Armory Sponsor
Posted: 8/8/2011 1:37:37 PM EDT
|
First off I just wanted to thank everyone in advance for any advice that you can give me and also to say that yes this is my first post on AR15 but I have been browsing these forums for years, just never had anything worth saying.
So lets get to it. I just finished my first set of cartridges that I have every reloaded (.223) last week and test fire them over the weekend and I am happy to report that I still have all my digests and they all fired fine. Now I have a few questions that came about while I was reloading them that have to do with choice of powder, seating depth and just an overall cartridge make up. So i guess it would be best to give the cartridge build first. The brass that I used was mostly various years of Lake City with a few other random makers thrown in (Range Brass) 
The bullet was a Winchester 55gr FMJBT The Primers were CCI small rifle The Powder was Hodgdon 4895. I used 24gr of powder. The First problem that I ran into was that I didn't buy the powder that I wanted to get (H335). I picked up the powder from a Cabela’s on the way home from camping and when I got there my phone had already died so I had no way to look up the recommended powder. I ended up getting the H4895 because that's what I saw in a Barnes reloading book and the only thing I could remember was that it was Hodgdon. The only reason that this became a problem is that I couldn't find any information for a 55gr FMJBT round and this powder. So in the end I used some info that I found on another reloading website that recommended 25gr to 26gr of the H4895 with the 55gr bullet. I used 24gr because in all the reading that I have done it talks about starting a little lower and working your way up to a desired load. I am not saying that I have found any problems with this combination but I am not sure if this is the right amount of powder. Now since I have never reloaded before nor have I had anyone show me the ropes this next issue might be just a lack of experience. I seated the bullet to a depth of 2.20 inches; I found this information on a Lee reloading pamphlet in my die set. The problem came about after I had set the die to the appropriate seating depth; I couldn't get it to repeat the depth. Every cartridge seamed to very + - .005 and I had about 4 that were -.01 under. Other than these two issues everything seemed to be fine and from what I could tell the make up for this cartridge worked. I still need to take some time and see how accurate this is but I wanted to work out any flaws first. Once again thanks for any help or advice that you can give me. |
|
I went to both the Hodgdon website and the Winchester and could not find information for the combination of a 55gr FMJBT with H4895. On the Hodgdon site when I narrow it down it gives me info for "55 GR. SFIRE" and "55 GR. SPR SP". Since I didn't see any information for a FMJ 55gr and seeing the difference in recommended powder just between the two bullets that were listed i figured that i couldn't use that data.
Once again i am new to all of this so maybe i missed something on the site. |
|
Welcome to the forum!
You can look up reloading data at the manufacturer's website but I definitely recommend that you make a reloading manual your next purchase. It's not uncommon for a reloader to have many manuals as it is useful for cross referencing data. I don't know that Winchester has a manual, but it's best and convinient if you have the manual that matches the bullet brand that you are loading (Hornady's manual for Hornady's bullets for example). My recommendation for your first manual would be the Lyman 49th edition. It is packed full of reloading recipes for a variety of different style bullets. I also highly recommend that you pick up a copy of ABCs of Reloading. It's a great book with lots of helpful information for the experienced reloader and beginners alike. As far as your questions concerning the .223, I don't load that caliber yet and I don't have experience with Lees dies either so I'm sorry but I can't help you with that. I'm sure one of the moderators or someone who has experience will pop in here soon and answer your questions. Glad to have you active in the forum. 
|
|
Congrats on your first rifle reloads! Hornady 8 recommends for H4895 & 55 gr. FMJBT: 22.7 gr. @ 2800 fps, 23.5 gr. @ 2900 fps, 24.3 gr. @ 3000 fps, to a max of 25.1 gr. @ 3100 fps. ETA: COL of 2.200 Sounds like you're in there in that dept. I've never tried H4895, myself. Your second issue regarding differing OAL's is normal as the seater is using the ogive of the bullet, and not the tip. Variences in OAL are normal and .005 isn't an issue. Try some Hornady FMJBTs or their SP bullets for better accuracy and still on the cheap. Have fun. |
|
Quoted:
First off I just wanted to thank everyone in advance for any advice that you can give me and also to say that yes this is my first post on AR15 but I have been browsing these forums for years, just never had anything worth saying. So lets get to it. I just finished my first set of cartridges that I have every reloaded (.223) last week and test fire them over the weekend and I am happy to report that I still have all my digests and they all fired fine. Now I have a few questions that came about while I was reloading them that have to do with choice of powder, seating depth and just an overall cartridge make up. So I guess it would be best to give the cartridge build first. The brass that I used was mostly various years of Lake City with a few other random makers thrown in (Range Brass)
The bullet was a Winchester 55gr FMJBT The Primers were CCI small rifle The Powder was Hodgdon 4895. I used 24gr of powder. The First problem that I ran into was that I didn't buy the powder that I wanted to get (H335). I picked up the powder from a Cabela’s on the way home from camping and when I got there my phone had already died so I had no way to look up the recommended powder. I ended up getting the H4895 because that's what I saw in a Barnes reloading book and the only thing I could remember was that it was Hodgdon. The only reason that this became a problem is that I couldn't find any information for a 55gr FMJBT round and this powder. So in the end I used some info that I found on another reloading website that recommended 25gr to 26gr of the H4895 with the 55gr bullet. I used 24gr because in all the reading that I have done it talks about starting a little lower and working your way up to a desired load. I am not saying that I have found any problems with this combination but I am not sure if this is the right amount of powder. Now since I have never reloaded before nor have I had anyone show me the ropes this next issue might be just a lack of experience. I seated the bullet to a depth of 2.20 inches; I found this information on a Lee reloading pamphlet in my die set. The problem came about after I had set the die to the appropriate seating depth; I couldn't get it to repeat the depth. Every cartridge seamed to very + - .005 and I had about 4 that were -.01 under. Other than these two issues everything seemed to be fine and from what I could tell the make up for this cartridge worked. I still need to take some time and see how accurate this is but I wanted to work out any flaws first. Once again thanks for any help or advice that you can give me. Welcome to the Reloading Forum. It is a very poor practice to get reloading data off posts. Always confirm a given load with published data. You need to use published data, begin at the start load and work up your load. Winchester 55 gr FMJBT bullets are of poor quality. Next time get some Hornady 55 gr FMJBT bullets, they are the best 55 gr FMJBT bullet out there. Don't worry about a slight variation of OAL, it happens with all bullets. More with some bullets. I use H-4895 in 45-70, get some H-335 or Tac for 223, if will measure much better than H-4895. |
|
Welcome to the madness.
As stated Hornady makes the best 55 FMJ (IMHO). While not my 1st choice in powder, 4895 will work. It meters like crap (as I'm sure you know by now). Keep going. Work slowly and deliberately. Double check everything you do. Dont be distracted and concentrate. For 55's and close to them (50 - 60 grains) I like H335, W748, and Vit. N-133. Some are temperature sensitive, some meter better than others and some are more expensive but give me astounding accuracy, precision and repeatability. Half the fun of reloading is working up whats best in YOUR gun. Theres ALOT of good info here and the knowledge of members here is worth the membership alone. Get some new powders to work with. Maybe a couple of heavier projectiles. ETA: what kind of reloading setup do you have? Do you load for (or plan to load for) other calibers? What kind of bang stick (s) are you using? Are you looking for plinking, Varmint loads, precision loads? |
| I second what has been said about multiple manuals. if one book doesn't have it, another one probably does. I also recommend you try Hornady bullets the next time you go shopping for bullets. I've had great luck with them, and the cost the same, if not sometimes less than the Winnie's. |
|
Thank to everyone for all the help and suggestions that you have given me so far.
I have a RCBS Rock Chucker that I was given by a friend that happened to have and extra  . So as you can tell it is one step at a time but I kind of like that at the moment because I feel that I am gaining a better understanding of the process and can really watch what I do. Other than my press i picked up a Cabela's case tumbler, a Lyman case trimmer, a RCBS powder thrower, a hand held Lee Auto primer and the Lyman universal case prep hand tools. As for dies i original picked up two Lee dies a .223 and a .45 but have recently went to a RCBS for loading .223 because i got a case stuck and couldn't get it unstuck... So some people that i talk to said just go to RCBS because it is easier to get stuck cases out.
Hope this gives you a good idea of what my setup is like So at the moment i am only loading .223 and .45 but i plan on loading .270 for my dear rifle in the next few weeks and 9mm and .308 down the road. I am firing my .223 out of my AR 16" barrel with a 1in9 twist and it is just for plinking and some rabbit fun ATM. The .45 will be for my HK USP and the .270 will be for my Winchester model 70 pre 64. |
Armory Sponsor