berettaprofessor
Member
(I meant BR4, of course
). Anyway, as promised earlier, I ran a test yesterday with the same loads for 6.5 Grendel and 223, varying only the primers. The numbers below are averages of 5 shots each primer for the 6.6 Grendel, and 10 shots each primer for the 223.
First, the loads:
6.5 Grendel: 28 grains IMR8208, Hornady ELD 123 grain, Hornady cases, OAL 2.250
223: 28.0 grains CFE223, Hornady ELD 52 grain, PMC cases OAL 2.220
Hornady Black: Standard commercial with Hornady ELD 123 bullet.
Now the results:
As you can see in the table, the BR4 were the lowest SD and ES for each cartridge. It was the middle velocity for each cartridge, but the highest average velocity was less predictable with it being the CCI41 in the 6.5 Grendel, and CCI400 in the 223.
I'm concerned about the SD's and ES in the 223's. My previous testing of this load (CCI400 primer) was 3150 fps with a 40 SD and 103 spread, so although it's a very precise load in the tested rifle (the BR4 loads yesterday were a 10 shot 0.7" group at 50 yards and often 3 shot groups of this loading are <0.4MOA), it's not very consistent. I attribute that to the CFE223, either just the powder itself, or to the temperature stability, which I'm never that crazy about. I could have a larger ES and SD here because I shot those groups in 5 shot segments...5 shots of each primer load, then 5 more shots of each...so there were about 10-15 minutes between the first and second groups and they were probably cooling between the groups from the basement temperature of 67ºF to the outside of about 45ºF at the time of the 2nd group.
I think I'm going to work up something else. Does anyone have any other favorites in 223 that are more consistent, esp temperature-wise? That rifle really likes those 52 ELD's so I'd like to stay with them. Hodgdon doesn't list any Hodgdon powders on their website for 52 grain ELD's but list loads for the 55 grain bullets for Varget, Benchmark, H4895, or IMR8208 and I have all those. I like H4895 in 224 Valkyrie, and the IMR8208 in both 6.5 Grendel and Creedmores. Anyone?
BTW, thanks to everyone for the advice in this previous thread; I purchased the Magnetospeed Sporter and it seemed to work perfectly yesterday on a reasonably gusty day with no clouds, a day when my old Chrony would have been worthless. I had no trouble at all with the Sporter, except that I needed to adjust the sensitivity from "regular" to "high 2" to pick up the 223's.
). Anyway, as promised earlier, I ran a test yesterday with the same loads for 6.5 Grendel and 223, varying only the primers. The numbers below are averages of 5 shots each primer for the 6.6 Grendel, and 10 shots each primer for the 223.First, the loads:
6.5 Grendel: 28 grains IMR8208, Hornady ELD 123 grain, Hornady cases, OAL 2.250
223: 28.0 grains CFE223, Hornady ELD 52 grain, PMC cases OAL 2.220
Hornady Black: Standard commercial with Hornady ELD 123 bullet.
Now the results:
As you can see in the table, the BR4 were the lowest SD and ES for each cartridge. It was the middle velocity for each cartridge, but the highest average velocity was less predictable with it being the CCI41 in the 6.5 Grendel, and CCI400 in the 223.
I'm concerned about the SD's and ES in the 223's. My previous testing of this load (CCI400 primer) was 3150 fps with a 40 SD and 103 spread, so although it's a very precise load in the tested rifle (the BR4 loads yesterday were a 10 shot 0.7" group at 50 yards and often 3 shot groups of this loading are <0.4MOA), it's not very consistent. I attribute that to the CFE223, either just the powder itself, or to the temperature stability, which I'm never that crazy about. I could have a larger ES and SD here because I shot those groups in 5 shot segments...5 shots of each primer load, then 5 more shots of each...so there were about 10-15 minutes between the first and second groups and they were probably cooling between the groups from the basement temperature of 67ºF to the outside of about 45ºF at the time of the 2nd group.
I think I'm going to work up something else. Does anyone have any other favorites in 223 that are more consistent, esp temperature-wise? That rifle really likes those 52 ELD's so I'd like to stay with them. Hodgdon doesn't list any Hodgdon powders on their website for 52 grain ELD's but list loads for the 55 grain bullets for Varget, Benchmark, H4895, or IMR8208 and I have all those. I like H4895 in 224 Valkyrie, and the IMR8208 in both 6.5 Grendel and Creedmores. Anyone?
BTW, thanks to everyone for the advice in this previous thread; I purchased the Magnetospeed Sporter and it seemed to work perfectly yesterday on a reasonably gusty day with no clouds, a day when my old Chrony would have been worthless. I had no trouble at all with the Sporter, except that I needed to adjust the sensitivity from "regular" to "high 2" to pick up the 223's.
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