Working from Hornady's reloading manual, #9, and wanting to conserve my stocks of Varget as long as possible, I settled on IMR 3031 as a powder which would at least be compatible with both .223 Rem and .303 British, and I set to working the former up with 55 grain Hornady Vmax bullets, so as to have a direct comparison to factory ammunition. The factory fodder prints a little over an inch at 100 yards from... well, it wasn't the ideal rest, but it did the job.
Today I went back and, with those same Hornady cases primed with CCI BR-4 small rifle primers and topped with the same Hornady V-max bullets loaded to as close to 2.250" as I could get them (Lee neck sizing die and dead length bullet seater in the Classic turret press), I began with 20.5gn of IMR 3031 (minimum or very close thereto) and escalated in four-round groups of 0.5gn increments. Sure, four rounds isn't the be all and end all, but setting that aside, I figured it would at least give me a starting guide as to what would work well and what wouldn't. It also let me finish at 22.5gn, which was 0.3gn short of book maximum, which I don't want to exceed.
I numbered the lots 1 to 5 in ascending charge weight order and marked the cases with the appropriate number of straight lines. All had been dumped onto the scale using my Perfect Powder Measure and then trickled up to exact weight. All rounds were loaded into a Savage Axis II with factory-delivered Weaver 3-9 X 40 scope and shot supported from a bench with front and rear rest.
There were obvious pulled shots and flyers, which I neglected.
Group 1, 20.5 grains; 3 shots in 0.875" centre to centre, flyer way out and neglected.
Group 2, 21.0 grains; 4 shots 0.875" centre to centre.
Group 3, 21.5 grains; a shade over 0.875" (by about 1/32"; my glasses are letting me down here).
So far, so good; everything's under 1MOA. Just two groups to go.
Group 4, 22.0 grains; the fourth shot was a pulled shot that I called as soon as the thing went off. I could see something pretty good developing through the scope, and it was a shame about that last shot, but what I got before that was clearly the tightest group of the day without question. It was a neat little cloverleaf; 0.375" centre-to-centre.
(Group 5, 22.5 grains, blew right out to about 1.75". Let's not worry about that one. Suffice to say that there were no pressure issues in my rifle.)
So to summarise the recipe:
.223 Remington, Hornady cases, once-fired in my rifle and neck sized.
CCI BR-4 primer.
IMR-3031, 22.0 grains (0.8 below maximum, worked up in 0.5gn jumps).
Hornady 55gn V-max bullet, seated to 2.250" COAL.
Maybe the fourth shot on group 4 would have opened things up a bit if I hadn't pulled it; I can't say. But you can't argue with overlapping bullet holes, and I should think that's my go-to load in this rifle right now with this bullet, this primer and this powder.
IMO any further workup needs to be done a couple of tenths of a grain above and below to see whether I'm truly in an accuracy node and can afford a tenth-grain or so slippage here and there, and to repeat with standard (non-BR) small rifle primers and see if the magic continues. But I can't complain about those overlapping holes, and I can't complain about the tendency of this rifle to throw everything under that which I actually shot straight into less than 1MOA.
Anyone who's got this combination of components is welcome to give it a try and see if they get my results. As always, of course, start low and work up unless you're already there and know it's good to go.
Today I went back and, with those same Hornady cases primed with CCI BR-4 small rifle primers and topped with the same Hornady V-max bullets loaded to as close to 2.250" as I could get them (Lee neck sizing die and dead length bullet seater in the Classic turret press), I began with 20.5gn of IMR 3031 (minimum or very close thereto) and escalated in four-round groups of 0.5gn increments. Sure, four rounds isn't the be all and end all, but setting that aside, I figured it would at least give me a starting guide as to what would work well and what wouldn't. It also let me finish at 22.5gn, which was 0.3gn short of book maximum, which I don't want to exceed.
I numbered the lots 1 to 5 in ascending charge weight order and marked the cases with the appropriate number of straight lines. All had been dumped onto the scale using my Perfect Powder Measure and then trickled up to exact weight. All rounds were loaded into a Savage Axis II with factory-delivered Weaver 3-9 X 40 scope and shot supported from a bench with front and rear rest.
There were obvious pulled shots and flyers, which I neglected.
Group 1, 20.5 grains; 3 shots in 0.875" centre to centre, flyer way out and neglected.
Group 2, 21.0 grains; 4 shots 0.875" centre to centre.
Group 3, 21.5 grains; a shade over 0.875" (by about 1/32"; my glasses are letting me down here).
So far, so good; everything's under 1MOA. Just two groups to go.
Group 4, 22.0 grains; the fourth shot was a pulled shot that I called as soon as the thing went off. I could see something pretty good developing through the scope, and it was a shame about that last shot, but what I got before that was clearly the tightest group of the day without question. It was a neat little cloverleaf; 0.375" centre-to-centre.
(Group 5, 22.5 grains, blew right out to about 1.75". Let's not worry about that one. Suffice to say that there were no pressure issues in my rifle.)
So to summarise the recipe:
.223 Remington, Hornady cases, once-fired in my rifle and neck sized.
CCI BR-4 primer.
IMR-3031, 22.0 grains (0.8 below maximum, worked up in 0.5gn jumps).
Hornady 55gn V-max bullet, seated to 2.250" COAL.
Maybe the fourth shot on group 4 would have opened things up a bit if I hadn't pulled it; I can't say. But you can't argue with overlapping bullet holes, and I should think that's my go-to load in this rifle right now with this bullet, this primer and this powder.
IMO any further workup needs to be done a couple of tenths of a grain above and below to see whether I'm truly in an accuracy node and can afford a tenth-grain or so slippage here and there, and to repeat with standard (non-BR) small rifle primers and see if the magic continues. But I can't complain about those overlapping holes, and I can't complain about the tendency of this rifle to throw everything under that which I actually shot straight into less than 1MOA.
Anyone who's got this combination of components is welcome to give it a try and see if they get my results. As always, of course, start low and work up unless you're already there and know it's good to go.
