George,thank you for all the 223 a.i. information. wideners has federal 223 match brass p/n fgm223up. neck thickness is a constant .011. gordon

I was wondering if any of you have any experience with the .223 Ackley...I saw on another site where an individual was getting 3840 fps with 50gr. v-max bullets...he was using: Lake City brass, AA2520 powder in a 26" barrel....I was also wandering if you can tell me anything about Lake City Brass?? I have three (3) .223 Ackley Improved Rifles and I think they are great but I have never tried the above components....Any help would be appreciated....

gsh284win,

Welcome to the forums.

We have a few loads on our reloading pages of this site, which you can access through the website below.

gsh284win:

I also have a 223AI, and shoot 75 to 80 grain bullets in it, with great accuracy. It is a 1:8 twist Pac-Nor SSSM on a Savage 12FV action. I use LC brass exclusively. I found that the LC brass was very consistent in terms of case volume. Check out my shooting web pages for more 223AI info, including accuracy loads.

Good shooting!

Techshooter, Thank you soo much for the web site. Wow, what a wealth of good information....Question? Can you tell me where I can get Lake City Brass, all in the same lot #....another Question? Have you tried IMI brass and do you know how it compares to Lake City.....I've been told it about the same in strength, weight etc....

I also have a .223AI and it's one of the best things I've done for my rifle. I just can't say enough good things about having this done. I have shot the 50 gr V-max in my ackley but I prefer the 50 gr. Sierra Blitzking. They probably both shoot just about the same but I like to be able to tell at a glance my 40 gr. loads from my 50 gr. loads. I load most of my .223ai with AA2200 and I can get somewhere in the 3800 range with the 50 gr. bullets if I recall correctly. I can safely get the 40 gr. V-maxes up to 4200 in my rifle. I use Win brass but I'll be switching to rem brass. CCI mag primers for everything I load with AA2200, W748 or H335.

Good luck

Dogduster, Thank you very much for you comments....I've been using Win. brass for years and I like it a lot...I also use H-335 and cci-450 primers for P/dog hunting in South Dakota...I love to hunt coyotes and although I have some other rifles for coyote hunting, I wanted to use one of my .223 Ackley rifles. I've never used AA powders so this will be a first for me and anything you can tell me about it would be very helpful..what kind of powder and how much are you using to get 4200 fps with 40 gr. bullets???Any other comments would be more than welcomed...thanks again..George

284,

The lot of AA 2200 I have runs a little bit faster than H335 but very close in most instances from what I've seen. I had misquoted my data on the 40 gr. V-max loads. I got an average of just over 4100 with 28.5 gr of AA 2200. Keep in mind that I worked up to this and it was safe enough for ME by MY OWN opinion in MY RIFLE. I emphasize this so you won't start here and you will work up your own safe max load for your particular rifle. HTH

Dog-duster, Thanks again for the reply.....I looked at the Accurate Arms web site and didn't see AA2200 listed...They showed a AA2230 and a lot of other powders but did not show a AA2200.....Is that a new powder????? George

George, I wish I'd known you wanted som LC match brass! I had 148 peices of virgin(they're hard to find you know!!! ) that I just gave a friend who is starting to reload! If she hasn't used them yet, I'll be an indian giver and ask for them back and when you come to Grayson Co this spring, I'll try to meet you and give them to you! GHD

Charlie, Thank you very much, I look forward to meeting you....Maybe we can do a little groundhog hunting together in the afternoons....Right now I'm planning to come up the second week of the Turkey season...I'll let you know...thanks again...George

284,

AA 2200 is a now discontinued ball powder. I found data for it in the std .223 chambering on their website a couple of months ago. I worked up carefully from the posted data because I am using it in a .223AI. I figure it should still be there. I recall having trouble getting the page to load the first time I tried the site. If you're interested e-mail me at nano_2030@earthlink.net and I'll get the data out of my binder and send it to you.

gsh284win:

Sorry for the late reply, but I have been away from the PC.

I have never cared about lot # with LC brass. I got my last 500 cases (once fired at a military range) from a fellow at the local gun swap met for 20 bucks, and used my Dillon primer pocket swager to remove the crimp. My first 500 was from some Black Hills reman ammo that I shot in South Dakota last May. I have noticed no downside to mixing lot numbers.

I have not tried IMI brass. I tend to use what is available and cheap, and make the best of it. The results from the mixed bag LC brass has been nothing short of spectacular. I typically spend an afternoon at the range fireforming regular 223 brass using 25.3 gr VVN540 under a 80 gr Sierra MK and CCI BR primer. It gets going at about 2800 FPS, and groups under 0.5 inch at 100 yards, with the ocasional flyer. I get NO flyers using fireformed brass and 25.5 grains VVN140 under a 75 grain Hornady AMax. Both the above loads have an OAL that puts the bullet about 0.020" into the lands. I have fun fireforming by taking 45 ACP or 40 S&W cases left from police practice and lining them up on the top rail of my target stand at 100 yards. The profile is just like ranging in on a prairie dog at 500+ yards. It is fun picking them off one by one, and I end up with lots of fireformed brass!

techshooter, Thanks again for your comments..... I bought some cartridges in Montana a couple of years a go that were reloads by, I believe, PMC (not sure) and the cases turned out to be Lake City....I fireformed them in the field and when I got back home,I started checking them out...They ranged in weight from 91.7 grs. to 97.2 grs.. .I had about 70 out of the 100 that were in 64 to 65 grain weight range...I guess thats why I was asking about same lot number......I sorted them out and with the cases in the same weight range, groups improved dramatically...I would like to find some unfired Lake City Brass if I could....Thanks again for your help.....George

You might check with Midsouth shooters supply. They normally have LC brass though they may be out of it right now. I have used LC brass and have come to the conclusion that I am not too impressed with it. It's not very consistant. When neck turning I ended up taking a lot more off one side than the other, not a good sign. Primer pockets loose on some cases tight on others etc. It's just fine for varmints. I did get some really good IMI one time. It is worth a look. I am back to using Lapua but it has been a mess in many other ways, and is too expensive for still having problems. I really like the .223 AI but am thinking of changing the bolt face when this barrel is gone and going over to 22BR, just to get away from .223 brass. Getting match grade .223 brass is a pain in the butt. ...ol blue