[SWO1]

I was working on a promising formula last fall when Turkey and Deer season interupted. I will trudge thru the snow up to the shop and get it latter this morning. OR...if you have Sierra's 5th edition its in there also. At stopping point I had optained (ONCE) A .226" group out of my Marlin Varmit Barrel 7X .223.

 

[SWO1]

oldbrass....here is what I use in my .223. It is a Marlin X7VH with a 1:14" twist barrell @ 24". I load it for accuracy and if you will be hunting with it might want to try a different bullet/formula. If you do let me know as I have loads for hunting with different bullets/powders.

Powder: H335
Bullet: Sierra .224" 52 gr. HPBT MatchKing

Starting load: 24.1 - 2900 fps
Max load: 27.6 - 3400 fps

I use Federal cases, Fed Bulk shot in my gun to form to my chamber then neck sized only.
Primers: Remington 7 1/2 Small Rifle
C.O.A.L. - 2.250"

When I stopped this fall I was up to 26.0 gr and shot the .226" group with it. I have two more batches loaded, 26.2 and 26.4 to try next. I havn't put them thru the crono yet. Will the next batches. All shots where at 100 yds. off the bench with a 24X scope.

I have 13 powders listed for this bullet. The H335 was the reccomended one.
So far havn't crimped them but now that I have a Lee Factory Crimp Die I might try some.

Probley more info than you wanted. Hope this helps. Will be interesting to see what you come up with.

 

[SWO1]

The Mil .5.56 brass, like all other DOD brass is thicker and beefer to handle the stronger loads. Make good reloading if you want to go thru the pocket reaming, ect.

Sierra does list the X-terminatior and TAC powder as AR-15 propellent. They have seperate data for ARs and Bolt guns. Sierra reccomends X-terminatior with a 50 gr. for hunting. The X-terminatior seems to produce higher velocities than the TAC. Of course with the sorter AR barrels Bolt gun speeds are not reached, load for load. Test gun for them was a Colt Match AR with a 1:7" twist barrel (20")

They list H335 with the best accuracy in the AR an Bolt guns. Listed for my gun I can get 3800 fps with a 40 gr bullet. Their data was with a 24" barrel 1:14" twist out of a Rem 600. My 26" should do a little better with the same twist.

As for the saftey margins in the data, when I talked to them about .38 data they were insistant (overly so) that they DO NOT publish +P data for the .38 or any other caliber.

 

[SWO1]

My daughters .357 really likes the .38 +Ps in Rem 125 gr JHP. I want to see what they print thru the crony. Then start loading the same bullet with Sierra data and when I get to the top see what that graphs. If I stay around 1000 fps in my .38 spcl. that will surfice.

I look at reloading and ballistic data in two groups:

Pistol - For Self Defense I lean toward lighter bullets and higher velocities for penetration in a JHP. At defense ranges X ring groups arnt required.

Rifle - For deer ( and other like sized critters ) a midrange bullet weight ( i.e. 150 gr in .308 ) loaded for ACCURACY is the ticket. ---- Placement ----