Lately, I've been trying to develop loads that work well in a variety of rifles. 50 grain Hornady Vmax .224 boat tails over 25.2 grains of Benchmark with a 2.192 overall length is really doing well. The more I shoot it the more confidence I get in it, with excellent performance in both high quality (.74 moa/seven shots) and cheap barrels (1.02) of varying lengths, twists, and chambers. Primers were Winchester.  Give it a try, if you're inclined.

Do you have any chronograph data?

I use IMR-4198 Remington commercial brass and Remington 7 1/2 primers and of course Hornady 50gr V-Max.

I'm getting 3400fps. (Rifle in my avatar)

Motor

I don't. It's not a hot load. I would guess about 3,100 fps, based on poi relative to a known load. A chronograph is on the short list of things to buy.

How forgiving is the load? If you miss the charge up or down a tenth does it still stay in the same group?

I ask because I am looking for a load to use my Dillon for. I'm currently using Varget and it isn't very consistent on the throw

2.192", is that to the lands in a SAAMI chamber?

I have had good luck with 25 gr of AA2230 and  a Nosler 50 gr Ballistic Tip in several guns. It should run well on a progressive press.

Nope.

Doubtful as magazine length tip to base is 2.26".  And, any one chasing the lands with light bullets in factory chamber is wasting time. Especially with short bullets you will not have enough bullet in the case neck.

This is something you should have observed while working up the load.

I typically load test ammo in one grain increments until I find the accuracy node then break it down to smaller increments until I find the center.

While doing this you can't help but seeing how much above or below that center you can go before the groups open up.

I would say that a good .223 load should tolerate a +/-.5gr swing and still be around 1" group.

I used to dispense IMR-4064 with my Uniflow for my .308 practice ammo. As many people know this was likely a +/-1 full grain proposition because of how course 4064 is. Yet this ammo would consistently shoot 1.5" groups or better.

If you can tell the difference even between +/-.2gr you must be shooting some very precision equipment.

The key is to make note of it during load development then you'll know.

Motor

I would say definitely not. My VTR-15 is a .223 not a 5.56 NATO and I load the 50gr V-Max to an OAL of 2.235" I could possibly go to 2.250" but my Remington magazine seems to be a little tighter than typical AR mags so I went with 2.235" to insure good fit.

BTW: The OAL listed in the Hornady 8th edition manual is 2.200" for the 50gr V-Max in .223 Rem.

Motor

Understood. I always do incremental ladders. I'm just curious how forgiving this powder measures I suppose. Varget isn't that great in a Dillon. My 77gr smk load is good to .2 of a grain. White oak barrels are very precise.

Give xbr 8208 a try, groups are awesome with a 55gr tipped bullet (you pick your favorite ).
I know my powder throws vary some but it doesn't show on paper.

It seems fairly forgiving. In the rifle I worked the load up in, loads up to 26.2 grains of Benchmark worked reasonably well. The lighter loads seem to be the sweet spot for good performance across several different rifles, however.

The OAL was taken from American Eagle 50 grain varmint tips, which is a factory round that tends to shoot accurately in a wide variety of rifles.

Tip:   50 g Zmax (Hornady 22262) are the exact same bullet with green plastic tip instead of red, and come in 500 packs .... and are typically sold a lot cheaper than 50 g Vmax

(Zmax under $60 per 500 at powder valley and others offer free shipping at the same price from time to time).    

They perform exactly the same .... because they are the same.  

Prairie dogs hate both colors

Agree:  The 50 grain Z&V max bullets work great in a wide variety of ar's for accuracy... my whole crew shoots them.   Mostly over H322 and XBR though, with few exceptions under max.    similar coal

For anyone picking up on this and trying in a bolt gun .(they work great in those too btw) ... realize the bullets are short and boat tails = so don't go crazy extending coals in any case, and particularly if you are one of the kind to trim your brass short.

hope this helps

Some sources say Vmax has a thinner jacket than Zmax. I have used both interchangeably with the same loads and have never observed any differences in accuracy or POI. I buy whatever is cheaper and available at the time. Like you said, great AR bullets.