I have been shooting a Cooper .223 A/I for about a year. The barrel has a 1:14 twist and I have been achieving reasonable good success with certain loads. Some of the best have been with 40 and 50 grain bullets with Varget. Does anyone have favorites they would like to share. Better yet, if there are any Cooper owners who have found a good load would you share it?

Gary Buffon

I have M21 Cooper, .223 AI. My two best loads so far are 50gr Blitz King, 27.5 gr of 2015 and
40gr Blitz King, 28.5 gr of 2015.IMI brass for all loads. Both are consistantly accurate in my gun, quarter inch or smaller groups are routine.

H335 is supposed to be the most consistently accurate in this chambering. I've been using it to fireform for my new .223 AI and even then it is proving to be very accurate.

I have had terrific success with 30 gr H335 capped with a 40 gr V-max or 28.5 gr 335 under a 50 gr Blitzking. A couple of months ago I aquired 16 lbs of AA 2200 and it seems to be showing some good velocities and accuracy as I work it up with the two previous bullets. Make sure you work up to these first. All in Win brass and CCI mag primers. HTH

Dog-duster

Has anyone tried Benchmark? I don't have an A.I. but my regular .223 loves it, so's my .22-250 and Tactical .20. It's the first powder I've found that way out-shoots WW748 both for velocity and accuracy in my .223.---Shoot Safe---montdoug

I have been shooting a 223x35 degree shoulder for about ten years. This was Homer Culver's reamer for benchrest in the 60's. I have always had great results with H4198 and 50gr. bullets. Win 748 shot real well but could not equal the velocity with H4198.

montdoug:

I have a standard 223 and I tried Benchmark with 55 grain bullets and the accuracy was terrible. What bullet weights are you shooting with the Benchmark?

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight.......RiverRat

I use VV135 in my 14 twist 223 AI with 52gr match bullets. Varget usually seems a little slow for the lighter bullets but works well with the fast twist and heavy (69 and up) bullets. With the 40's, you might want to try VV133. ...ol blue

RiverRat, I've got a CZ Varmint Laminate, oddly enough for a 1 in 9 twist its favorite bullet is a 40 grain Blitz-King, followed by Sierras 50 grain SP, followed by the 55 grain V-Max. I've only had it about 6 months and cold weather and hunting season slowed down the testing, so I haven't tried the heavies, but I will in the spring. It's not very fond of most boat tails. They all like what they like don't they? I get a kick out of guys saying try this load it's a great one, in their rifle it is, your rifle our mine might choke on it. Figuring it out is the fun part.

Eddie, I've never used much H4198 but recently started shooting the Tact.20 and .17 Mach IV where it's touted a great deal. I'm wondering if youv'e shot full power loads in the heat, and if so how sensitive it is to hot weather?---Shoot Safe---montdoug

[ 11-30-2003, 21:16: Message edited by: montdoug ]

I shoot heavy bullets in my 223 AI, so much of this information may not be as relevant for you. Hope that it helps in some way.

montdoug:

Like you said, so much often what works in one rifle wont work in another, but when you get a chance to try the heavier bullets like 69 gr. MK or the 75 gr. AMax, don't overlook Vithavouri N540 in your std. 223. Somewhere around 25.5 to 26.5 gr with the 69 gr. MK and some where between 24.5 and 25.5 gr. with the 75 gr. AMax. Use Winchester brass and the 7 1/2 Rem. match primer with both loads. I know of 5 different 223's with 1 in 9 twist barrels that shots those loads very well. Varget is pretty good with those bullets but the guys that own four of those rifles stopped loading Varget and went to the N540 when they saw how good it was. I know my 1 in 9 twist 223 loves it. It also likes light bullets as well. 50 gr. BlitzKing and N133 .3's consistently.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight........RiverRat

Mine is not a A/I but I have a 223 with a 1 in 14 twist. I have not ran my loads across a cronograph but I use 26grs of win 748 and get good results with anything from 50gr to 55gr bullets. Mine really like the hornady 52gr match hpbt bullets.

Ray

All of my 223AI's are stellar with H-335 and the 40/50gr V-Maxes.

I've had good results with the aforementioned AA-2200,in forming loads. My lot of that propellant is a touch slower than H-335 and I can interchange the data. That is an observation,not a hearty endorsement.

H-335 has certainly shown me the most and is without reservation my favored propellant within this chambering....................