Winchester powders

[summersux]

Hi, Im developing a load for my .223/5.56 (savage m12 bolt action) and am going to try some Winchester powder (along with varget, blc2, aa2460 ect.) I have been told that some Winchester powers are very temperature sensitive (win 296 when I was developing a load for my .22 hornet) and to stay away from them because they can be very problematic in cold weather. Is there any truth to this? I am picking up a pound to play with but wanted to know if anyone had experience with this. Any help is appreciated!

Foster

[summersux]

And a few more questions.. I know federal primers are a bad idea in ar's because they have a thinner/softer primer cup and slam fires could be a problem. I won't have slam fire because im shooting a single shot bolt action. (savage m12) Is there any issue with the 5.56 pressure with federal primers? It likes 5.56 loads (It likes 24.0 grns varget under 69gr matchking with a cci primer) I have only used cci primers with it but want to try federal and Winchester. Am I going to run into any problems?
My other question regards seating depth. I know people say they load to the rifling or .005 back ect. What is the best way of finding how far I can load the bullet out to touch the rifling? Someone told me to make a dummy round- no primer or powder and just get the bullet started, then chamber the round. They said once it's chambered, the bullet will have been seated to the rifling and my measurements can be taken off of that. Is this correct? I have no magazine (single shot) so feeding won't be an issue. Thank you!

Foster

[summersux]

*bump* No help?

[RaisedByWolves]

Let me see what I can do here.



I think you crossed some borders here than many dont want to go near concerning the .223/5.56/AR/Bolt gun realm. Theres a couple threads floaring arounnd concerning the ".223vs5.56 in my gun" debate and you would be wise to look them up and read all you can on this subject. Even then I would consider contacting Savage for their recommendations on using 5.56 in your bolt gun. My Opinion is that your AR will be happy with either, your bolt gun not so much.



In any case you would probably want to load for Accuracy for the bolt gun and this load will probably be well under 5.56 pressures and velocitys. If you dont have a manual the Sierra is a nice one, but you should have one regardless of who makes it. Some people even recommend two to cross reference your data to eliminate the chance of printing errors blowing you and your gun up.


Ill leave the rest to more proficient reloaders to answer as that stuff is out of my league.

.

[edstephan]

I use 23.6g of Win 748 behind a Sierra 55g SPBT or 27.0g of 748 behind a 60g Sierra SPBT with either Federal or CCI primers for my Ruger 77VT .223 bolt gun. If I load for the AR I use either 26.8g BL-c2 or 26.6g H335 behind a 55g M193 bullet.

Caution, these are hot loads, Hope this helps

I currently use 4 different manuals to cross referance a load and work up to it slowly
Yes, I do have dummy rounds made up for each different bullet for each rifle. You'll find just because 1 rifle likes the load doesn't mean another rifle will.

An OC Activist and 1 of the 3%
Ed Stephan

[budman46]

summersux,

ww-748, h-335, bl-c2 and aa ball powders have worked fine for me in .223 rem./5.56 nato as well as reloader 7 and others with similar burning characteristics. don't discount appropriate surplus stuff out there, either.

"soft" federal primer concerns are moot in bolt-guns, but i've loaded thousands for a semi-autos (ar-15, mini-14) without any slam-fire problems.

.22 hornet is better served by powders and primers suited to magnum handgun ammo than .223 rem/5.56 nato.

good shooting with your m-12,

budman

[summersux]

How do I figure out how far I can load the bullets until they touch the rifling of my gun? Can I make a dummy round, and just get the bullet started, then chamber and measure it? Is there another way?

I thank you for your time!

[summersux]

I would like to thank everyone for cautioning me on the pressure matter. I do check several manuals and keep my loads off of max. If I start going higher, I work up cautiously, and look for pressure signs.

Also, I have already picked a load my hornet likes and am in no way thinking about switching win748, varget ect in that gun. (I settled on 12.0 gr H110 behind a 35 gr vmax.) I was simply using the win296 as an example problem I have been warned about.

So far, my gun (.223) seems to like 24.0 gr varget behind a 69gr. match king.
I haven't tested the bl-c2, win 748, or viht n-140 yet. (i just need more range time!)

I would like to thank everyone for being so helpful! This is by far one of the friendliest forums I have come across!

Foster

[Xringshooter]

How do I figure out how far I can load the bullets until they touch the rifling of my gun? Can I make a dummy round, and just get the bullet started, then chamber and measure it? Is there another way?

I thank you for your time!

That is the easiest way to determine when the bullet touches the rifling. Just don't slam the bolt closed when doing this, the inertia may set the bullet back more than you want or jam it into the rifling.

Deprime/resize a round, open up the neck a little, seat a bullet enough that it won't fall out when you chamber it and slowly close the bolt until it chambers and the extractor goes over the rim. Then slowly cycle the bolt to extract the round and take it out with your fingers. This will give you the length of the round with the bullet just touching the rifling. IIRC, many benchrest shooters do this as they don't want any "jump" from the cartridge to the rifling.

[summersux]

That is the easiest way to determine when the bullet touches the rifling. Just don't slam the bolt closed when doing this, the inertia may set the bullet back more than you want or jam it into the rifling.

Deprime/resize a round, open up the neck a little, seat a bullet enough that it won't fall out when you chamber it and slowly close the bolt until it chambers and the extractor goes over the rim. Then slowly cycle the bolt to extract the round and take it out with your fingers. This will give you the length of the round with the bullet just touching the rifling. IIRC, many benchrest shooters do this as they don't want any "jump" from the cartridge to the rifling.

Thank you VERY much! This was exactly what I was hoping for! I am just starting to really reload for accuracy and I want to try a couple loads touching the rifling, and varying degrees less. I will keep my loads off the red line because I know touching the rifling will cause an increase in pressure. I am saving to build my new project gun, a .260 rem with this action. Until I have the finances to do so, I'm going to try and shoot the barrel out of this gun!

Thank you very much for your reply!

Foster