• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

GoTo Load for 5.56 75 Gr. Bullets

MMH

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 17, 2013
220
35
I have not had the chance to work up loads for my CLE AR15 (22" Bartlein 4-groove barrel w/ CLE chamber) & now am in crisis mode. I will be out west (CO/WY) in two weeks & will have a couple of down days on which I want to do some shooting (P'Dogs & general long range plinking). I want to go out w/ 500 rounds or so, and can quickly work up some loads. I will work up the loads to make sure that they safe in my rifle, but will not have a chance to do an OCW, or anything else to work up an accurate load. With that being said, what are some good GoTo loads. I have a pretty good inventory of Hornady bullets: 73 ELD-M, 75 BTHP & ELD-M, 80 ELD-M. Also have Varget & IMR 8208 & alot of LC brass on hand.

BTW, I do want to stay within mag length (2.31) & can seat the 73 ELD-M & 75 BTHP out to the lands & still fit in the mag (even though I would start w/ 0.020" jump). The 75 ELD-M & 80 will leave me w/ a 0.060" jump at a 2.31 COAL.

So, w/ the above in mind what are some good loads?
 
Somewhere between 23.4-23.8gr of 8208 behind a 73 ELD has worked great in a few of my rifles. I've seen a lot of others on here with a similar load.
 
I have 2 CLE barrels one 24” and one 20”, but can’t help much with the bullets and powder you have - I use Vt N-135. The SMK 77 gr bullets and the 60 gr Hornady Vmax I ended up loading at a COAL of 2.25” to fit into std mags, not chasing the lands. SMK’s only pinhole the p-dogs and the Vmax are more exciting. I was under book max on the 77 SMK/ at 19.6 gr of Vt N135 and just over book max at 23.0 gr of Vt 135 on the 60 Vmax.
All LC brass, work your way up. I do use 75 amax and Varget on bolt rifle 223 loads so that’s a good combo though. I’d check your mag length and start there, might not get much more than 2.25” coal

I had some data for 77 SMK with 8208 loads book max 23.2 and book min 20.5, my best was 22.0 gr and 2.25 coal notes show 4 at 1/2”, 1 at 2” called flier at 200 yds , 21.0 gr was decent 7 shots in a 1/2” tall x 1.25” wide at 200yd. In between and above those loads the groups were not as good. Not telling what your bbl will do?

Hope it helps, have fun!
 
75 grain BTHP
24.0 Varget
2.26"

Sub-MOA and an avg 2550 with 9 SD out of a 16" AR w/ suppressor. Found another node around 25.0 but stuck with 24.0.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Westcoast308
75 gr ELDM, 24.5 gr XBR-8208, LC brass rem 7.5 COAL 2.275" (IIRC)

Tikka Varminter (24" bbl)
 
LC brass, 24.5 R15, Federal or russian primer . Go to mag(2.260) load for 26" Krieger 1-7.7 CLE chamber.
 
Lapua Brass, 24.2gr H4895, 1.888 CBTO, 3002 FPS, 5 SD out of 22" Brux.

I wanted to like IMR 8208 XBR, it gave me good accuracy and velo but SDs where high. Varget was ok but a little slower than I wanted.
 
75 gr Hornady Match or 73 gr ELD Match over 22 gr of H322 at 2.260 has been a near .25 moa load for me out of my 16" JP
 
0353344B-A0E1-4E0D-A466-EAADDBAC6BC3.png
 
And why do you say that?
Because the 75 ELD has the ogive inside the neck at 2.275" and it was a compressed load when I tried 24.2gr of 8208 with the 75's at 2.35" in LC brass. If you meant 75 BTHP or 2.375" COAL it would all make more sense.
 
Ah! ...typo on my part (good catch). 2.475" should be the COAL. Memory was a bit fuzzy (hence the "IIRC" for the COAL in my original post). And yes, at this COAL it is just about a compressed load.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TonyTheTiger
Old thread but I’ll throw in my recipe: 20” H-bar Douglas 1-7.7 twist barrel with a Compass Lake chamber. I tried 23grs of Varget with 75gr HPBT at magazine length with random lake city brass full length resized with a small base Redding competition die with a .246 bushing(SAC ones are the best). Then I seat them with a Wilson arbor press die. The stem It came with fits the contour of the bullet pretty well I think. With Remington 7 1/2 primers It’s about a 5/8” 5-shots and right at 3/4” max for 10 shots at 100yrds every time load. Feeding from a magazine like I would shooting high power rapid the rounds walk up then down a bit as they feed from side to side in the mag each round I shoot. The load could be a bit better with more tuning even I’m sure, I can’t hold open sights with a sling well enough to see a difference. The 3-9x Simmons scope with a carry handle scope mount is less than stellar for ultimate accuracy testing. Still yet this simple load runs great and has out shot every match 69-77gr ammo I could find even the big boys black hills, Berger, FGMM, Hornady, Sig ect they all came in around an inch usually. Cheers 🍻
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5038.jpeg
    IMG_5038.jpeg
    475.2 KB · Views: 12
  • IMG_2090.jpeg
    IMG_2090.jpeg
    1,007.9 KB · Views: 12
  • 70884367638__16D02245-66F2-44F1-AE07-18092FFC0C50.jpeg
    70884367638__16D02245-66F2-44F1-AE07-18092FFC0C50.jpeg
    648.6 KB · Views: 12