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Author Topic: store bought .223 cartridges  (Read 673 times)

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Offline ThudThumper

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store bought .223 cartridges
« on: October 22, 2006, 01:24:39 PM »
hey guys,

i know many of you are probably reloaders and are much more experienced with this kind of thing, so forgive me if i seem a bit behind the curve (cuz i am).

i went to the range on saturday, and had a great day for the most part.  i bought a few different brands of ammo in several different sizes in .223 for my handi ultra-varmint rifle.  basically, here's what happened:

45 gr. winchester white box, hp              .75" @ 100 yds.
55 gr. wolf, hp                                      didn't have a chance to try beyond 50 yds.  (didn't shoot very well at 50 anyway)
62 gr. american eagle, fmj                       over 6" @ 100 yds.  (some didn't even hit the blank space around the target)

when i got back to the house i took some measurements using a micrometer on some cartridges that i had left over.  the winchesters all had a diameter of .223 like i expected, but the wolf was .224, and the american eagle was all over the place ranging from .218 to .225.  so i guess it makes sense why the winchesters are so much more consistent.  after noticing how different the bullet diameters were, i figured the total cartridge length would differ too, so i measured it as well.  i was surprised that all brands varied between 5 or 8 thousanths of one another (depending on the brand.)

so for those of you who are familiar with this kind of thing, is it normal for bullets to be seated at different depths?  also, will the bullets that are larger than .223 wear out my barrel faster?
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Offline fuzzy

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2006, 01:59:22 PM »
Hey TT the white box stuff is pretty much what you judge everything else aginst. a 22cal is 224. get a reloading manel do some reading even if you dont reload lot of good info about carg sizeies,ballst and other thing`s. there can be a lot of differince in bullet diam. seam`s the handies dont like the heavy bullets over 55gr some do Rich
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Offline McLernon

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2006, 04:15:40 PM »
Ya! If you can get a reload to shoot as well as the WWB 45 gr. HP's you have  arrived!!

McLernon

P.S. I finally did it.
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Offline stimpylu32

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2006, 06:29:56 PM »
My bull barrel 223 just hates the 45 WWB but does well with the Rem 55s . Also it will shoot the 52 , 53  and 55 hand loads very good .

For some reason it will not shoot anything under 50 gr. or over 55 gr. The 50 and 55 V-Max shoot good and so does the 55 Win. JSPs .

The Wolf and Silver Bear were a complete waste of time , i only shot about 10 rounds each of those .

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:D If i can,t stop it with 6 it can,t be stopped

Offline ThudThumper

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2006, 06:40:06 AM »
i'd love to start reloading, but this broke college student already has trouble buying books, food, and gas.  haha, unless one of you wants to donate a reloading bench and a set of dies for .223   ;D

i'm pretty excited about the .75" grouping with the .45 wwb jhp.  i was actually wabbling left to right every time my heart would beat, and i couldn't slow down my pulse that day...too much caffiene i guess.  hopefully i'll get the chance to go prone and shoot a grouping this weekend; i'm not comfortable shooting from a bench (i'm really amazed at how well i did last week).  it's amazing how much better i am this year as compared to last year though...shooting my air rifle for the last 12 months definitely taught me how to be consistent.
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Offline stimpylu32

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2006, 07:03:31 AM »
TT

Were are you going to school at , maybe we can find someone to help you start loading .

stimpy
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Offline ThudThumper

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2006, 08:29:46 AM »
marietta, ga.  i am attending spsu.  i shoot on the weekends at charlie elliot wildlife center; they have a free range there.

it's awful thoughtful of you to even mention that, stimpy... :)
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Offline jdr

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2006, 06:48:54 PM »
Mine also loves the 45gr JPH WWB. But thats it :(. I haven't able to shoot a whole lot of ammo with my .223, due to the closest range is around 60 miles away. It has under 250 bullets down the barrel, could this be my problem. I also had to clean it with Brownells compound cleaner to get it shooting the 45gr's properly. I did try the $5 Remington Green/White box stuff at wal-mart, and it shot poorly, i even tried the Winchester Supreme Ballastic Tip 50gr'ers and still nothing. Then I did try the 45GR, and there it was, a nice shooting rifle. I am getting ready for a run to the range in the next few weekends to go at it once again. My only problem is, I can not find the 45gr JPH WWB anymore. No Wal-Mart or Gun store carries it within a 100 miles radius. I even checked Midway, and its out of stock, and no backorder option. What should I try?
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2006, 07:27:26 PM »
I reload .223s, and I load from 45 to 70 gr bullets.  My Handi only shoots the 45gr ones well.  50 and 55gr loads for my Ruger mini-14, and 65 and 70gr loads for my TCs.  With the 65 and 70 grain loads the Handi won't put 3 out of 5 shots on the paper (12X12inch target) at 100 yards.  But the 45gr bullets shoot well, even out to 300 yards.  That's as far as I will shoot it.
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Offline ThudThumper

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Re: store bought .223 cartridges
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2006, 11:29:52 PM »
over the summer, i shot just over a 3.5" grouping at 400 yards with the 45 gr. wwb jhp.  ha, i had about 18 inches of hold-over and had to aim 12 inches left due to the wind.  but yeah, jdr, i can't find the winchester stuff around here either.  luckily whenever i visit my grandparents in north carolina the local walmart is always stocked with it.
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