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Posted: 8/29/2009 8:55:57 PM EDT
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So I have been reloading for a year, and have been reloading 223 in a 52,55,60 and 62gr with H335 anywhere from 23 to 25 grains. Today my local shop had some Hornady 68gr BTHP in stock. I grabbed a box along with some Reloader 15(they didn't have Varget).
Is it normal to feel sketchy about seating the round? I am seating the round at 2.250 and the round is compacting the powder at the bottom of my pull. Is this normal, and how could you ever seat a 75 grain round in such a case without really jamming it in there? I was only using 23 grains of RL15, I think the max is 24.5-25.5 edit: I can hear it crunching it down. |
| I am surprised it is crunching at 23 grains. It definitely will crunch at 25.5 grains. Keep the bullet out at 2.25 or 2.26 COAL, to minimize that effect. Reloder 15 may not be the powder of choice for the heavier bullets (75. 77. 80 gn). Less powder is used for the heavier bullets to control maximum chamber pressure. "Crunched" or "compressed" loads, particularly for the extruded powders, are normal in the AR world. |
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Quoted:
I am surprised it is crunching at 23 grains. It definitely will crunch at 25.5 grains. Keep the bullet out at 2.25 or 2.26 COAL, to minimize that effect. Reloder 15 may not be the powder of choice for the heavier bullets (75. 77. 80 gn). Less powder is used for the heavier bullets to control maximum chamber pressure. "Crunched" or "compressed" loads, particularly for the extruded powders, are normal in the AR world. Re-15 is a great powder for this load, I prefer it to Varget. Charges can be thrown from the PM, and loads are just as accurate. You will get chrunching with compressed loads. With either Varget or RE-15, it's normal. I use 2.250 for my OAL. |
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Quoted:
I am surprised it is crunching at 23 grains. It definitely will crunch at 25.5 grains. Keep the bullet out at 2.25 or 2.26 COAL, to minimize that effect. Reloder 15 may not be the powder of choice for the heavier bullets (75. 77. 80 gn). Less powder is used for the heavier bullets to control maximum chamber pressure. "Crunched" or "compressed" loads, particularly for the extruded powders, are normal in the AR world. RE-15 is perfect for bullets weighing from 69 to 80 grains in .223 Rem. I'm also surprised that the load is compressed with 23 grains unless there is just the slightest indication. Sinclair sells a 4 inch drop tube with interchangeable nose pieces that I use on my Uniflow. You could try swirling the charge into the case with a funnel, too. That will pack the charge about as well as a drop tube. In any case, it's not a problem. |
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Crunch loads that leave a ring around the bullet from seater pressure have caused medium/long range accuracy of proven loads to pretty much fall off a cliff. Make sure the bullet seater fits the bullet you are using. If you see a heavy ring on the bullet nose after seating a crunch load, stop until you get a seater that fits that bullet style. Wilson seaters are some of the worst offenders when seating long bullets with crunch loads of RE-15, Varget, and other rifle powder. Seating long bullets over heavy charges of ball/spherical type powders such as TAC/AA2520/H335 with the same unmodified Wilson seaters has not resulted in these seating rings on the bullet tips. Handloading extremely long-for-caliber bullets such as the Barnes 70gr. TSX to magazine is much easier when using ball/spherical powder. Both TAC & AA2520 worked well for me when loading the super-long 70gr. TSX bullet to high velocity while keeping them to AR15 magazine compatible OAL length.
.30 CAL crunch loads seated with unmodified Wilson seater below are the mirror image of the 5.56mm loaded with RE-15 & Varget: 
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What brass are you using? Some old Lapua brass and some foreign brass is very heavy and will not hold a full charge. If your empty, resized, unprimed, and trimmed cases weigh 100+ grains
switch brands of brass. Most US brass goes around 94 grains +/-. I would double check your scales and make sure they are on a level surface. I don't get crunching until 24.5 grains or so. 23 grains seems to me like a very modest charge which should not be close to being compressed yet. |
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Quoted:
So I have been reloading for a year, and have been reloading 223 in a 52,55,60 and 62gr with H335 anywhere from 23 to 25 grains. Today my local shop had some Hornady 68gr BTHP in stock. I grabbed a box along with some Reloader 15(they didn't have Varget). Is it normal to feel sketchy about seating the round? I am seating the round at 2.250 and the round is compacting the powder at the bottom of my pull. Is this normal, and how could you ever seat a 75 grain round in such a case without really jamming it in there? I was only using 23 grains of RL15, I think the max is 24.5-25.5 edit: I can hear it crunching it down. Compressed loads are common in 223 / 5.56 with some powders. You ought to see how much I have to compress IMR 4895 for max loads. Heavy loads with IMR 4895 fill up the case all the way into the neck, at least with the brass I've been using. |
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