Mine love's 55 gr Hornady sp and 24 gr of Tac.I know you can go higher on powder but I love this load and it's consistently accurate.
Need advice on loading for an AR rifle
- Thread starter stovepipe
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I'm thinking it could be a brass issue, I bought a bunch from a guy who said it was range brass once fired, IDK but that's what sticks in my mind, I'm gonna try to get some quality. 556 brass and try it again..kinda frustrating
I'd say try using non mixed brass, preferably at least fired once in your rifle, then resized and used for load development. That'll give you a much better chance to get consistent MV and more consistent POI.
Keep your chamber and your barrel clean of carbon.
There are lots of other things to potentially look at and talk about, but that'll be a good start on your quest to start over. Good luck.
Petey308 is right.The brass will always want to conform to the chamber that shot it originally.
I wish I had some unused brass to send you but I don't.
If you can't find some buy some factory ammo and shoot it and you will have brass to reload.
Midway usa had some 556 IMI on sale last week in 30 round box's,not sure if they are still on sale or not.
Sportsman Wharehouse had some instore ammo pretty cheap the last time I went but I didn't buy any.Check with them also.
Start with known good ammo and go from there.
I wish I had some unused brass to send you but I don't.
If you can't find some buy some factory ammo and shoot it and you will have brass to reload.
Midway usa had some 556 IMI on sale last week in 30 round box's,not sure if they are still on sale or not.
Sportsman Wharehouse had some instore ammo pretty cheap the last time I went but I didn't buy any.Check with them also.
Start with known good ammo and go from there.
stirner
Well-Known Member
Since the PMC ammo shot relatively well, measure the setback of a loaded round. Buy a box of another brand of ammo, with a different bullet weight. Measure the setback on these bullets also. If the second brand shoots well, that furthur reinforces the assumption that the problem is not the rifle.
When reloading, sort the brass by brand. Anneal the cases everytime they are fired. Setback the shoulders the same amount as the factory cases. What you're trying to do, is duplicate the way the factory rounds are constructed. So, if the above doesn't work, then trim the cases to exactly the same length, and try different degrees of crimp. Good luck.
When reloading, sort the brass by brand. Anneal the cases everytime they are fired. Setback the shoulders the same amount as the factory cases. What you're trying to do, is duplicate the way the factory rounds are constructed. So, if the above doesn't work, then trim the cases to exactly the same length, and try different degrees of crimp. Good luck.
ChrisTeam2
Active Member
Good comments on this thread. More information is needed...
Could you share with us what components you have available for your load (73 Gr. ELD-Ms & PMC brass, check)? What powders, bullets, primers do you have in stock for your rifle? If you wrote down your load data, what are your 2 best loads so far and what were your groups?
Also, what reloading press are you using, are you using a progressive? How much are you bumping the shoulder? I am assuming you are full length resizing? Also, you said you cleaned your barrel but did you use a copper solvent/bore cleaner as part of your barrel cleaning process? How many rounds to you have through it now?
Are you shooting with a bipod and a rear bag, from the prone position? From a bench? What size groups are you getting now?-Are those 3 or 5 shot groups?
Could you share with us what components you have available for your load (73 Gr. ELD-Ms & PMC brass, check)? What powders, bullets, primers do you have in stock for your rifle? If you wrote down your load data, what are your 2 best loads so far and what were your groups?
Also, what reloading press are you using, are you using a progressive? How much are you bumping the shoulder? I am assuming you are full length resizing? Also, you said you cleaned your barrel but did you use a copper solvent/bore cleaner as part of your barrel cleaning process? How many rounds to you have through it now?
Are you shooting with a bipod and a rear bag, from the prone position? From a bench? What size groups are you getting now?-Are those 3 or 5 shot groups?
Critter Picker
Well-Known Member
I made a mistake on my previous post. Should be 69 MK not 68. Also would like to state that I prefer Lapua brass,but with an AR platform they tend to throw away perfectly good brass. You can use a brass catcher and it will help, but when you look out the window and see a skunk attacking and know how Custer must have felt,you just grab the AR and commence to defend yourself and the brass flies. Starline 5.56 brass will serve you well and doesn't hurt so much to loose a few.
Also would like to tell you that it wouldn't hurt to try 2230 accurate powder. I have a load that shoots low .3's with my bolt gun and constistant sub inch from a 20 inch AR 7 twist .
Also would like to tell you that it wouldn't hurt to try 2230 accurate powder. I have a load that shoots low .3's with my bolt gun and constistant sub inch from a 20 inch AR 7 twist .
jake545
Well-Known Member
Range brass is not helping but if you can sort, it may help. If you get like brass and it doesn't produce similar results, then I would say the group you got was an outlier. Keep looking for a load and don't get stuck on that one.
Thank you guys for all this, I really appreciate your help, I have 2 bolt guns in 223 and many other bolt rifles and have never had any trouble loading for them , this one has me puzzled a little. So as far as cleaning I use thoro clean and a nylon brush, it does a really good job, rifle has approximately 125 rds fired I've cleaned it 3 times..not enough now that I look back. I have plenty varget, xbr 8208, H4895, benchmark,nearly all the hodgon powder that are suitable for the 223, also have reloader 15.5 which works super in the bolt guns for heavies. Bullets I have that I would like to use in the ar, sierra 55 , 65 gameking, 69 and 77 TMK, hornady 55 v max, 73 eldm, barnes 62 gr tsx. I have lapua brass for my bolt guns and 1000 remington 1x fired for the ar and I have all the small rifle primers from every manufacturer.
Range brass and accuracy usually do not run together!
Anything that is new and all of the same lot would be a big jump towards accuracy
If it's all the same lot, you can get that stuff to work well. A fresh proper anneal before full length resizing it would be best. Then load them up with a cheap bullet and cheaper powder that is an appropriate burn rate, but not necessary what you'll be using for precision loads, and go fire form them in your chamber.
Then start your load development over with that brass. Your results should be way more consistent and repeatable.
