AR-15 reloading question

[lamrith]

Little more shooting this weekend.

Bullet Powder Grains OAL " Comparator Avg Vel
Armscore 62g WC844 25.5 2.224-7 1.881-1.887 2791 no signs of high press
Armscore 62g WC844 24.5 2.224-7 1.881-1.887 2698 no signs of high press
Armscore 62g WC844 25.85 2.224-7 1.881-1.887 2889 some flattened primers
Armscore 62g WC844 26.2 2.224-7 1.881-1.887 2906 very flattened primers

Grouping honestly did not change at all, still abysmal 2+moa @ 100yrds bench rest and scoped, this was verified with multiple shooters and multiple lower assemblies(one had very nice trigger which helped). Once I knew the loads were safe I also had friends fire them thru their weapons and each had equal or better groups with iron sights.

My weapon is now cycling well with all the loads listed above, so obvious cost reasons, I will probably use the 24.5 drop both from powder AND time savings. that drop uses a single Lee Autodisk, drops more consistently and quicker. Much less hassle, not having to tap the powder hopper a bunch of times every cycle..

 

[deadshot2]

Little more shooting this weekend.

Bullet Powder Grains OAL " Comparator Avg Vel
Armscore 62g WC844 25.5 2.224-7 1.881-1.887 2791 no signs of high press
Armscore 62g WC844 24.5 2.224-7 1.881-1.887 2698 no signs of high press
Armscore 62g WC844 25.85 2.224-7 1.881-1.887 2889 some flattened primers
Armscore 62g WC844 26.2 2.224-7 1.881-1.887 2906 very flattened primers

Grouping honestly did not change at all, still abysmal 2+moa @ 100yrds bench rest and scoped, this was verified with multiple shooters and multiple lower assemblies(one had very nice trigger which helped). Once I knew the loads were safe I also had friends fire them thru their weapons and each had equal or better groups with iron sights.

My weapon is now cycling well with all the loads listed above, so obvious cost reasons, I will probably use the 24.5 drop both from powder AND time savings. that drop uses a single Lee Autodisk, drops more consistently and quicker. Much less hassle, not having to tap the powder hopper a bunch of times every cycle..

What primers? Some brands will show flattening long before you hit the high pressure mark. For that reason I only use winchester's when nothing else is available. Just from my experience the 25.5 gr load might be a better load.

As for the Lee auto disks, I had a bad habit of making them drop what I wanted them to rather than what they were built for. A pattern file to open up the "cavity" on the closest "numbered" hole and then I just labeled it for that powder and charge. Just keep the bottom hole no larger than the hole in the bottom of the casting so all the powder drops. Sometimes I would even put a small strip of scotch tape in a cavity that was dropping just over the exact charge I wanted.

When it gets down to it, how many times should one have to change the powder measure once they have the correct amount dropping, especially on "plinking" ammo. If you aren't weighing every charge the "adjusted" lee disk is great.

 

[lamrith]

What primers? Some brands will show flattening long before you hit the high pressure mark. For that reason I only use winchester's when nothing else is available. Just from my experience the 25.5 gr load might be a better load.

As for the Lee auto disks, I had a bad habit of making them drop what I wanted them to rather than what they were built for. A pattern file to open up the "cavity" on the closest "numbered" hole and then I just labeled it for that powder and charge. Just keep the bottom hole no larger than the hole in the bottom of the casting so all the powder drops. Sometimes I would even put a small strip of scotch tape in a cavity that was dropping just over the exact charge I wanted.

When it gets down to it, how many times should one have to change the powder measure once they have the correct amount dropping, especially on "plinking" ammo. If you aren't weighing every charge the "adjusted" lee disk is great.

I am using CCI400 primers.

I do not call that a bad habit, I call that a habit of sanity and one I have heard a number of times on the Lee sight. The dual disk, just does NOT work reliably, it is grossly inconsistent and really slows down the reloading process when you want to push out plinking ammo. I have seen swings of .5-.7g using dual disk. The 24.5-26.5g all cycled the gun very very well. The 24.5g just happened to be with using the 1.57 lee disk, so that is what I am "settling with". None of them showed any improvement in accuracy over the other. SO, I am just falling back to what is the easiest to load and most consistent for plinking rounds.

I am going to start working with OAL not and see if the gun prefers the bullet closer to the lands. I made a depth gauge out of a spare case&bullet last night with the bullet seated just enough to get a solid crimp on it. Marked the bullet with a sharpie and then chambered it, so I know where my lands are in relation to the base of the case and will try various bullet setbacks from touching to current OAL. Right now it is just about messing around and trying to see what I can do to improve accuracy while I wait for new barrel to arrive in March.