So, where do I go from here? .223 change in reload method.

[mark5pt56]

24" .223w, Hawkhill/737 build from Blue Mountain Precision. Muzzle, 419 adapter, Nomad 30 with Ebrake and ATS tuner, currently at "0"
I've had this a bit and can't leave well enough alone.
I did work a load with 24 grains of Varget, seated at 2.390 OAL using an old set of standard RCBS 2 die set, polishing the expander ball to give me best I can tell is .003 tension. Cases are unturned Lake City 04 cases. Annealed and dry tumbled, Hornady One Shot as lube, inside and out. Load was developed with suppressor on.

What I changed
Redding Type S Competition Die Set, Micro meter seater, .245 TN bushing, 21st Century .222 mandrel. Case prep-added brushing inside necks with bronze brush before and after annealing. Lubing was the same with One Shot. While at "2.390" OAL, using the ogive gauge and the seater, 1.88 CBTO+/- .001. I have to check "jump", have it written down. Measured outside neck of loaded on original at .246/.247(unturned brass)

Oddly, I called number 9 on each 10 round group, I did omit shot one from the "old load" as it was low and from coming off a string of PPU ammo, didn't affect grouping though, just the numbers.
Part of me thinks I wasted my money on the dies.
So;
try .221 mandrel?
powder charge tweak?
above and tweak tuner, although the numbers on ES/SD are higher.

 

[simonp]

One thought, if you are going down the rabbit hole deeper.

I would switch to dry graphite lube, personal opinion no scientific data that I can cite though I have seen others on the hide say the same, wet lube can affect the powder drop into the case, powder sticking to the neck, etc. Enough of an effect to make a difference for you on target?? Only one way to tell but it's a pretty quick, easy and cheap method to test out.

 

[mark5pt56]

Oh-I dry tumbled again after the sizing, so no powder sticking in the necks. Caution used removing from the tumbler-by hand, no shaking, etc. I might do another batch and not brush inside. I know I must have less neck tension due to the velocity loss, hence thinking on the .221 mandrel. Other than the marked #9, the very top hole in the "old" load is #3 and the far right on the new is shot #1.
I checked some recent past numbers with my original load, maybe I got some lower numbers this time with ES/SD.
2706.6, 15.6, 56.9----2697.8, 14.1, 37.6

 

[aprocast]

Use 80.5 grain bergers and 4895, it will be a revelation

 

[mark5pt56]

I thought about it, then I want to limit how deep I go, besides, I have an eight pound jug of Varget. I may fiddle with the neck cleaning and tweak the powder for now, maybe try the .221 mandrel.

 

[RegionRat]

Just a suggestion, but those two groups are nearly identical in this test.

You would be better off shooting them farther to allow them to develop any evidence of a potential difference.

One of the critical differences between what most folks call "old 80 SMK" versus "new 80 SMK" is that the factory changed their tipping operations. Those tips accounted for about a 0.5 MOA POI shift at 600 yards for many of us, but it wasn't something you could detect at short range. So, depending on when your batches were made the tips would be different.

If your goal for this shooting was stated, you would also get batter advice.

Are you going to try to compete in a particular game, or just casual or informal shooting?

Of the questions you posed, you wouldn't be able to tell if there was any effect with the type of test you just ran. BTW, that isn't bad news since both are fine groups and in my opinion ready to go to distance to see if there is any real difference.
Good Luck and in for the range reports.

 

[mark5pt56]

Okie, for my purposes, the old and new is just for the loads themselves, all bullets are the same, recent purchases.
Just casual shooting, 100, 200, 300 and 600/628. Yeah, I plan to load some more and shoot at 200/300 to see vertical better, maybe at 600 if mirage isn't bad. I did originally test the "old" aka original load at 200/300, picking the length and least vertical. That was .75 grouping at 200 and 1.785 vertical/group at 300 with 5 shots each.

I was looking at my data at 300, my CCB was 2662.6 with a center hit on the 6" plate, next rounds on it as well with 2706.6 average, doesn't seem like 300 is long enough some times to check ES on loads but wind and mirage is more of a factor to check things further out.