Got some free goodies from a .222 loader.  Including a can of IMR 4198 and a few hundred bullets of 35 gr VMAX.  Has anyone tried this in a .223 AR15?  Apparently you can get this up to well over 3600 fps type of range velocity.  But I'm curious if anyone has tried this type of combination in a .223 with a 1/9 twist, which is faster than the 1/12 or 1/14 such a bullet tends to be designed for.

I bet it'll be fine. 1:7 is the usual suspect.

I had some of the older 35gr. Winchester projectiles (with the "fluted looking" tips) blow up in a stock 1:9 gun.  

Freaked me out--the target looked like someone had shot it with a mini-shotgun.  Then my buddy noticed that you could actually see them blow up in flight.  A little softball sized puff of gray on the flight path...

ETA: I have shot a ton of the 40gr. Vmax's out of my 1:9 AR.  No trouble But they REALLY shoot well out of my 1:12 24"" Handi-Rifle.  That thing shoots like a laser beam.

Thanks!  That's what I'm worried about.  You can push a 35 gr bullet to some crazy velocity in a .223.  And since these are varmint bullets, they are going to have pretty thin little jackets.  

When it comes to load development for limited quantities of stock like this, I don't.   Basically when I get a partial pound of some random powder, or a partial box of less than 100 bullets, I'm not about to get out the chronograph, do a bunch of ladder tests, etc, for such a small quantity of sale/recovered/gifted partial components.  I just look up a load somewhere in the middle of a manual, charge up the progressive, and churn out to exhaustion for blaster ammo.  Then, take a look at the first few fired to make sure nothing is amiss, and blaze on.

Which is what I'm going to do with these little guys.  The conundrum is you want them to cycle the rifle, but you don't want them to explode in mid-air.  Which means they need enough pressure to cycle, which also means you're pushing up velocity.  But you don't want too much velocity or your bullets explode in mid-air. Decisions decisions.

You know what, I bet a relatively mild charge and just run them through the AUG with the gas setting on "distressed" will probably work.

Load them up and find out!



I've done 50gr VMAX at 3400fps from a 1:6 twist no problems.  I ran some 36gr Varmint Grenades through the 1:6 twist and everything was fine until the velocity started to ramp up(18" barrel).  Unfortunately my chrono wasn't working when I did that range session.  The same loads from a 10.5" 1:6 barrel all made it to the target, so it seems to be very velocity/rpm based.



Yes, those are 1:6 not 1:9 twist barrels, you should have a lot more leeway in a 1:9 barrel.

I think they will ok in a 1:9 barrel. I also get 3400f/s with the 50gr V-Max but in a 1:9. If they'll hold together at that velocity in a 1:6 the 35s should be ok in your 1:9.

Why not do your usual  calculated guess but just load a small sample lot to try them before loading them all?

Motor

I went the other direction with the 35gr VMAX. 13grs of Blue Dot and it is about like a .22 Mag. I have shot quite a few of them in 1/9 twist bolt guns, never tried them in an AR though, so I can't say for sure. Pretty accurate in the bolt gun too with POA close enough to my standard load at 100 yards not to mess with it. Makes for a good sage rat round out to 200 yards or so.

Not that that helps you a ton, but might be food for thought.

22boomer did some reduced load testing with those, I think.



 

Cranked out a few hundred on my Hornady Lock n Load last night.  I will say this, 4198 and this progressive sucks.  This long grain stick powder has variable charges, by as much as +\- .3 gr easily.  But that's not the worst of it, it spills this type of powder which jacks up the priming system.  Causing stoppages.  Stoppages in a progressive is bad.  That's when bad things can happen to your loads, if you aren't on the ball.

Still, these are just mildly charge blaster rounds, so even a 1 gr overcharge won't matter.  Biggest risk with a rough run on a progressive With nearly full volume rifle charges, is a squib.  Which can end badly if you use that lot for run and gun.

I usually see about +/- 1 full grain from my Uniflow. That is why I use a CM-1500 for stick powder.

I don't think you have a safety issue though. You very likely can't get enough 4198 in a .223 case behind a 35gr bullet to cause any serious problem.

Sometimes it's better to charge you brass off press.

Motor

Shot fairly accurately - used some for 200 yard off-hand practice, and the 35 gr Hornady's shot fine in a 1/8 Twist 20" national match rifle.  Since I picked a mid-level power 4198, I didn't expect much for cycle reliability, but it wasn't too bad.  It cycled reliably, but only locked back maybe 50% of the.  Pressure signs seemed fine.  I suspect in a carbine it'll do better, considering its' burn/pressure curve.

Basically, all I've used for .223 for over 30 years is IMR4198.  Never any issues with 55 grain or 62 grain bullets in 16 and 20" barrels.

I'm about to go shorter though (trying a pistol soon) and looking to try lighter bullets and maybe different powder.  Not sure about what I'll need to get the effect I want at the lower velocities of the shorter barrels.  Trial/testing time again.