New to reloading but...

Were the rest of them worse? I think I'd look for a different combination. Definitely try a different powder.

You need a different powder like aa2230.

At 100 yards, 1" is 1 MOA. Me personally, I like all my rifle loads to be less than .7500" at worse. Most if not all my rifle loads, I like to have around .5" at 100yds.

Hell, I thought it was pretty good. Shows you what you're up against with these guys at THR! Jwrow probably gets those groups with his eyes closed at 800 yds by now!

NorthBorder said:

That bad, huh? Extreme spread is 1.44 in. Powder is not easily found. I got essentially the same result. I got .84 inch in a 3 shot group using 20.8 gr.

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No, they are not that bad. Whatever you shot it's dead!!

Take out that one flier and not bad at all. Sure they could be in one hole but there are many factors involved. Gun, bullet, powder, method of shooting etc etc.

Potatohead said:

Hell, I thought it was pretty good. Shows you what you're up against with these guys at THR! Jwrow probably gets those groups with his eyes closed at 800 yds by now!

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I wish. LOL.

Not bad. Hunting wise, I'd be ok with it. I mean it would be dead. Most my plinking or match stuff, I'd definitely want to tighten it up.

NorthBorder said:

Tough crowd. Thanks guys. Even the negatives are positives if I can learn from them.

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Might just be me, but that's not bad for an AR carbine with stock handguards. Was that off bags or a bipod?

I agree, for hunting it's fine, for match shooting, not so much.

I think what the guys are trying to tell you is, that rifle can do better and I also think a different powder will help. Even though many reloaders use it IMO that powder is a little fast for the .223.

Try to find H335, H322, AA2230, TAC, CFE223, RL10x or RL1200-R. If you can't find those look for Benchmark, AR-Comp, 8208 XBR, W748 and probably a few others too.

NorthBorder said:

Shooting was off a Caldwell front rest, I guess you would call it. I'm just gearing up for coyotes.

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What's an avg of shots to be taken for the coyotes distance wise?

Just for more moral support I had a SW MP MagPul Edition. I think it was made for shooting around corners, Accuracy of that rifle sucked. I returned it, They do not replace barrels they just slap on a complete new upper (probably cheaper in the long run) So your shots for a new reloader and a SW Sport are pretty good. The Sport is not intended to be a match grade rifle so don't let them yank your chain.
Anyway, it was better but still not what I considered accurate. I sold it and bought a Rock River. Just the trigger is worth it and it's much more accurate.

Ah ok. Yeah, the load you have should have no issues then to 200.

Depends what you are trying to do. With powder shortages, and all that sometimes you do the best you can. For hunting it'll work. Whatever you are shooting at likely will be dead.

I used to be ok wi 2.5 MOA at 100 for a hunting rifle and factory ammo. I started reloading and I want everything under 1".
Jeff

This is a twenty shot group @ 100yds with my short course bolt gun 223Rem with 8" twist barrel. The load R15 powder, 69Gr HPBT, Win SMR primer, and mixed head stamp cartridge cases. The powder charge is over maximum for an uncoated bullet thus I'll exclude the charge weight.

I think it's not a bad start. Plenty of room to improve, which means you get to try more test loads!

I emailed a pic to my Dad of a target that I was most proud of.......... His response was "dead target". (I'm 46 and he is 73) I love him and he loves me but there is no way he's gonna give me a break....... BTW, I won't give him one either.

It is just the way it is amigo......

The Dove

If the trigger on the SW15 is half as bad as my factory Bushmaster HBAR, that may be as good as it gets with your set up. If your not shooting for points at paper, I'd say you are good to go. If you're at .85'ish MOA at 100yds, at 200 you're still under 2". This still equals dead yotes. I hear ya on the powder availability issue. I've been shooting way more pistol lately and sitting on my rifle loads/powders. Good luck.

Hangingrock said:

This is a twenty shot group @ 100yds with my short course bolt gun 223Rem with 8" twist barrel. The load R15 powder, 69Gr HPBT, Win SMR primer, and mixed head stamp cartridge cases. The powder charge is over maximum for an uncoated bullet thus I'll exclude the charge weight.

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I like your scale. Looks like maybe a Starret?

I like your scale. Looks like maybe a Starret?

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Yes!

Looks like some of my work-ups, left shot first and then right from top to bottom! Especially before I slowed my rate of fire to one shot per minute. I give you credit if you can make 4198 work with anything as heavy as a 52 grainer. I tried 4198 with 55 grainers without much luck, but looking back on it now, I suspect that even the listed starting loads for 55 grain bullets may have been a bit much.

If 4198's all you can get,you're not doing bad.Other powders will likely work better though.Varget and CFE-223 are hard to beat,and,sadly hard to find.If I can keep 5 on 1.5" at 100 with mixed brass and no special care taken with my loads,I'm happy with my older Bushmaster.