AR Load Development

.223 Remington Load Development

08/03/2004

24.3 gr AA2200, 55 gr Win FMJBT, LC, WSR, COL 2.250"

My objective for a hand load to use in my AR was to economically recreate the ballistics of the Win Q3131A. Since I typically have to use factory ammo when I train I thought it would be nice to have a hand load for practice and 3-gun comps that I could use interchangeably with the

factory ammunition. In addition, I did not see a need to develop an accuracy load for 3-gun matches where usually all we shoot too typically is 200 yards or less and at an IDPA size target. So I concluded a M193 equivalent round would be perfectly adequate for my intended use. Since Q3131A is considered a “true” commercial equivalent to the military M193, see the Maryland AR15 Shooters web site I used it as a basis for comparing with my hand loads. The following is a description of my experience towards achieving this objective.

I recently (Winter '04) developed another .223 load using the new Speer 62 FMJBT with my AA2200 powder. The objective was to try and improve the accuracy while maintaining the same POI as the 55 gr Win FMJBT and of course keep the cost low. Also, I do think I will purchase more of the Winchester bullets because I have found the cannelure position varies too much for it to be used effectively with the crimping operation.

Powder selection was driven primarily by economic considerations. I was about to buy AA2230C when I stumbled on a sale of AA2200 at Powder Valley and I picked-up 32 lb’s of it. AA described 2200 to me as a production over-run of military powder and advertised it in their load data as follows; “This load data is for Accurate's 2200 Powder. It is a fast burning, flattened ball type powder suited for use in the .223 Remington and the 7.62 x 39mm cartridges and even the .45/70. This powder is slower than AA1680 and faster than AA2230.” Accurate published this data: IMI 55 FMJ, 23.5 gr., 3265 f/s, 48,000 c.u.p. COAL 2.230" using a 24” bbl. Knowing my 16” bbl AR produced a MV of 3026 fps with the Q3131A ammo and that I should expect to loose around 25 to 30 fps/inch of shorter barrel I figured the max load would get me in the ballpark of 3065 to 3025 fps. Top

the bullets from Shrach's (Top Brass) they were all over the place. I settled on the Winchester based mostly on their price and availability at my local supplier. Top

Primer selection, Winchester WSR, was determined by recommendations from others using this powder with the same objective. I have since tried some CCI 100’s and Remington 7-1/2’s but I cannot say I gave them a serious enough evaluation to determine if they’re a better choice or not. I can say I did not experience any significant improvements.

Powder charge determination was the most challenging aspect of the load development project. I worked up to the maximum charge published by AA, the 23.5 gr and was only getting 2922 fps. My objective was 3025 fps. I had never loaded a round beyond a manufacturer’s recommendation before and I was a bit intimidated by this prospect. So, before I started into that endeavor I called AA and spoke with their ballistician. A really nice guy, BTW. He shared with me there was a large burn rate variance between lots of the AA2200 powder and that I would be OK to carefully increase the load (small increments while looking for pressure signs) until I reached the MV (factored by my barrel length, i.e. the 3025-3065 fps range) published with the max recommended load – the 23.5 gr. This recommendation and the background information about the burn rate was consistent with the experiences others on AR15.com were describing with this powder too. So I felt more comfortable to proceed with increasing the charge. The chart here depicts the MV readings I recorded along the way. Top

	Test 1	Test 2	V/C Calc	Baseline
Charge	AA2200	AA2200	AA2200	AA2230
21.0
21.1	2580		122.27
21.2
21.3
21.4
21.5
21.6
21.7
21.8	2679		123.17
21.9
22.0
22.1
22.2
22.3
22.4
22.5
22.6	2759		122.08
22.7
22.8
22.9
23.0
23.1	2840		122.94
23.2
23.3
23.4
23.5	2922	2932	124.34	2616
23.6
23.7		2963	125.02
23.8
23.9		2983	124.81
24.0
24.1		3006	124.73
24.2
24.3		3025	124.49	2827
24.4
24.5		3038	124.00
24.6
24.7		3093	125.22
24.8
24.9		3126	125.54	2921
25.0
25.1
25.2
25.3
25.4
25.5
25.6
25.7
25.8
25.9				3029

The blue data points on the chart show the MV readings from the first tests I did. The red data points show the MV readings from the second test I did - after I got the nerve up to start pushing loads beyond the published maximum of 23.5 gr. Note, on the second test I started at 23.5 gr again. Just to get a base line of where I was starting from. Speaking of baselines I also tested AA2230 (the green data points) along with the AA2200 just to see how a quality grade of powder would behave. I had to take the slower AA2230 powder up to just 0.1 gr less than the maximum published load for it to achieve the desired velocity.

The purple line on the chart depicts the predicted MV's by the Load From a Disk ballistic software. The MV were quite overstated for the lower charges, but there is a clear convergence with the actuals as the maximum load is approached.

Although 24.3 gr. produced the MV I was looking for I decided on 24.4 gr. to allow for the +/- 0.1 gr variance I get with the Dillon powder measure.

Load	Hand load	Q3131A
Velocity	3025 fps	3026 fps
25 yds	-2.12	-2.10
50 yds	-0.99	-0.97
75 yds	-0.14	-0.12
80 yds	0.00	0.00
100 yds	0.43	0.39
150 yds	0.63	0.26
200 yds	-0.53	-1.70
250 yds	-3.33	-6.13
300 yds	-7.93	-13.62

This table (above) shows compares the trajectory between the hand load and the Win ammo. Notice I use a 80 yd zero in order to get a 2" point blank range out to 200 yds. This is what works out best with the 3.5" HOB that comes from using a Compact ACOG on top of the AR carry handle. Top