I’d like to start reloading for precision this winter to stretch my AR out 200-600 yards. I’ve ready lots of posts and reviews and am thinking of going with the follow, looking for suggestions and thoughts.

The rifle is a Colt Competition Pro CCR-18 with an 18” mid-weight barrel using 1-8 twist.

Lapua brass
Bullets -  77 gr range (will probably go with Hornady?)
Powder -  No idea, more confused after reading different guides. H-335? Varget? TAC? (looking for suggestions)
CCI primers

For reloading I am looking at the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit and adding a digital scale and a media tumbler.

I’m not sure on dies, was looking at RCBS AR Series Small Base Two-Die Rifle Set unless there is something better?.

Thanks for any input

The couple high power shooters I know use mostly either Sierra 77's or Hornady 75's with RL15.

Get a beam scale.

Sir, FWIW I've been an active high power rifle competitor since 1982.  

I've always maintained that there are three parts to the accuracy equation:  the shooter, the rifle, and the ammo,  All three have to be fully capable of delivering the highest possible performance for all shots to be within the X ring.

First I suggest you determine if your rifle is capable of the precision necessary to exploit the ammo to the max possible.  My suggestion is to buy some Federal GMM with the Sierra MK bullet preferably 77gr.  Using the NRA MR31 target at 100yd see how many of your shots will stay in the X ring.  The results of this experiment should point you in a direction that will improve your results.

Most high power competitors that shoot service rifle chambered for the .223 Rem. cartridge use the Sierra 77gr HPBT match King for 200/300 yards and an 80gr bullet (some use an 80gr VLD) for 600yds.  Powder choice varies among competitors but RE15, H4895, VVN140, and VV N540 are all popular choices.  My personal choice is VV N540.  There are many choices for primers as well, I use CCI 450 but many choose the Rem 7.5 version.  Buy in large quantities both primers and powder as the brisance of primer lots will vary as will the burn rate of different lots of the same powder.

Work up your loads for each bullet weight, charge weight will be around 25grs but don't take my word for it, use a good reloading manual.  You can weigh each charge individually but if you use a good PM charge weight should not vary greater than plus or minus one tenth grain which should be reasonably accurate for the loads you are developing.

Use new or once fired brass and keep track of how many times each piece has been reloaded.  Make sure the case weights are all withing plus or minus .5grs.  Trim each piece to the same length after sizing and make sure to deburr the inside of the case neck after trimming especially when you're using VLDs.  Lastly I highly recommend the Redding competition die sets especially the seating die.  Both Redding and Forester dies have a spring loaded sleeve that maintains the alignment of the bullet and case during the seating stroke.  This is especially important to keeping the cartridge runout to a minimum.  I also like the micrometer seating adjustment especially when experimenting with variable seating depth which will be needed when loading VLDS.  That's all for now.  Ask more specific questions to get more specific answers and I'll try to help.  HTH, 7zero1.

Beam scales are very accurate.  I use a RCBS 505, and Im very happy with it.

The Rockchucker is a good press.  You might want to look into Redding or Forster dies if your after ultimate precision.

this is a VERY accurate load from my SPR

Varget is love.

You don't need small base dies. I prefer Forster Ultra seating dies and full length resizing dies. They will custom hone the die's neck if you want it customized. I suggest a .2440" or .2445" custom neck, it will size the brass just slightly more than the minimum needed to hold a bullet securely. It stresses your brass at a minimum.

Redding dies are just as good, their micrometer seating die is excellent.

The best powders for heavy bullets in .223 have already been posted: H4895, RE-15, Varget, and Vihtavuori N140 or N540 are in the winner circle at the 600 yard line. Use Sierra Match King 69 or 77 grain bullets at 200/300 yards. Use Sierra's 80 grain Match King at the 600 yard line. The 80 grain bullets will not fit or feed from a magazine. Their OAL runs between 2.500" to 2.550" depending on your chamber dimensions. 75 and 77 grain (Hornady, Nosler and Sierra) match bullets will fit and feed from a magazine when loaded no longer than 2.260".

RCBS's Uniflow powder measure is sub-standard. The Rock Chucker press is very good, as is Lee's Classic Cast, Redding's Big Boss or for that matter anyone else's cast iron press. Don't buy any other type.

The best powder measure is Redding's BR-3 unless you're willing to pay for Harrell's. Extruded powders and long range loads require hand weighed charges. A powder trickler and good mechanical scale (RCBS 5-10) is a must. If you intend to hand weigh every powder charge RCBS's powder measure won't be a hindrance. Simply set it up to throw charges around .3/.4 grains light and trickle the charge up.

Read the tacked threads at the top of this page. I suggest 24.5 grains of Varget, RE-15 or VihtaVuouri N140 when loading 69 grain Sierra Match Kings seated at 2.250". I suggest 22.5 grains of H4895 with Sierra/Nosler 77 grain bullets seated at 2.260". I suggest 23.5 grains of Varget, RE-15, N140 or N540 when using Sierra/Nosler 77 grain bullets seated @ 2.260".

All of the loads I posted are very close to maximum charges. Your 18" barrel will produce almost 100 fps less velocity with maximum pressure loads than published data using 20" barrels. Take that into consideration if you use a chronograph.

Nosler or Sierra 69's under 24 grains of H4895 work very good for me at the 200/300 lines. I step up to the 75 AMAX under the same charge for 500+.
75 AMAX have better BC as the 80 OTM and you can push the 75 faster, so less drift and drop

Pick a powder and stick with it and try some different loads.

This man speaketh the truth. I personally just use LC brass and TAC powder with a Nosler 77. I uniform the primer pockets and debur the flash hole. Primer is KVM223M. I have my brass processed every third firing by a site sponsor here, and have them annealed and giraud trimmed.

The forster die is a big thing. I didn't know about it until about a year ago when a thread was posted here discussing it in great detail, and I believe that information is correct.

I have been very successful using 77gr Noslers and 23.2 of XBR-8208 in Lake City cases with Wolf Small Rifle Magnums.

I've also shot very good scores with 24 grains of Varget.

Save the Lapua brass for 600 yards and get some processed LC for everything else to start. I presume you have a floated 1 - 8" twist or faster barrel and a decent trigger. Otherwise this may be a moot thread...

I will not bother posting my loads as they are pretty much already posted. Well OK, just one: LC brass, 24.3 RL15, Sierra MK 77, 2.260" COL, Wolf small rifle magnum primer, no crimp.

Tens and x's dude.

+1 deburring the flash hole...use a taper cone to improve uniformity.

Sir, yes there's a lot I left out because I was simply trying to keep my first post short.  Looking at it again it appears I didn't do a very good job keeping it short.

FWIW, I do a fair amount of case prep, the goal being to make each case as much alike as another for the sake of uniformity.  I do deburr the flash holes, inside and out as well as use a primer pocket depth uniform tool.  I use a Dillon primer pocket swager to remove the crimp from LC brass and I trim all resized cases to 1.758" with a Giraud trimmer.  I also seat all primers by hand using a Sinclair priming tool.  

I believe neck tension is an important factor affecting the precision of each cartridge.  While I seldom disagree with Mr. BorderPatrol I've intentionally avoided using custom dies to size the outside diameter of the case neck due to variations in neck wall thickness.  My choice has been to use a neck expander mandrel to insure the case neck inside diameter is of the desired dimension to provide the target neck tension.  Either method works well, just from my perspective going directly to sizing the ID of the case neck is simpler.

Lastly, when working up loads I use a chronograph.  My target velocities are about 2750 fps for the 77gr SMK, and 2800fps for 80gr VLDs.  I moly my bullets, and I experiment with seating depth to ensure optimum VLD bullet precision as the throat of my rifle chamber erodes.  All short range ammo is loaded to magazine length for the obvious reason.   I have a twenty inch barrel on my match service rifle, shorter barrels will have lower velocities for the same loads.  HTH, 7zero1.

I can say I have never disagreed with 7zero1's posts. I didn't intend to suggest that people remove the expander ball when using custom .2440" or .2445" necked dies. The expander ball is needed to remove (push to the exterior) any imperfections in the case neck thickness. Most cases will form a donut at the neck/shoulder junction. This needs to be moved to the outside of the neck or reamed out to get more uniform neck tension. I should have been more clear about that in my first post.

I've had very good results with 77gr SMKs with RL15, Norma 203b and CFE223. Best was CFE223.

I just started loading 500 - 75gr Hornady BTHP with CFE223.Testing starts next week.

Thanks for all the great advice and load data. Here’s my latest thoughts, please let me know if anyone sees any issues.

I am going to go with the RCBS kit with:
Forster Bench Rest 2-Die Set 223 Remington dies
Case trimmer for the range pick ups
LC Brass, is any provider better than others?
I was going to order here $119 shipped ready to load. http://bullseyeprocessedbrass.com/products-page/rifle-brass/223-5-56-fully-processed-lc-brass-1000ct
Reloader 15 powder
77 gr SMK
Remington 7.5 primers.

Thanks again, this shortens the learning curve by a bit and saves me from buying the wrong stuff. I'll post a range report when I get started.

Get a RCBS micrometer, Hornady Lock-N-Load or Mo DeFina headspace gage. Buy the "World's Finest Trimmer" or similar powered trimmer or you'll hate trimming cases. You need the Forster "Ultra" seating die set. It has .001" marked increments for seating bullets, their other die sets do not. Everything else will work great.

I like Varget.

I cooked some 75 Hornady and 77gr Sierra loads using Varget.

I was able to shoot out to 300 meters... not exactly 600 yards obviously,  but they were good loads for the distance.

I worked up my loads and had great results using

75 gr Hornady Bullet
LC 1x fired trimmed 1.75 +- .003
Remington 7.5 primers
24.7 gr Varget

77 gr Sierra
Same brass as above
same primer as above
24.4 gr Varget

At 300 meters , a three shot group using sierra 77's I had two shots touching each other. I know it was only three, but I was happy

And RL-15

My 77 grain load is a Nosler CC with 22.5 gr of IMR-4895, seated to magazine length. I've had people tell me it's too slow,  but it's what gives me the best accuracy. It was good enough for a 91-2X my first time at 600 yards.

Good luck!

You already have gotten great advice in this thread. I would recommend that you pick up and read this great book:



get it here

What i like in a 16 Mid, 1:8

I have a 20" Lilja 1:8 on my DMR.  Regularly shoot it at 600.  25.2gr cfe223, tula ar primer, prepped LC brass, and 69gr smks loaded to mag length work well for me.

Mind you, this is just for an accurate range load.  I do not compete.  If I did, I'd probably look at some of bergers heavier offerings that they claim can be loaded mag length like the 80gr.

Sir, FWIW that's the first time I've ever read someone having good results at 600yds with the 69gr SMKs.  In my experience the low BC combined with low terminal velocity at that distance make the light bullet much to vulnerable to conditions.  I prefer something with a higher BC and velocity as my wind reading skills are not quite that finely tuned.  YMMV, 7zero1.