reloading .223 remington

[northernbill]

I just bought a new smith&wesson m&p-15 in 5.56x45. It is getting difficult and expensive to find ammo. I would like to reload for it but have a few basic questions. Which powders work best in ar-15 rifles? I heard that the use of ball powders in Vietnam caused major malfunctions. My barrel is a 16"er with a 1 in 9" twist. What would be the optimum bullet weight? I will be reloading FMJ's or what ever I can find cheapest. And lastly,I have read it is recommended to give the bullet a light taper crimp if it is to be used in a semi-auto magazine rifle. Is this necessary and if so do you need a special taper crimp die? None of my reloading manuals give much insight into taper crimping and my Midway USA catalog doesn't list taper crimp dies, at least that I can find.

[Larry Gibson]

Use the 55 gr M193 FMJ made by Winchester and Hornady.  They are getting hard to come by like about everything else "223ish" these days.  Best commercial powders  are H335 and AA2230 to duplicate the M193 load which will do as well as any milsurp in your 9" twist M&P-15.  Use small rifle lype magnum primers (CCI 450s, WSRs or Rem 7 1/2s for example)  Work up to 25.6 gr of the AA2230 and 26 gr of the H335.  Get a Lee factory Crimp die for the .223 to put a milsurp type crimp on.

Larry Gibson

[Dand]

I believe the Sierra reloading manual has a special section on loading for the AR type rifles. You might try to find a copy to read. You might look on the Sierra website to see if they have info there.  Seems like American Rifleman or Handloader recently had a series on the .223 and 5.56 Nato with a discussion of the needs and loads for each. Can't recall for sure but you might check the Wolfe Publishing website too. I'm going thru some old reloading mags. If I find the info I'll try to post references here.

[MZ5]

Vihtavuori N-133 works extremely well in 223 in both bolt guns and ARs.  Try ~23.7 grains as a flexible, accurate charge weight behind 55-grain bullets (working up from below to assure safety in your rifle, of course).  Sierra lists an N-133 load as the accuracy load for 55-grain bullets at 24.2 or 24.3 grains (can't recall which).  Again, work up to that.

Winchester 748 is also excellent in 223, and is flexible up to higher bullet weights.  ~26.6 grains (working up from below for safety) is a proven flexible and accurate load.

Finally, it is my understanding that the AR-15 was designed by Eugene Stoner around IMR4198 powder.

[fastbike]

There are some other powders that work very well in the AR-15. I have had excellent results from Varget and Ramshot Tac as well as from H-335. I've used bullet weights from 52 to 75. Varget and Tac seem to go from great to outstanding results as bullet weights get higher.

FWIW, I have always used small rifle primers in my Rock River and Olympic (CCI or Winchester) and have never had issues w/ slam fires.

In North Texas, Vihtavouri is significantly more expensive than the other three powders I've mentioned. If you buy the Lee Die set, it will include the factory crimp die.

[Lloyd Smale]

be real careful with that 2230 load. Ive had alot of it that would about blow your gun up at that level. The lot i have right now maxes out at about 24 grain and 23 is where i run it. Ars are not bolt guns and i never run them full pressure anyway. Ive had them leave cases in the chamber and the extractor rip right over the rim. Not something you want happening in a gun your trusting your family well being to. But larrys powder choises are spot on. Id add 748 which is the same thing as 335 and 332 and benchmark to the list. I dont use mag primers anymore as i get better accuracy with std primers and ive yet to see one fail.

Use the 55 gr M193 FMJ made by Winchester and Hornady.  They are getting hard to come by like about everything else "223ish" these days.  Best commercial powders  are H335 and AA2230 to duplicate the M193 load which will do as well as any milsurp in your 9" twist M&P-15.  Use small rifle lype magnum primers (CCI 450s, WSRs or Rem 7 1/2s for example)  Work up to 25.6 gr of the AA2230 and 26 gr of the H335.  Get a Lee factory Crimp die for the .223 to put a milsurp type crimp on.

Larry Gibson

[Camel 23]

I too have had some AA2230 that has run hot.  A 25gr charge blew the primer clean out of the case. (20 years ago before I learned the importance of working up loads.)