Does anyone have any reduced loads for the 223?

The new Speer book does list one powder and I've found a load with 800X and Red Dot as well. Any other loads you are using that give good results?

Thanks for the help.

You can use Blue Dot powder to get down to 22 Hornet levels. I've not tried this but those who have liked it.
http://www.reloadingroom.com/page33.html

I've used 12 grains of 2400 to good effect with nearly any suitable bullet 45 - 60 grains. Quiet, accurate, Hornet-like.

Redial

My reduced .22 Hornet and .223 Loads:
223 is 5.6 grains of UNIQUE
.22 Hornet is:
7.3 gr of IMR 4227
4.1 gr of UNIQUE
All three loads are accurate and are estimated to be in the 1850 fps range.

i was wondering about reduced loads also. many of the articles list blue dot as the powder that they used. can you use h335?

thanks
lojack

I have looked at many sites on the web and have not seen H335 listed anywhere. I sent an email and found out you can take 60% of the max load of H4985 and use take. Speed was not listed.

I'm going to try Blue Dot and 800X as well.

lojack, H335 is too fast to take the risk of a reduced load. Slower powders, even H335, may carry the risk of detonation (rifle KABOOM) when used in small quantities. Use the SR load listed in the Speer manual, or the bluedot loads (or faster) listed above. HTH, Dutch.

I have shot hundreds of 223 loaded with the 45 grain hornady spire point on top of 14 grains of IMR 4227 with great accuracy and mild report. I like this as it is impossible to not notice a double load.

Blue Dot is my main volume loading powder of choice for Prairie Dogs, but it can be used for other applications. I just load up a couple of thousand rounds when I load for Prairie Dogs.

I use Rem 7 1/2 primers ( $15.50 for a thousand)
and 12.5 grains of Blue Dot. ( Lee Powder Dipper 1.0) I shoot all sorts of bullets but 45 to 55 grain bullets give me 2600 fps consistently.

I figure a Prairie Dog is on average the size of a Coke Bottle and a large one is the size of a 2 liter bottle at most. So I zero the scope to strike at 2.75 inches to 3 inches at 100 yds, and that puts me dead on at 200. Anything without any hold over is dead meat at 225 yds.

Not only do I get a lot of loads, 550 plus, out of a can of powder, I found that it keeps the barrel from heating up also very much, and it cools down quicker because it was not that hot to begin with.

Chronographing has shown me that Blue Dot has one of the lowest standard deviations of any powder I burn. 10 to 15 fps is about it.

It does not require a lot of cleaning on the barrel.

atthe James Calhoon Web site there is an article about " To 218 Bee or Not to 218 Bee...." It will give you a lot of information on it.

I have also loaded up to 15 grains of Blue Dot with a 50 grain TNT bullet and get 3100 fps if you need longer range. I usually set up with a 22/250 or 243 for the longer shots that are too far for the 223 loads. A cheap BSA mildot scope can easily make the 12.5 grains load good out to 250 to 300 yds.

Blue Dot because of lower velcity and how cool it burns, ( or at least doesn't heat up) will increase the life of a 223 barrel by at least 5 fold according to a gunsmith associate of mine.

I burn other powders for 223 loads, but it is my main volume load. I just pour the powder into a snap lid Cool Whip container and leave the powder dipper right in there, with the powder.

Of those who have tried it, I have seen a lot of converts. Of course we all have bigger cartridges for the longer shots.

Thats my experience on it.

Seafire, just a quick question for you. I too use Blue Dot and the Lee Powder Dippers for quick loading, but when I just checked my powder dipper set-up, the chart that came with mine showed the 1.0 Dipper to hold only 11.6 gr of Blue Dot, not 12.5 as your's does. Just curious about that.

Also, have you seen any pressure signs with the 15 gr load? I'm planning on trying a few rounds with the 1.30 Dipper (15 gr Blue Dot), but with a 40-gr V-Max instead of a 50-gr TNT. My original source of data on using Blue Dot reduced loads, James Calhoon's website, shows them maxing out around 14 gr with a 37-gr bullet. Thanks.

Geo:

Question one: yeah, the 1.0 dipper is heaping when I put it on the scale, and I fine tune it with the trickler if I need too ( every fourth round or so)

Question 2: Can't say on the pressure. I am using a bolt rifle, Lake City Cases ( surplus)
and Rem 7.5 primers. No problems noted, like stiff bolt on extraction, flattened primers etc.
Sorry can't do more. I experimented up to there, and did not see any problems.

Thanks for the replys, Blue Dot it is!

How does the 50 gr TnT hit at 3100? Sounds great.

Snapper

[ 07-02-2003, 03:05: Message edited by: Snapper ]

Does a good job, we had a few Red Mist shots happen if they were in the crouched position.