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223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:13 am
by Del
hi all

so to start totally new to reloading got a tikka t3x 223 with 1:8 twist , the first bullet am going to try to reload is a tipped sierra matchking 69gn and swiss RS40 powder going with the swiss book i got with the powder my min charge is 21.3gn and max charge 23.9gn , so am going to start at the low end first but what increments do i move up is .1 or .2 increments big enough to see a difference ?

also c.o.a.l

tell me if am doing this right or wrong probably , i made up a dummy round on purpose to long put in to rifle and tried the bolt wouldn't close moved the seating depth in very small touches an 8th to 16th of a turn on the seating die each time until my bolt would close smoothly . the measurement i got was 2.275 this was to long for my mag so i continued to seat deeper to fit my mag this measurement is now 2.250 do i go with this measurement ? being a bit of a will i won't i person i checked some measurements on some shop bought ammo and they all range from 2.149 to 2.197 and the lee reloading book tells me my c.o.a.l is 2.260 so am i good to go at 2.250 or should i bring it deeper???

sorry if its a bit long winded

all the best del

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 12:19 pm
by Mattnall
Seat them so they fit and feed from the mag easily.
No idea on powder charge, but it sounds about right (somewhere around 24gn of a suitable powder is the norm). Try changing the powder increments by 0.5gn and then when you get near the mark make a few minor adjustments around that load, will save time and powder.
Any reason you didn't go for the 77gn SMK (or TMK) with that 1:8" twist?

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 12:29 pm
by Del
Mattnall wrote:
Any reason you didn't go for the 77gn SMK (or TMK) with that 1:8" twist?
when i got the rifle i got 4 different kinds of bullet and theon initial testing the better grouping came from the 69gn bullet nut i do have 4 or 5 other bullets to try including 80gn vmax 70gn berger

cheers del

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:12 pm
by kennyc
load to factory length, if that is too long for the mag, then you may wish to consider a different bullet, once you have a powder charge that works well, then start messing with length to see if that tightens the group, or just leave it if the groups are good,

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:50 pm
by Andy RV
24gr's of RS40, a CCI 450 primer and 69gr TMK makes 925 m/s out of my 20" 1-8" Sako .223.

Loaded to the top end of the factory length.

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:17 am
by Blackstuff
The tipped 69's do not fit in AR style magazines unless you go below the recommended cartridge length. I returned the ones i bought for this very reason

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 12:09 pm
by Maggot
Blackstuff wrote:The tipped 69's do not fit in AR style magazines unless you go below the recommended cartridge length. I returned the ones i bought for this very reason
Odd, loads of people use them on the CSR circuit.

Del, its dead simple mate.

Load for mag length, adjust the load for an acceptable group, if you can be bothered, factory crimp. To an extent the factory crimp will give a slightly more consistant peak pressure (similar to loading into the landes).

You can either take your length from SAAMI spec or measure a GGG or other NATO spec round. Obviously you need to measure case head to meplat and not to ogive as this can differ quite considerably.

Enjoy your shooting :good:

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 2:04 pm
by Blackstuff
Maybe i'm thinking of a different bullet. The ones i tried were compressing the powder and bordering on the ogive to get them to fit in a mag :bad:

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:00 am
by Maggot
Blackstuff wrote:Maybe i'm thinking of a different bullet. The ones i tried were compressing the powder and bordering on the ogive to get them to fit in a mag :bad:
Sorry BS, I came accross a bit arsey there. My 77 and 75 gr loads do compress the powder, 24.6 or 24.7gr of RS52. A lot of the longer bullets will do. You might need a different die though as the tip adds a bit that is not there with a standard HPBT chap. Bend the tip and you are in trouble so the die may need more space to accommodate it. I have never used them myself, I know a lot do. Personally you could do worse than looking at the PPU 75gr HPBT. Certainly work well enough, I shot a 9/0/1 on a bisley bullet (SO rules, 18" BAR15) with them a week or so ago and the single 3 was my fault. The best I have ever done with 77SMKs was 9/1.

Dont forget that the extra 20 odd grains worth of bullet needs to go somewhere and if it is mag length that will be inside the case. In many cases a compressed load may well burn better, I dont know, but I have had somd good results with compressed loads and certainly no stickiness with my BAR15. It shoots like a Biathlon rifle in terms of cycling :good: Even the bullet on a standard RG SS109 round is still quite long compared with an old 55grainer.

RS52 is a great powder though for not being nasty but giving good velocity. Worked well through this years Imperial which was bloody hot.

Re: 223 sierra tipped 69gn matchking

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:57 am
by Blackstuff
No problem, didn't read like that to me at all, the joys of text and not speech eh! lol

Yeah the ones i got were actually sent to me by mistake, they were brand new out at the time. They were a lot more expensive than the standard SMK's so thought i would try them but i was having to put them so far into the case to get them to fit in a magazine that the neck was no longer gripping the bullet because it was on the ogive. wtf