Has anybody out ther got the latest Hornady handbook? I received my copy today. I mainly reload .223REM.

When looking through the data I was amazed at how incredibly conservative the figures were. For example the start / max loadings were for 55gr V-MAX:

H335: 20.8gr / 23.2gr
Varget: 22.8gr / 26.4gr

In comparison Hodgdon give their max as

H335: 25.3gr
Varget: 27.5gr

This does not give me much confidence in the Hornady book, as I have used the Hodgdon quoted max charges with good effect to date.

How lawyer-safe do you need to get?

The way I look at it is that’s what Hornady got with the barrel they used.

One thing that you need to ask yourself, is Hornady closer to right than Hodgdon? Did you test your loads with some kind of pressure crush device? The cases and the chronograph won’t always tell you that high pressure exists at the lower end.

I have a17 Rem 25 gr. load that work just fine here at altitude during the cooler months, if I take them to the Utah desert in the spring, they’re nothing more than white streaks across the canyon (don’t even hit a target an 200 yards)(they are fast though). This load is right in line with published loading data (IMR 4320, 23.4 gr.). Go figure.

Anyone that formulates a reload from the maximum loads of any 1 source of published data is a fool.

Pressure testing equipment is getting better, and these companies want you as a return customer. Stop and think, compare, and work up to a load using a balance of a number of reloading sources.

Just to cut down on anyone’s concern about the 17 Utah load. I have a few other loads that works just fine.

Hodgdons web site shows the data you are useing of theirs, and they list a 55 gr Speer SP NOT a Hornady V-max. Different bullets, different results when loaded. You are comparing apples to oranges.

Tikka, any loading info. is a guide line not a bible. Use the data given & work up YOUR own loads.

There stuff is conservative in that section.