Any experiences and recommendations would be most appreciated.
Seeking guidance fireforming 223 Ackley with Varget or Shooters World Precision, 88 ELDs, New Lapua brass
- Thread starter mikest
- Start date
ttt
Why not buy a Hydro forming die to save on powder and wear on the barrel? Whidden makes them
Just load them up via standard 223 load data. Once formed you will likely not notice any accuracy improvement, meaningful drop/windage improvement or case life. You will be able use a little more powder and get more velocity but it won’t show up in the field or on the range.
Just go with something in the load range of the regular 223 from the hodgdon site for the 90 class bullet. Like 21-22 grains should do the trick. I shoot 88’s in my Ai but haven’t formed with them. I have always used 75’s for forming with 24 grains of varget and that shoots awesome. After fire forming you should be able to get the 88’s some where between 2800-2900. I currently use H4895 and run them around 2900
This!
I do think the nodes are much more stable for the AI than the regular variety. Other than that, as another poster said, just load them at .223 normal... and shoot them. It's such a tiny forming op, it should shoot great.
Can't speak for the .223 but my 22-250 AI (Bullberry Encore 16.25" barrel) gave me 5/16" groups while fireforming (FF) with a mild load. When I take this gun to do some varmint shooting I have no problem making FF cases and hunting at the same time.
See what kind of groups you get while FF. If you get hunting quality groups you're not wasting powder and bullets.
See what kind of groups you get while FF. If you get hunting quality groups you're not wasting powder and bullets.
Stiff standard 223 load and enjoy, they will be accurate.
