Reduced 223 Loads

[223fan]

I have some Trail Boss powder and was thinking about trying to work up some reduced loads for my 223.My question is has anyone used this powder in a 223 and if so what kind of results did you have?I want to use the 40gr. hornet bullets I have,as I have a good supply of them.If I can get good acurracy I was thinking about squirrel hunting with it this year.

[murphdog]

223fan,

Since no one else has answered, I'll give you my limited input.  I've loaded a single 223 cartridge with 8.5 grains of Trail boss (nearly fills the case but not compressed, just like Hornady recommends) and pushing a 40 grain V-max bullet.  CCI small rifle primer.  Chronographed at 1848 fps.  Have no accuracy data to give you. 

I have more experience loading Unique under the 40gr V-max to attain velocities up to 2700 fps, approximating 22 Hornet performance.  Groups are 2" to 2.5" @100 yd, useable and nice and quiet, but not as accurate as factory 223 loads. 

Duane

[PawPaw]

If you're pushing a 40 grain bullet at 1850 fps, that is a reduced load in the .223.

I have no experience with TrailBoss powder, but it's common knowledge that you can use H4895 for reduced loads everywhere that H4895 is listed as a max-load powder.  Go see Hodgdon's Reduced Load page for more details.  This link and the one below are .pdf documents.

Hidgdib also has a Trail Boss Reduced Loads page that can be used with rifle cartridges.

[84Jim]

.223fan,

I'm going to try some reduced loads using Bluedot before squirrel and turkey season.  I know you said Trailboss, but here's an article that I found:

http://www.reloadingroom.com/index_files/Blue%20Dot.htm

I've it doesn't show up on your screen its because its at the far right hand side of the page, just scroll over thart way!

Jim

[darkgael]

I have some Trail Boss powder and was thinking about trying to work up some reduced loads for my 223.My question is has anyone used this powder in a 223 and if so what kind of results did you have?I want to use the 40gr. hornet bullets I have,as I have a good supply of them.If I can get good acurracy I was thinking about squirrel hunting with it this year.

That sounds about right for a full load. Have you tried a 70% load? It'll be about six grains.

Pete

[PA-Joe]

Go to James Calhoon and read about his gopher loads.

[223fan]

Well I made a few loads,starting with 6.5,7.0 & 7.5grains.They were all minute of squirrel head, but the 7.0gr. was the best grouping load.My goal was to see if I could get 22 mag velocities.The 6.5gr. load gave me 1750 fps,7.0 gave 1825 fps,& 7.5 gave 1900fps 3 shot average.I was using a 223 encore pistol with a 16" barrel & a 45 gr. hornet bullet( I have 45's not 40's).I will definately be giving these a try come Oct.9th.I've been using this powder a lot for my plinking loads in my 357 but it's always nice to have another use for it.

[223fan]

Oh Yea and no sooty brass.

[moorepower]

Trail Boss is many times safer than Blue Dot. You can NOT  drop 2 charges of Trail Boss. If you drop 2 charges of Blue Dot, very bad things can happen.

[Mule]

223fan,

I have more experience loading Unique under the 40gr V-max to attain velocities up to 2700 fps, approximating 22 Hornet performance.  Groups are 2" to 2.5" @100 yd, useable and nice and quiet, but not as accurate as factory 223 loads. 

Duane

Where did you find the .223 data for Unique?  I have some 45gr bullets I would like to try and a big jug of Unique for my 20 gauge shooting.   Thanks

[murphdog]

223fan,
Not much data out there.  I started with some 222 data from an article by Bob Shell titled Unique the Everlasting Powder (http://home.earthlink.net/~manzanovalph/Uniquepowder.pdf).  If you wish, I can PM you with the loads that I've used.  But these aren't book loads, and I'm not sure I should put them on the open web.  I'm not a reloading expert by any stretch of the imagination. 
Duane

[murphdog]

Sorry, my "Unique" answer should have been directed to Mule.
Duane

[Mule]

That's a good read.  Thanks

[murphdog]

223fan,

Your post peeked my interest, so I went back and tried several different TrailBoss loads in my 223 Handi Rifle.  Here are my results for anyone who may find it useful.  All loads used full-length sized and trimmed PMC brass, CCI small rifle primers, and Hornady 40 grain V-max bullets.  OAL was 2.219 inches.  All loads were tested in an H&R 223 ultravarmint with 24" bull barrel and 1 in 9" twist.  Chronograph was 12 feet in front of muzzle.  Temp was 59 degrees, and crossbreeze was 10-15 mph.  Targets were set up at 50 yards. 

Trailboss  Vel   SD  ES   Group
6.0        1721  68  127  0.7"
6.5        1879  nd  nd   nd    (only loaded 1 case)
7.0        1644  nd  nd   nd    (only loaded 1 case)
7.5        1947  57  81   0.4"  (only loaded 2 cases)
8.0        1891  37  64   1.1"
8.25       1886  35  68   0.4"
8.5        1974  36  70   0.4"

I don't know why velocity of the 7.0 grain load was so low and 7.5 grain was so high compared to the rest, but as you can see from my standard deviations and extreme spreads, velocities tended to vary quite a bit.  (I got much tighter velocity spreads with the Unique loads that I previously mentioned.)  HOWEVER, in spite of the velocity spreads, I see a lot more potential for accuracy with these Trailboss loads, with several giving me groups of less than half an inch (less than 1 MOA) in spite of less than favorable wind.  Even better, POI was only 1/2" below factory 223 loads at 50 yards, so I could probably squirrel hunt with these loads without readjusting my scope.  I'm definitely going to do some more playing around with Trailboss in my 223. 

Duane

[Thebear_78]

A few years ago I worked up a whole series of loads for the 223 and 222 with bluedot powder.  It sounds like your trailboss is pretty close to the results I got.  One thing I really liked about the bluedot loads in the 14" contender was the lack of muzle blast.   I had one load with a 50gr JSP that clocked right at 2550fps and was my go to load in the contender for all around hunting.  another load that clocked right at 1900fps with a 40gr bullet was a great small game load.    I agree your trailboss loads are probably safer than the bluedot loads but if your careful the bluedot loads work great.

[223fan]

Well Itried my loads out last saturday on some squirrel,they worked great, very little damage(no where near my 17 hmr) to the squirrels I shot.This is a very fun load to shoot and not much noise.It'll allow me to shot my favorite round even more.

[murphdog]

223fan,
Thanks for the update.  I'm kind of excited about using my centerfire for squirrel hunting, but was wondering what these would do to a squirrel.  I'm concerned that my V-max's might be too explosive, but your info suggests that if they are then I can switch to Hornet bullets. 
Duane

[Reverend Recoil]

I have used Reloader No.7 for moderate loads (2400fps) with 55gr bullets.  They shoot well but will not cycle through my AR15.