.223 varmint load data

[Gun nut.]

Hi folks,
I bought a CZ527 .223 varmint about 6 months ago. I've always loved stuff from CZ and this is a great rifle.
I scoped it with a leupold VX 2- 6-18 x40 and I'm very happy with that as well.
I only put around 150 rnds of my hand loads through it so far it normally groups 5 shots @ 100mtrs @ around 1".
That's not bad I guess but I have higher expectations with this rifle. I best I've shot is around .5 " but not constantly .
At the moment I'm using 25.8 grns of 2206H behind a 55grn Sierra match King projectile . The rifles varmint barrel is a 1:9 twist and 24" long. I know I can shoot heavier projectiles with the 1:9 twist, so that might be worth trying. Overall I'm very happy with this rifle. Just trying to get full potential with this gun. Any help on load data that works well in this rifle or with any .223 rifle with a similar barrel profile would be appreciated . Cheers.

[SCJ429]

Try a 69 grain SMK with around 26 grains of 2208. This is a very forgiving bullet. A one inch group out of a CZ is not too bad, have you lightened up the trigger and bedded the action?

[Gun nut.]

Try a 69 grain SMK with around 26 grains of 2208. This is a very forgiving bullet. A one inch group out of a CZ is not too bad, have you lightened up the trigger and bedded the action?

No bedding yet and it has a set trigger which is just beautiful . Heres the only pic I got, CZ in the middle .

[url=https://postimages.org/]

[TassieTiger]

Have you played with bullet seating depths? It can / will change groupings quite drastically...

[Gaznazdiak]

G'day Gun Nut.
My Howa is a 24" 9 twist and I have tried up to 70gn, Nosler RDF and Berger VLD.

I found the only way I could get any decent groups, like 2" at 400 was to push them really hard which produced badly cratered primers.

I have found that 25.5gn of 2206H behind a 55gn Hornady Roo Max is the most accurate load for my particular rifle, giving one hole groups at 100m.
I don't hunt much beyond 300m so that suits my needs.
They're also only 12c a pill compared to 47 for the Nosler, can't recall what I paid for the Bergers.

[Gun nut.]

G'day Gun Nut.
My Howa is a 24" 9 twist and I have tried up to 70gn, Nosler RDF and Berger VLD.

I found the only way I could get any decent groups, like 2" at 400 was to push them really hard which produced badly cratered primers.

I have found that 25.5gn of 2206H behind a 55gn Hornady Roo Max is the most accurate load for my particular rifle, giving one hole groups at 100m.
I don't hunt much beyond 300m so that suits my needs.
They're also only 12c a pill compared to 47 for the Nosler, can't recall what I paid for the Bergers.

Thanks very much. That's very interesting . Cheers

[SCJ429]

What are you thinking of trying Gun nut?

[Rod_outbak]

Our new Howa 1500 is a Stainless Synthetic Hunter with a 22" barrel and a 1:9" twist.

I load a 55gn projectile (currently Z-max because they hit hard and are cheap), in front of 24.5Gns of Benchmark 2, and a COAL of 2.260".

The load itself was one recommended by a couple of distance shooting mates, who said that this load worked really well in nearly all .223 rifles they'd used.

I cant say for certain what the rifle can shoot group-wise; I just set it up for the overseer, and when it departed my hands, the last few test loads were consistently grouping 0.8 inches at 100 yards. Given the scope is pretty basic, and I havent tweaked the trigger, I didnt think that was too bad.
[I know the overseer has been raving about the rifle ever since, and keeps blowing the heads off wildlife at >180 metres, so he's as happy as a pig in mud...]

I havent seen any need to tweak this load; maybe another wet-weather project, if we ever see such a thing again...

I've asked my LGS to order me 400 of the 75gn V-max pills; I reckon they will be pretty nasty. Mate has a .223 Ruger Precision Rifle, and he's been enjoying the 75Gn V-max's. Shame you cant buy them in the 500-round boxes like the Z-max's.

[Rod_outbak]

Huh....
Just came to realise that they dont make a .224 75gn V-Max!
Hmmmm... Wonder how long my LGS will take to figure that out...

Need to talk to my mate to find out what exactly he was using; could swear he said they were 75gn V-Max!
Apparently; NOT!

[Blr243]

Tassiie tiger. I saw your bit about bullet seating depths. I’m about to start reloading again with my 243. It’s been 15 year since I was doin a heap of reloading. Can you give us a brief run down about how I might start experimenting with seating depths for accuracy ?

[TassieTiger]

https://www.nosler.com/blog/news-and-ar ... r-your-gun

[SCJ429]

Once you have a load that is shooting well you can try tuning it with different seating depth. If you know what jam is try 10 thou off the lands, then 40 thou, 70 thou and 100 thou. You should see the difference in you groups. If you are limited by your mag length then try the maximum you can for your magizene and then back the seating depth off. I have not seen a rifle that shoots when backing the bullet off more than 120 thou but your experience may be different.