Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading
On reloading...
Neeco:
Hoping to hear from those that have/do load .223
The batch I made had about 2.208x-ish COAL. Fired out of the Sig M400, with Hornady 60gr SP and 23gr of IMR 8208 XMR (the low end of the table).
The Max in the Hornady and Speer book is 2.260.
I need to do a ton more reading on ballistics/accuracy and reloading in general, but is my assumption of COAL, that as long as it is not past the max, and seats well in the chamber, that the difference between 2.214 (my MAX COAL) and 2.201 (my MIN COAL) is insignificant, and the only reason to find the perfect headspacing is for precision shooting?
I know many factors come into play with COAL, such as case length, bullet length and what not, so I would imagine that a variance of a 100th or two, and well under MAX, wouldn't be much of a game changer for a technique/plinking round?
The 25 I loaded this weekend shot fine out of my Sig M400, and while the shell kick out was less, the weapon cycled all 25 and locked back after the 25th. Perceived recoil wasn't significantly any different than the AE 55gr rounds from the manufacturer. Accuracy was just as good shooting freehand at 25 yards in 20 degree weather.
Thanks in advance.
A-FIXER:
Seating a bullet further in the neck on for example a compressed charge will increase chamber pressure it is ok to extend per mag or internal mag but how do your primers look are they flatten and is your strike on it deeper than normal did it bump fire if not this time good but as an overall keep your rounds at reloading spec's do not try to be a mad scientist.
A-FIXER:
most ar mags max length is 2.249 as to fit and cyc any longer will not allow it cyc fluidly to ask for problems
bkoenig:
COAL doesn't determine headspacing, just the distance the bullet has to jump to the lands. Ideally you want that as short of a jump as possible, which means seating the bullet farther out. Too long and you can jam the bullet into.the rifling which can cause a dangerous pressure spike. In most mag fed guns you will end up too long to fit into the mag before you reach that point.
A rimless case like .223 headspaces off the case shoulder. Tighter headspace (within reason) will generally lead to better accuracy. If the shoulder is bumped back too far it can cause excessive headspace. I saw that once with a member here. He was having primers back out on a rifle he just bought. Since it was factory ammo we thought his gun had excessive headspace, but after measuring the unfired cases he found the shoulder was way too.far back. Once.he reloaded them with good dies the problem went away.
Neeco:
--- Quote from: A-FIXER on February 04, 2013, 02:25:08 PM ---most ar mags max length is 2.249 as to fit and cyc any longer will not allow it cyc fluidly to ask for problems
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: A-FIXER on February 04, 2013, 02:22:39 PM ---Seating a bullet further in the neck on for example a compressed charge will increase chamber pressure it is ok to extend per mag or internal mag but how do your primers look are they flatten and is your strike on it deeper than normal did it bump fire if not this time good but as an overall keep your rounds at reloading spec's do not try to be a mad scientist.
--- End quote ---
I use standard PMAGS and had zero issue with feeding or cycling. Should I increase the COAL up to max? Or is a consistent COAL what you are after? The primers are seated deep enough and the case will sit completely flat on a flat surface (as I think UNFY mentioned in another thread). The primer strikes look no different than those of factory rounds. Nice and consistent.
I am certainly not trying to be a "mad scientist", I am only trying to enjoy the joys of saving a bit of money and reloading. I DO NOT wish to blow off a booger picker or worse. Hence the reason I am asking.
Thanks for your input!
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