Load data for .223/5.56 loads

Howdy shooters,

I have been prepping LOTS of brass and there is a lot of LC 5.56 in there with .223 rem.

they have all been sived and trimmer and are ready to go. i will be loading them with cci#400, H335, and 55g sierra FMJBT.

Now my question is does anyone split up the military and load them different? im looking to safely load the .223 and 5.56 brass at the same specs for just blasting ammo, is it ok to load them the same at around starting charge, or should i just work up a load for each just to be safe? ive never messed with loading the LC brass but have about 1k pieces of it.

Check your primer pocket's for a crimp on your L/C brass

george457d wrote:Check your primer pocket's for a crimp on your L/C brass

all LC or millitary brass has had the crimp reamed after trimming.

5.56 brass is known to have thicker walls, so you should work up separate loads for different cases.

That being said... After firing, full length resizing and trimming, I found the difference in case volume between 5.56 and 223 brass very minimal....so I load mine all the same now...especially for plinking rounds.

Just yesterday I tried out my 55gr fmj plinking rounds using H335. I was really surprised how much more accurate a handloaded 55gr fmj can be compared to most factory ammo of the same. My Ar pistol liked them and grouped well at 50 yards and fell within a 8" circle at 100 yards using the Eotech....and that's out a 11.5" barrel.

They also shot great out of my Savage 12...about the same shot placement as my 69gr loads, but the groups opened up a little bit.

Not bad for cheaper bulk bullets and not so "optimum" brass.

If you have larger quantities of the same headstamps...keep them separated by headstamps...if not, mixed and matched are fine for plinking.

hawcer wrote:5.56 brass is known to have thicker walls, so you should work up separate loads for different cases.

That being said... After firing, full length resizing and trimming, I found the difference in case volume between 5.56 and 223 brass very minimal....so I load mine all the same now...especially for plinking rounds.

Just yesterday I tried out my 55gr fmj plinking rounds using H335. I was really surprised how much more accurate a handloaded 55gr fmj can be compared to most factory ammo of the same. My Ar pistol liked them and grouped well at 50 yards and fell within a 8" circle at 100 yards using the Eotech....and that's out a 11.5" barrel.

They also shot great out of my Savage 12...about the same shot placement as my 69gr loads, but the groups opened up a little bit.

Not bad for cheaper bulk bullets and not so "optimum" brass.

If you have larger quantities of the same headstamps...keep them separated by headstamps...if not, mixed and matched are fine for plinking.

took about 60 out today, just mixed brass, FC,Rem,PMC,Win,LC etc.

they shot good out to about 100, and functioned well with no pressure signs, i think this will be my go to load for just wasting ammo lol. here is the data for anyone who may want to see it. and thanks for the tip hawcer.

mixed brass: 1.750
cci#400
24g H335
55g sierra FMJBT
COAL, 2.250

mixed brass: 1.750
cci#400
24g H335
55g sierra FMJBT
COAL, 2.250

Looks good!

....I ended up pushing it a grain or so more of H335 using WSR primers. The primers flatten a little....but That's almost a given without using magnum or Mil-spec primers.

The conventional wisdom says that the 5.56 mil surp brass should not be loaded to max load due to possible over pressure.

That being said, a mid or min load in a 5.56 mil surp brass should be OK. For plinking mild loads, mix brass should be no issue.

In my little Sako .223 AI I do not use mil surp brass, even though the PO used quite a few with no issues. Accuracy was about the same with either mil surp or civvy brass.

For the Sako I use civvy brass sorted by manufacturer. The Sako Bofors barrel is 1-12 twist and so far likes bullets less than 53 gr.

Brass tends to shrink a tad when I shoot it in the AI chamber, so I prefer to use virgin brass.

I have had real good results taking .204 Ruger and resizing it in my .223 AI die and trimming to .223 AI min OAL.

The mil surp 5.56 does tend to be harder and thicker and some cases split on the PO and had sticky extraction after firing in the .223 AI chamber.

I shoot a lot of mil surp 5.56 brass for general plinking and in my Super 14" T/C Conteder barrel.

howdy yall been a long time trying to find bullets seating leanth for 55 gr 69gr hp 4 a 20" 1/9 barrle and what is a good trim leanth. My book is oal 2.260 ive been doing 2.245" for 69gr and triming them too 1.756" iam i wrong Help please:O

johndeereboy24 wrote:howdy yall been a long time trying to find bullets seating leanth for 55 gr 69gr hp 4 a 20" 1/9 barrle and what is a good trim leanth. My book is oal 2.260 ive been doing 2.245" for 69gr and triming them too 1.756" iam i wrong Help please:O

For the 55's seat them to the cannelure. For the 69's I'd seat them to the longest OAL that will still fit and function in the magazine.

thnx