Seating 223& pressures??

[Axis II]

Set up my FL die little by little until my bolt would shut normal but I get the cut ring on the bullet as before. Factory is 2.230-2.235 and book says 2.250.

When I seat little deeper, little deeper until I hit 2.234 the ring disappeared and chambers flawlessly.

Any issues with pressure increases seating deeper than book but right at factory? All trimmed to sammi minimum, using benchmark as powder.

 

[rcmodel]

No.
Do what you gotta do to keep the bullet out of the rifling.

rc

 

[hdwhit]

What weight bullet?
Who made the bullet?
What weight of powder?
Do you crimp the bullet in place?
If so, does the bullet have a cannellure?

Like rcmodel already said, it is generally important to keep the bullet out of contact with the rifling since having the rifling in contact with the bullet makes the rifling act like the little wire cage around a champagne cork; holding the bullet in place against the rising pressure for a few additional milliseconds until it is enough to not only overcome the friction with the case neck (and the crimp, if there is one), but also to start the process of having the rifling machine grooves in the bullet's case.

The reason I ask about the bullet and the powder is that the deeper you seat the bullet, the less volume there is in the chamber. That means the burning powder fills up the available space faster (tending to increase pressure). Also, increasing pressure can have an effect on the rate at which the powder burns (thus increasing pressure faster than normal). In a cartridge like .223 Remington, these effects are probably negligible and can be safely ignored, but I'm not going to say anything definite without more information. It may be that the bullet and powder combination you have chosen is not going to work very well with your rifle.

 

[Axis II]

55gr v max benchmark from 22gr-23.3 I'm doing work ups. No crimp at all.

 

[Axis II]

Measured 5 factory rounds and none are close to 2.250 from what book says but book used rem 700 I'm using savage axis 2 HB. Even 55sp at 2.220 get cut ring unless seated deeper.

 

[hdwhit]

55gr v max benchmark from 22gr-23.3 I'm doing work ups.

Thanks for responding so quickly.

So many people are trying to push 68, 69, 70 grain or heavier bullets out of .223 Remington rifles that I get nervous when they are being seated really deep into the case. 55 grain is, to my mind, a different story because that's in the "sweet spot" for the cartridge and Benchmark is not a particularly fast powder for the cartridge.

The load I worked up in the early 1980's for use in my Ruger Mini-14 has a 60 grain Hornady bullet atop 25 grains of WW748, 22 grains of IMR-3031 or 20 grains of IMR-4198 with a COL of 2.198. All of these loadings functioned well without any sign of distress to the brass, but see note at the bottom of the post.

My Savage Axis has a tighter chamber than my Mini-14 and I have backed off these loadings and started working up something specifically for it, but I'm still going to try to be in the arena of a COL of 2.200 so that it can still be used in the Mini, so I don't think that a COL of 2.234 should be a problem for you.

Please note the 20 grain of IMR-4198 loading referred to, above, is less than the maximum loading shown in the Hornady Manual, 4th Edition, which I relied on when developing the load, but it is higher than the 19.5 grain maximum that Hodgdon currently publishes. I mention the load as a historic fact, not a current recommendation. You should follow currently published maximums and exceed them at your own risk.