au_prospector
Member
I have a 182 series Mini 14 made in early 1980's and it is fun to shoot. Ruger tells me it is a 1-10 rate of rifle twist. It has the original factory peep sight. If you have this Mini 14 series then you know the rear sight is not fixed in place. It moves just a little if you grab ahold and jiggle it. In other words my Mini 14 is not made for precision shooting.
I started reloading .223 for it and used powder on hand which is 3031.
I used NO CRIMP and my load below is published from Lyman 49
Xtreme .224 55 grain metal jacket boat tail with exposed lead at the base.
I loaded up 25 with 23.0 grains IMR 3031 and 25 with 23.5 grains IMR 3031
Each load was done by hand on a balance scale.
Standard SRP from CCI number 400.
Mixed cases trimmed to 1.74 inches deburred.
OAL from 2.221 to about 2.224 inches
I shot them and this is what I ended up with...
23.0 grains at 50 yards gives a 3.5 inch group with a concentration of shots landing within 2.5 inches. This group is slanted like this '/'
23.5 grains at 50 yards gives a 3.5 inch group with shots peppered fairly evenly in a circle.
My eyes are almost 50 years old but I have decided to try a couple variables. First, I went to Cabelas looking for Varget and I came home with X-Terminator. I am considering a different bullet, but I dont know. . .
Can you think of anything or is this about as good as it gets with the Mini 14?
I started reloading .223 for it and used powder on hand which is 3031.
I used NO CRIMP and my load below is published from Lyman 49
Xtreme .224 55 grain metal jacket boat tail with exposed lead at the base.
I loaded up 25 with 23.0 grains IMR 3031 and 25 with 23.5 grains IMR 3031
Each load was done by hand on a balance scale.
Standard SRP from CCI number 400.
Mixed cases trimmed to 1.74 inches deburred.
OAL from 2.221 to about 2.224 inches
I shot them and this is what I ended up with...
23.0 grains at 50 yards gives a 3.5 inch group with a concentration of shots landing within 2.5 inches. This group is slanted like this '/'
23.5 grains at 50 yards gives a 3.5 inch group with shots peppered fairly evenly in a circle.
My eyes are almost 50 years old but I have decided to try a couple variables. First, I went to Cabelas looking for Varget and I came home with X-Terminator. I am considering a different bullet, but I dont know. . .
Can you think of anything or is this about as good as it gets with the Mini 14?