sources and tell me if I'm crazy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Ill check my book when I get home but I just realized you are using 55gr and I'm using 77gr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flounder Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Just make sure your AR chamber is a 5.56 chamber and not .223. If it says .223 on the barrel then i would suggest pulling them and going lower. If your barrel is marked 5.56, then you will most likely be ok but its always better safe then sorry. Make sure you do some research on how to determine pressure signs for hot loads.Its all about the chamber in this case and different books will say different.Here is some good reading. This site is gold.http://www.6mmbr.com/223rem.html Edited January 24, 2012 by flounder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit12 Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 The recipe so far is:Winchester BrassCCI 400 PrimersHodgden Varget - 25.9 grainsNosler Ballistic Tip - 55gr boat tailC.O.L. - 2.205"You should be OK with that load but also remember to start low and work up to prevent bad things from happening. Here are a couple from some other books,Lyman 49th manual - 25.0 to 27.8 grainsHornady 7th manual - 22.8 to 26.4 grainsSpeer 14th manual - 25.0 to 27.0 grains Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Yeah I got a chance finally to look up some loads and it's in the ballpark. I was comparing mine with the heavier bullet. I would check the barrel like flounder said. It's extra insurance I case something happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf1000ride Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 My sierra manual states 25.1 - 27.2 for their bullets. Now granted the Nosler website is saying 23-25 max. Gotta wonder what they are doing to have such low powder usage versus everyone else. Best thing would be to do as the other have said though and load the first few a little lower. I shoot alot of surplus bullets and bulk stuff that there isn't any load data for. I start low and work my way up until the crony says I am back in a good range of speeds for my guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod38um Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 My Hornady manual shows max load for 55grn bullet to be 25.5 grn of VargetThe Lyman 49th manual shows the max load of 27.8 for varget.Anytime I see this kind of discrepancy, I use the lower figure and subtract 10% from it, load a few rounds and shoot them thru thru the chrono to see where I'm at. As someone else mentioned, check for signs of over pressurization. I rarely find the most accurate load anywhere near the max load....... if your looking for accuracy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 why reload anything? .22lr is bauce. go buy 100,000 rds and youre set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crb Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 Damn it I'm going to have to start reloading ammo is too expensive. Besides I hope to shoot my soon to be new to me penis compensator regularly. I have found the gun I've wanted since I was a kid and its gonna be mine all mine. FYI I'm a Tad excited. I'm thinking I want to go single stage when I get some funds back. I am thinking rock chucker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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