Thread: Load reductions with Hodgdon PSI data in the .223

Greetings All,
Some of this has been covered in another thread on 77 grain projectiles but I thought it was important enough to have a thread of its own so here goes.
Some will have noted the substantial reductions in charge weights in the new PSI data for the .223. I was working with the 60 grain Hornady V-MAX projectile and loaded 25.0 grains of AR2206H (H4895) which produced 3,145 fps in my 26" barrel. 26 grains is listed as Max but needed more compression than I was prepared to use. Hodgdon velocity for the 25.0 grain load calculates to around 3,100 fps in my length barrel so all good.
The new PSI data topped out at 23.7 grains of H4895 for 3,084 fps with the 60 grain. That is below the CUP start load of 24 grains for 2,918 fps. Something is decidedly screwy here. Slightly less powder for 166 fps more velocity. That would be nice. I had run into the same problem with the 60 grain and BM8208 with the Max of 23.6 grains producing only 2,940 fps rather than the claimed 3,057 fps claimed in spite of a 26" barrel and heavy cases.
It looks to me that The PSI pressure barrels may be much tighter than the old CUP ones. This added to the lower 55,000 PSI pressure has resulted some pretty light load data for this cartridge.
I use the Hodgdons data as it is specific for a projectile and it states the pressures (plus it is free) so am working through how to manage the new data so what is everybody else doing?
Regards Grandpamac.

continue putting the same amount of powder in the case as I have been, since there have been no problems

Originally Posted by gimp

continue putting the same amount of powder in the case as I have been, since there have been no problems

Greetings @gimp and all,
Using my old loads that is what I have been doing but the problem is when I use a new powder and the data is wonky. I have been having this problem with BM8208 in the .223. The BM8208 data for the .308 seems fine and my chronographing with the 125 grain is in line with the Hodgdon data. The Hodgdon data for the .223 and BM8208 is way out. Initially I thought there had been a change in the speed of BM8208 but I am now starting to think that it is the data. More on this later.
GPM.

I will still be putting 24.5 grns of 2206h in behind 50-55grn projectiles......my powder is the same,so are the cases,primers n pills. Nothing to see here,move along lol

Contact hodgden and ask about it

Greetings All,
Well I have sent a query to Hodgdons about bolt action .223 data as @Happy Jack suggested but am not holding my breath. I suspect we will need to sort out the mess for ourselves. Based on my chronographing BM8208 is a little faster than AR2206H. Data prepared by Brian Pearce which appeared in Handloader in 2018 a max load for IMR8208 XBR was around 25.4 grains for a little over 3,100 fps. Hornady had a max load of around 25.3 grains for 3,000 fps. The Pearce data is much in line with my findings and I will move up to 25 grains of BM8208 for my next batch of V-MAX projectiles, this time in R-P cases.
A few years back I tested BM8208 against AR2206 and AR2206H. The first two were very close in burning speed with AR2206H around 40 fps slower. This was with the Speer 125 grain projectile. The velocities I recorded were in line with the Hodgdons data once charge and barrel length were allowed for so the .308 data seems fine. The .223 data needs more thinking.
Regards Grandpamac.

Greetings All,
I spent a little time yesterday doing a better comparison between the CUP and PSI data. It appears that either the speed of the powder has been increased or the PSI test barrels are really tight. I suspect the latter. The data for the .308 does not show this disconnect so to me the powder speed can be ruled out.
So where to next? Assuming Hodgdon does not release any updated data for strong bolt actions either on it's own site or the ADI site the best data I have seen is the Pet Loads data from Brian Pearce on Load data dot com. I will work up to a target velocity of around 3,150 fps that I got with 25 grains of AR2206H and the 60 grain in my VSSF. This used to be 1 grain under max but is now 1.3 grains over with the PSI data. I will let you know how I get on.
Regards Grandpamac.

You could have cured cancer by now with the amount of brainpower you dedicate to this.

GRT or Preciseload, use the CIP 62K psi threshold, and if your brass starts failing at the primer pockets prematurely, drop it back. Book data is subject to too many variables to be reliable for older cartridges where chambers, brass, and bullets can vary so much.


It's a .223, I don't think you can fit enough of any powder that you'd actually load in it to cause a genuinely dangerous situation. The bolt thrust is minimal. Brass is cheap, or ideally, free.

Greetings @Pommy, @gimp and all,
Yes I am inclined to overthink things but for me it is part of the handloading hobby that I really enjoy. As a retired non drinking, non smoker that does not get out much it gives me time to indulge.
I had a reply from Hodgdons which said there was no different pressure for bolt actions which was pretty much what I expected. I will look at GRT and precise load but it looks as though the Pearce data is close to the money. Digging through my old data I found some chronographed data for the 55 grain projectile and AR2206. Other testing showed AR2206 being close in speed to BM8208 and both a little faster than AR2206H. I will load some at 25 grains of BM8208 in R-P cases and chronograph over the next few weeks. I have been using 24.5 grains in the heavy S&B cases for 275 metre target which I will chrono as well.
Regards Grandpamac.