223/5.56 NATO 55gr FMJ

[RDub01]

Hello

Well, I went and did it.. Picked up a S&W M&P 15 Sport II in 5.56 NATO 16" 1-9" twist barrel.  I really thought I could live without one but.. Bud's Gun Shop had a deal I couldn't pass up.  Plus, being a vet I get another 50 dollar rebate.  Installed a Lucid HD-7 2- Minute red dot sight on it, for the time being.. This is turning out to be one sweet shooting rifle.  I've posted this elsewhere, though you guys might find it interesting..



Naturally I gathered some factory ammo and took it out for a spin and see how it does. I'll start working with 55gr projectiles first.
What I found locally was some Frontier 55gr FMJ, and American Eagle 55gr FMJ. I had to order the IMI ammo on-line.

The first thing I do with factory ammo is pull at least one down and examine it. If you want to see more details I have it all documented here;

https://postimg.cc/gallery/2c3rect8a/

https://postimg.cc/gallery/1o9ly103e/

https://postimg.cc/gallery/2jdpogbwa/

The bottom line is;
American Eagle had a 27.6gr charge and shot 3044 and 3061 fps
Frontier had a 27.4gr charge and shot 3010 and 3012 fps
IMI had a 27.0gr charge and shot 3018 fps

So...  Being the hand loader I am, the first thing that come to mind is, how do I duplicate these?
How 'bout that, another project..

I stay current on most of the major data sources so went through all the 55gr data and made a reference chart. I do this with a lot of stuff I work with.



So from this I decided on what the work up ladders were going to look like. Just recently finished working with a 7.62 NATO rifle so the powders that I used for that project were appropriate for the 5.56 as well..

Decided on three group ladders working up to, or just shy of the highest listed charge, and watching for pressure signs as it progresses.

Picked up a thousand 55gr FMJ bullets from a major bullet source, and immediately noticed that they were not all the same bullet..  The cannalures were in different places, the ogives were different and weights varied.  Great...  It appears there are three maybe four different styles in there. My buddies tell me this is quite common with these 'deals'..

Well I sorted through these and segregated them by cannalure location and size, ogive shape and weight the best I could.  So each fifteen rounds representing each powder are loaded with close to the same bullet as possible.

I discovered a coffee can full of once fired LC brass, so that worked out..

Cleaned them up with my Frankford SS pin tumbler. Sized with a Redding SB sizer, trimmed with the World's Fastest Trimmer, crimped in the cannalures with a LEE Factory Crimp die. Primer crimps were removed with an RCBS bench swager.

The powders I chose to work with are; 
AA2015, AR COMP, AA2230, IMR 8208, AA 2460, H-335, TAC , 748, BL-C(2), W846, AA2520, and CFE223.

All the loads were weighed individually by hand.
Primers used for AA2015, AR COMP and IMR 8208 were Rem 6½. The rest,  CCI 450.
(Should have used Rem 7½'s.. oops)
So off the range..

Day one;
The 50 yard target range seemed the best distance to shoot groups with the red dot sight.
Targets are 4" in diameter.
Velocity data was taken with an Oehler model 33.
Screens centered 15' from muzzle.



Turns out my Oehler controller has developed an ultra-sensitivity issue. The higher charged loads were reading incorrectly. The targets that say 'No Data' were the ones affected. So after going back and forth with Mr. Oehler, he sent me a brand new controller, never before sold.  So last time out I tried it out and it worked flawlessly.  Back in business again..

Here is day two;
Shot these loads again after the new controller arrived..





Well, almost every powder managed to shoot some nice groups somewhere along the line..  H-335 and AA 2520 really get with the program with respect to velocity.. The high end loads were warm, but not terrible. The loads in the middle would be a max load in this rifle.

Day 2 target #17;
The Lucid HD-7 sight has a auto-off feature that, in two hours of continuous operation, it will shut itself off.  Well I was just squeezing off the last shot, and just when the firing pin was being engaged, the sight went off, so I shot without a red dot.  Had this not happened I believe this would have been a excellent group..  Have to re-shoot it sometime.

The factory loads all shoot in excess of 3000 fps and are loaded with 27.0 – 27.6grs of a ball propellant. It would appear that the IMI ammo uses some very similar to AA 2520.

AR COMP;  the order got switched. The starting load, 24.0grs, is on the far right of the three targets..

With the exception of H-335 and AA 2520 on the high end, no excessive pressure signs were noted.

I expected a little more out of CFE223.. Maybe it needs a longer barrel?

Here is a graph to see all the velocities from the air..
At the bottom you can see the factory loads velocities and charge weights compared to the hand loads.



So that was interesting.. I'm going to do this again with 62gr FMJ green tip bullets..

Bear in mind this is all relative to one rifle, one shooter, one place and time, one set of components.  Change any one variable and this could all change. Don't accept this as loading data. You must do your own work ups with your rifle.
Hello

[Trapper6L]

I load for the family 223/5.56 which is probably more than 16 different rifles. The cartridge tends to shoot on nodes. The most common one is 25.0 grs AA2230 under a 55 gr bullet(3100'ps). That's the usual loading for all of these rifles. Two of my AR15s will put that load into the same hole at 100yds. Another node is 25.0grs H335. Only one of the family AR 15 is open sights, the rest carry pretty heavy glass. I noticed you're shooting a red dot so accuracy of the type I get will not be the same.

On a 62 gr bullet. I load for 8 different rifles that the 62gr bullets group really good, all with heavy glass and 1:7" to 1:9" twists. Again, the cartridge seems to work on nodes as the same loads shoot pretty much the same in every rifle. 27.0grs Varget shoots tiny cloverleafs(3150'ps). But you need to know that some folks using Varget in a 223 chamber are having issues with combustion deposits that any of the bore cleaners won't touch. Several of the guys have just had to replace barrels due to it. The deposits are located where the throat ends and rifling begins. I'm going to assume it is a heat related issue but use Varget with caution. Another node is 23.7grs AA2230 under a 62 gr bullet. That gives you 3100'ps prox. All velocities posted are from loading data, not chronographs.

I will caution you, there's a reason most people have an arm load of ARs, they are extremely addicting. Building an upper is super simple and should you decide you need another upper, consider the 6x 45. The round was used by the military as a sniper round for a while. It's extremely accurate. Mine will put the 70gr TNT Speer in the same hole all day long at 100yds if you can. It's going down range at 3100'ps and is major poison on coyotes and feral hogs. Yeah, you're gonna want more but......should you?

[Wyocaddis]

loading 50-55gr. bullets I see one very good powder missing from your chart. That would be Benchmark extremely well at 3150-3200 fps in a 16" and 3400fps in bolt rifles with very low standard deviations. Shoots very well in all of mine, about all AR or bolt platforms, Just a suggestion, but get dime size groups from the short AR's  and under half consistently from bolts. Using Remington 71/2 primer and Lake City brass. Just my 2 cents. Have fun

[The_Shadow]

RDub01, Thanks for your writeup.  I never really wanted to jump in on the AR's either, however my brother had gotten one from a military buddy that shoots with the AMU. 
They were shooting Black Hills contracted ammo and shared some to my brother. The pull down info and link below:

Black Hills 5.56 NATO 77gr Sierra Match King OTM  2009 (provided by Shadow)
Ballistics Information: 5.56 NATO / 223
Muzzle Velocity: 2750 fps
Muzzle Energy: 1293 ft. lbs
Brass Make/Headstamp: Winchester  WCC – Brass
Bullet Make/Weight/Construction/Info; Length 1.0025"/Dia. 0.2245": Sierra 77gr. OTM
HP Depth 0.2320" / Boat Tail Hollow Tip
Actual weight 77.0 grains  / crimp cannelure  0.2230"
C.O.A.L.: 2.2430"/2.2445"/2.2465"/2.2475"/2.2475"2.2480"/2.2490"/2.2505"/2.2550"
Primer: Small Rifle Brass color (crimped)
Case: Diameter 0.3730" Crimp Diameter 0.2465"/0.2475" Length 1.7565"
Powder Description/Positive ID/Type/Charge Weight:  ?BL-C 2?  25.0 grains  (not totally sure of the powder as many can be close o each other)

Link to pull down...
http://10mm-firearms.com/factory-ammo-pull-downs/5-56-nato-223-remington-pull-downs/msg58405/#msg58405

His rifle is 1:7 twist as made...
Loaded some BL-C2 for my brother
SPEER  0.224" 62 gr Gold Dot BTSP
Hodgdon BL-C2 powder 26.0 grain
Winchester SRP
Cartridge Overall Length 2.2500"-2.2505"


Loaded for myself for my PSA rifle which is 1:7" twist
SPEER  0.224" 62 gr & 64 gr Gold Dot BTSP
CFE223 powder 26.2 grain
Lake City Brass
CFE223 powder 26.2 grain
Winchester SRP
Velocity    3000 fps 16" BBL
Energy   1278 ft/lbs
Cartridge Overall Length 2.2500"-2.2505"

Here is a picture of my PSA 15
16" Chrome Moly steel, Melonite finish
-5.56 NATO chamber
-1:7 twist
-Mid-length gas system
-A2 flash hider
-11" Keymod Rail
-Full Auto 5.56 BCG (Chrome lined gas key, chrome lined carrier, Milspec 158 steel bolt)
-PSA Lower with Magpul ACS-L Stock, Magpul MOE Pistol Grip, Magpul Trigger Guard

[The_Shadow]

I'm trying to test out some 55grain loads: (come on cooler weather)
223/556  Cal .224" 55 gr FMJ BT
IMR 3031 powder 24.2 grain
CCI400 SRP
Velocity  3000 fps 16" BBL
Energy 1099 ft/lbs
Cartridge Overall Length 2.2400"

[RDub01]

Wyocaddis;  Didn't have any Benchmark at the moment. Used what I had left on 308 workups.  I'll have to try some.

Trapper6L;  Back in the '80's I had a Colt CAR-15 and it loved H-335. That was the only way we could duplicate the LC military ammo at the time.  But for some reason, this gun does not care for H-335 with the lighter bullets, 55-62gr all that much.  However, with the 69gr SMK it is showing much promise.  I'll post that later.
AA2230 did well, as I hoped it would. Mine did better at the 25.5gr mark.. But that was just one outing.. We'll see.
The main focus here was to, as closely as possible, duplicate velocity and accuracy of the M193 round.. Just in case things get ugly again.  AA2520 has been consistently delivering both velocity and accuracy.  BL-C(2) and TAC coming in second.

I was under the impression that W844 (H-335?) was used in M193 ammo.  The LC and Frontier, which I've heard LC makes, both have charges in excess of 27 grains.  I would think that a bit hot for W844?  The Israelis are using their own blend I would think, but even theirs is an even 27 grains.

I'll put some glass on this eventually, and then I'll work on fine tuning some accurate loads.
I got the 'stink-eye' from the finance minister when I bought this, so that's going to be it for a while..
This has been a whole bunch of fun, so I can see how one could get carried away..

Hey Shadow;
I saw that 77gr pull-down a while ago.
Interesting, that Johnny's Reloading Bench did a whole series of U-Tube videos about duplicating the Black Hills round using a variety of powders. IIRC AA2520 and CFE223 were among the favorites.
That's a sweet rifle!

[Univibe]

I'd skip the frontier.   It's cheaper, but inaccurate in my ARs.  M4carbine reports popped primers and case head failures.  It's $2 / 20 rounds cheaper for a reason.