I am looking some info for a starting point for a decent load for my dads CRT-02 .223 rifle. When he purchased the rifle they gave him 1000 rounds of average remington ammo and that's exactly how it shoots (average). I want to work up some rounds so he can see the true potential of this rifle. Any suggestions on where I can start? I have a Savage bolt .223
that I worked up some good rounds for with benchmark powder and 55g hornady bullets but I think the 55g would not be heavy enough for the AR? Should I start at a 69g and see how that goes?

AR'S in my experience with 1:7 1:8 1:9 twist barrels will do 52-75 grain pretty darn well in most cases !.

One of Mine shoots exceptional groups with 25.5 BLC-2 behind a 55 grain whatever bullet . Seriously they can

be bulk rounds and they shoot dime size holes @ 100 M . Make sure your chamber is CLEAN fire NEW cartridges

measure and check differences between fired and unfired , for proper shoulder set back .

I like most everything I shoot at .002" set back now , no loading problems and minimal case stretch an

accuracy speaks for it's self !. Bullet off the lands at About .005 - .015" . I like mine at .010" others

might prefer a slight jump then some like .002" , That's where fine tuning comes to play

As for powders H 335 ,Benchmark ,4895 , 4198 ,Varget ,4064, BLC-2 all seem do do well in the .223 .

One last note Personally I keep my Bolt cartridges separate from my Semi Autos ,

it's a chamber and throat thing !. BOL ...

The main load i shoot now days is 25.0 RL15,Rem7 1/2, an SMK 69 in a Winchester case.
You have to seat most any .223 in an AR to 2.25" or so for everything to fit and function.

For lighter bullets TAC works great.

My 1/9 twist shoots 69s just fine.
Some 1/9s will even shoot 77smk just have to try and find out.

My 1/7 twist shoots 52 gn bullets without problems.
Some 1/7s explode varmint bullets.

The best thing you can do is buy a copy of the latest Sierra reloading book and a copy of Glenn Zideker's Reloading for Competition.

This will give you enough information to keep you busy for years.

Every rifle is a little different, and needs to be figured out individually.



Ps
The original rifle was designed to work with a 55 gn bullet and a max load of H322 or equivalent.
There are just many more choices today depending on need

Covey16