The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Advice on Bullet Jump vs Powder Used in Theory

**Unclenick** · February 3, 2013, 03:14 PM

Second on that. Also, the advantage to being close to the throat is to help center the bullet. If you do a short, 0.001" bump back of the case shoulder, you'll find the cartridge self-centers well in the chamber. If it then also has a straight neck and the bullet is seated straight, the alignment is pretty well accomplished and the dependency on seating depth should be less. You can often tune the seating depth, as you see for VLD bullets, here. You just have to find where it's best in your chamber. There's no magic universal number.

I've shot lots and lots of cloverleafs out of a Plain Jane Remington 600 in .222 Rem just using a Lee Loader and IMR4198. 4198 was recommended as the best accuracy powder in an old NRA publication, and my rifle seemed to agree. 4895 is slow enough that it is more commonly used in .223 with heavier bullets with a faster twist barrel than the .222 normally has. Not that it can't work, but you end up using almost 20% more powder weight for no better or even inferior results. Something inbetween that may serve you well is Reloader 10X.

I also recommend the Sierra 53 grain MatchKing, specifically in this chambering. The flat base bullets are almost always easier to get shooting accurately at 200 yards or under, and often do better up to 500 yards, depending on the chambering.

Also, the .222 was always sensitive about primers for me. It liked them mild. Federal 205 or 205M or the TulAmmo KVB223 or the Wolf NCSR primers would be specific choices to consider.

February 3, 2013, 03:14 PM	#3
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,063	Second on that. Also, the advantage to being close to the throat is to help center the bullet. If you do a short, 0.001" bump back of the case shoulder, you'll find the cartridge self-centers well in the chamber. If it then also has a straight neck and the bullet is seated straight, the alignment is pretty well accomplished and the dependency on seating depth should be less. You can often tune the seating depth, as you see for VLD bullets, here. You just have to find where it's best in your chamber. There's no magic universal number. I've shot lots and lots of cloverleafs out of a Plain Jane Remington 600 in .222 Rem just using a Lee Loader and IMR4198. 4198 was recommended as the best accuracy powder in an old NRA publication, and my rifle seemed to agree. 4895 is slow enough that it is more commonly used in .223 with heavier bullets with a faster twist barrel than the .222 normally has. Not that it can't work, but you end up using almost 20% more powder weight for no better or even inferior results. Something inbetween that may serve you well is Reloader 10X. I also recommend the Sierra 53 grain MatchKing, specifically in this chambering. The flat base bullets are almost always easier to get shooting accurately at 200 yards or under, and often do better up to 500 yards, depending on the chambering. Also, the .222 was always sensitive about primers for me. It liked them mild. Federal 205 or 205M or the TulAmmo KVB223 or the Wolf NCSR primers would be specific choices to consider. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle