73gr ELD M and CFE 223

I checked my barrel out with the 73's and they're jumping like .140-.150 at mag length. After I test some factory match 73's, and 55 Vmax's, if they shoot well I will try single loading a few of them out at .020 off the lands to see if it makes a drastic improvement.

If the factory ammo doesn't shoot well (under 1.75" @ 100), I'm going to give SP a call and see if they'll work with me.

The only other thing I've thought to do is buck up for something like the VLTOR MUR in hopes that the upper is playing a part in this but I'm not really convinced of that. Results so far have just been way sporadic.

No luck so far. Varget and cfe both are giving me pretty wide spreads with 73s. 55gr Vmaxs were under an inch for 10 rounds first group. I want to try some 75 hpbts but it's nice knowing at least the vmax will work.

CFE 223, First tried 23.0gr
No crimp (10 rounds for all)
slight crimp
light crimp (light crimp marks on the brass, bullet appears not to be deformed)
heavy crimp (very slight visible deformation of the bullet @ the crimp)

all shot 1.5-4 MOA, light crimp was the most consistent @1.5 MOA..... With the crimp die set at the same setting as the previous "light crimp", 5 rounds each
23.0
23.2
23.6
24.0
24.2
24.4
24.6

Everything was a mess again, 1.5-3 MOA, worse as charge increased. All shot on a bench off front and rear bags, pulling the rifle into my shoulder, 100yd indoor tunnel. Varget I only tried 24.0 and 24.5 but the results were 2-3 MOA, also. So I think my barrel just doesn't like these bullets. The 55 Vmax factory ammo knotted up 10 rounds in about a 0.8-0.9" group in the same conditions.

I'm going to give 75gr hpbt's a shot, maybe 68gr hpbt's... Again, the only other thing I can think is to change the upper. I've had it since 2010 and haven't had agregious accuracy issues with it, but maybe the MUR or some other upper would shrink the groups down a little, but I can't imagine it would be drastic enough to make the 73's work. I just know I had consistently better results with my previous 10.5" barrel and 75 hpbt's than I'm having with this barrel and 73's.

So the plan going forward, I'll give 75's and 68's a shot-- probably no crimp and single load them at first to see if there's accuracy potential. If they don't work I'll probably buy the MUR out of curiosity. If no heavies ever shoot well out of it, I'm going to probably talk with Seekins. But Like I said, the 55's were knotting up sub-MOA for 10 shots so I'm hopeful going forward.

Interesting. I have been doing everything at Pmag length. I'll try loading a few out to 2.300.

Gotcha. I already loaded a few at 2.305 just to see if it makes any appreciable difference. Even at that COAL I'm still jumping approximately .095-.100".

I believe I'd be touching the lands at right around 2.400" COAL, give or take a few thou. I wasn't incredibly careful with the measurement because it was so far from Pmag length that I knew I'd never be close with these bullets. My Pmag rounds were coming out around 2.258 or so for COAL.

I can run a proper seating depth test if this shows any promise. I'm also trying a little warmer powder charge near max published numbers, hoping that filling the case more may help with consistency.

I also loaded a few hpbt's today at Pmag magazine length. Not sure what the jump is on these, but the ogive is much shorter so I'm sure not as much as the 73 ELD's. I'll get out tonight around 7 or so and shoot them @ 100. Hopefully won't be too damn hot.

I'm going to give the 73's one last chance, and that will be a seating depth test like you suggest. Seating to 2.305" with 24.5gr cfe223 showed some promise, about 1.9" group. However, upping the load density did not-- about a 4" spread.

75 bthp's @ 2.250" with 24.5gr cfe223 were a little over 1" for 5 rounds. I'd be happy if it did that consistently. Upping load density resulted in a pretty ugly spread here, also.

Do you think I'm better off testing charge weights first, then seating depth or visa versa?

Welp, faith restored. I loaded a OCW test at 2.275". 23.5, 23.8, 24.1, 24.5, 24.8, 25.1. Somewhere around 24.0 is the middle of the node. Most of them were acceptable; under 1.5" @ 100yd. So I'm going to load up a bunch at 24.0 and play with seating depth, then see how they shoot out of a magazine (I've been single loading) to see if I need to mess with crimping them.

I'll probably have to get some metal magazines, which is no big deal. I intend to load some 50-55gr bullets as well (53gr Vmax I think) which will easily work in the Pmags I have. I have a couple thousand cases to load up and I was thinking about 500 precision/LR rounds and the rest the lighter bullets.