[m&p45acp10+1]

Well Santa left some reloading stuff under my bench for Christmas so I decided to put it to use. This is my first attempt at .223 Rem with 68 grain bullets. The results were pretty good considering the weather, and the fact that I was coffeed up big time.

Rifle is a .223 Savage LRV 1 in 9 inch twist heavy unfluted. Before shooting the rifle was cleaned meticulously. I had 3 types of powder to work with. Due to the range closing early today I was only able to test 2 powder types. The third will be tested tomorrow. I will try to post pictures, and results as well.

The weather was 65 degrees, bright and sunny. Wind was heavy at 18-24 mph from the NxNE with gust of around 30 mph. Humidity around 68%. (Wind was blowing pretty much from behind me. With the occasional gust of cross wind.)

All dies used were Lee Deluxe (Carbide Collet Neck Sizer, and Dead Length Seating dies.) Press is a Lee Breech Lock Challenger single stage. Powder was manualy weighed on a Smart Reloader Digital scale.

Test method: Rifle was fired with a bipod on the front, and a sand bag under the rear stock, shooting off a concrete table. Three souling shots were fired, and then the barrel was allowed to cool for 3 minutes. The round robin method was used for both powders tested. Charges were stepped up in .5 grain increments.

Distance: 100 yards

Caliber: .223 Remington
Brass: Federal trimmed to uniform lenght. Prefireformed, and neck sized.
Primers: CCI 400 SRP
Bullets: Hornady 68 Grain Boat Tail Hollow Point Match
COL of 2.260 inches

Load 1: Hodgdon H-335
Start load used was 23.5 grains.
Final load was 25.5 grains (note this is near listed max for a bolt action load)

Load 2 Acurate Arms 2015
Start load was 21.5 grains
Final load was 22.5 grains
(Note I ran out of time to test more for this, and will continue the test tomorrow.)

The results were pretty good with all loads tested. I was unable to save the other target I was shooting. (20 mph wind is not nice to a piece of paper without anything weighing it down.)