Hi All
I know that you can tune a 308 with a barrel tuner and have great results...I have done this.
My question is "Has anyone had sucsess doing it with a 556?"
I have tried time and time again and the same thing happens (no change...same group) The vibration of a 308 is a lot greater than a 556.
The only luck that I have had is setting up loads that will shoot for the particular barrel.
I have a new 7 in 1 twist true flite barrel and I wish to get the best groups out of it for 80 grn projectiles.
I am all ears if some one can point me in the right direction and tell me if they have had joy in tuning in a 556 with a barrel tuner?
Many Thanks Rich
Hi Again
Brass is ADI
Primers Remington
Projectiles 80 Grn Sierra
Seated just kissing the lanse
Powder 24.5 2206h Raw Bullets
Unknown speed
Cheers Rich
Almost identical as what I use , except I use nothing but molly coated bullets. Do you grade your brass? If to what weight spread?
I also use BM2 with perhaps slightly tighter groups.
Keith H.
Some good points I will take them on board and see what happends.
I still would like to find out if anybody has sucsess with a barrel tuner
I was chatting to a smallbore champion in our Club yesterday and he states that they barrel tune the .22 cal rifles with great sucsess.If this is the case why cant it be done with a 556?
Cheers Rich
Hi Rich I had a play around with a tuner on a .556 'F' class rifle that shoots extremely well with a load that was just a little too hot for normal use .Load was 25.4 of 2208 with Sierra 80gn and it would consistently group under an inch at 300mts but I struck a soft batch of Lapua brass and had problems with head expansion so backed the load off to avoid any further trouble. The groups opened up a little so I tried the tuner to get them back to what I knew the rifle was capable of shooting.No real luck,it seems as though the .223 does not respond to a tuner like a .308 does due to the lesser barrel vibrations. It didn't seem to matter where the tuner was set on the barrel or where it was adjusted groups seemed to remain constant at around half a minute. Maybe you could try 2208 and see what happens to group sizes as being a bit slower powder it could alter barrel vibrations enough to have a positive effect. As a matter of interest I group tested my original .223 the other day which has been on 25gn of 2208 for nearly 4500 rounds to check Nosler vs Sierra bullets at 300mts and the Sierras went into 3/4inch and noslers just on 1 inch for 5 shots. Hope to catch up with you at the Light River O.P.M. this weekend. Regards Malcolm.
Thanks for your input Mal
Appreciated.
I think I will try and fine tune and weigh my brass.try a jump of 12 to 15 thou.
and might even give the magnum primers a go CCI 450's.
I have got some Danzac in from Canada so I will try that also....if the above fails.
Cheers Rich....see U on Sunday at Light River
G'Day Rich,
I use a 223 and I use around 25gns of 2208 with CCI 450 magnum primers for reliable ignition of the slower powder in a Rem700 action, in a 26" barrel for approx 2850fps . It shoots nice and flat groups that would look a whole lot better if I could read the wind!
As for seating depth, DEFINATELY either jumping or well into the lands but NOT kissing the lands. At least that way you know one way or the other and throat erosion isn't a problem that it might be if your kissing the lands.
Hi Ned
One question are you using raw projectiles or are you coating them?
I also read the other day on a web site that shooters who were coating there bullets were enlarging the primer holes when using magnum primers to get better performance.
I dont know if anyone here has tried this.
Thanks for your input Ned
Rich
G'Day Rich,
I'm a bit of a masochist I suppose and use the .223 in FO so I use moly on the bullets without worrying about whether they are "legal" in FS or not and can choose other bullets to play with.
If you use moly, just work up a load as normal and remember to clean as per normal. Moly does not build up and any build up can only be carbon. The amount of moly on the bullet is micro thin and can only be bonded to metal. Carbon build up is (and probably will always be) the biggest worry. So keep they barrel clean.
DO NOT open up the flash holes. If you do, you will increase the pressure inside the primer pocket and risk blowing holes in your primers, that's why BR shooter's like the smaller primer flash holes in the 6ppc case (and the 6x47lapua) as well as small diameter firing pins. The smaller flash hole actually has less pressure inside the primer pocket compared to a larger flash hole in exactly the same case with the same chamber pressure. A smaller flash hole simply cannot let through the same amount of gas and therefore the pressure is lower inside the primer pocket and yes you can load hotter before the primer pocket pressure will cause a blown primer............all things being equal! And a smaller firing pin needs more force to push backwards against your firing pin spring before the primer can be blown (pressure is force acting on an area smaller pins have a smaller area)
What this means to you the reloader is you can SAFELY achieve higher chamber pressures with a smaller flash hole case and therefore potentially higher velocity. If you enlarged the flash hole you would most likely blow a primer with the same powder charge in the same case.
Now here's the catch, accuracy is much, much more important than velocity and all of this is ALWAYS limited by the mechanical strength of your chosen brass and action, so prudent careful reloading to achieve accuracy, velocity and ease of bolt opening is always the key to achieve performance out of your rifle.
The magnum primers ensure more reliable ignition of the slower 2208 powder. They have more energy and the flash is forced further into the powder column than regular primers. This is what gives the better more uniform ignition or the 2208 in the smaller .223 case.
Hope this helps and does not confuse! Most importantly be safe and if your cases are hard to unload/bolt lift stiff, back off your loads!
Thanks Ned for your input
I think you might have saved me some grief with experimenting with bigger flash holes Hi Mike I also am interested in what barrel and load you are running with the 556.All info is good
Many Thanks Rich
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