My new Whisper & Load Questions

[Salmonaxe]

Here's a video I just made detailing my method of generating 300/221 fireball brass. I tried posting a new topic, but for some reason it didn't go through... (I think...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea1eNhQvsFQ

Hopefully this all makes sense. I can go over the details if anyone has specific questions.

[Salmonaxe]

Originally Posted by strycnine

I'd be interested in the info on the brass trimming setup.

This is somewhat like another youtube video I saw, where a guy modified a .308 Dillon Rapid trim die in order to trim and form his brass. I tried the same thing, but had an issue with the cases spinning when the neck of the .223 case contacted the cutter since there was no support for the case. End result was a pretty torn up case head. I tried a bunch of different things and finally came up with the solution of snipping the the neck off with some sheetmetal snips. This tweeked the shoulder area of the case, which made for unreliable feeding on my progressive presses feed tube, so I fixed that by tweeking the neck back with a pair of needle nose pliers.

Probably not the most elegant of solutions, but it worked for me.

Here's my crappy video. Not sure why I was pointing the camera in a weird direction hopefully you guys can tell what's going on. Sorry I don't know how to embed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea1eNhQvsFQ

(Oh cool! My post finally went through!)

So on another note, I tried a bunch more loads and had even less success at getting the rifle to cycle properly. Again, it was freezing out, so the H110 might have been having issues with that.

I'm thinking that my seating the bullets deeper in order to feed correctly is also having an effect on overall pressures being achieved. Each increased charge weight did show an increase in velocity. But the ones that were loaded at case capacity or slightly compressed, didn't cycle the bolt enough to pick up an extra round. I'm guessing that with a nearly compressed load I didn't get proper ignition of the charge through the case, but due to the extra long barrel, I was able to pick up more velocity as the powder continued to burn down the barrel. Resulting in a lower port pressure. Cartridges that were loaded to capacity/compressed came out dirty in comparison to the those which cycled fully enough to pick up the next round. Just FYI, none of the primers showed any signs of over pressure. I did see an improvement in accuracy in all my newest loads, which weren't as wimpy as my first loads.

Here's what I'd loaded up and my results. All loads were done with H110.

240gr SMK 9.5gr H110- 1092ft/s (Ejected no second round pickup)
240gr SMK 10.0gr H110- 1156ft/s (Ejected no second round pickup)
220gr SMK 9.5gr H110- 950ft/s (Fully cycled didn't hold bolt open reliably)
220gr SMK 10.0gr H110- 1042ft/s (Fully cycled didn't hold bolt open reliably)
220gr SMK 10.5gr H110- 1128ft/s (Ejected no second round pickup)

So, my thoughts are to do a few things.
-Run magnum primers
-Switch to Lil' Gun or N110 since the require less powder to get the velocities I want. Also might be less temp sensitive
-Mod some Pmag to allow me to run at mag length, not the shorter length I'm currently using. (Resulting in a better internal capacity.)
-Run I lighter weight carrier. (I just switched out my noveske carrier for an old colt half moon carrier. It's a bit lighter and has been worn in,which might have some effect. I also pulled the o-ring from under the extractor, just in case. Seemed to give the ejector more leverage which could have been causing more dragging force on ejection.)

I'll hold off on getting an adjustable gasblock until I've exhausted my other options. I don't want to mess with the build too much until I get a can for it.

[320pf]

I have had pretty good luck with Accurate #9 for my subsonic loads. Here is the published subsonic load data from Accurate:

Sierra 220 HPBT C.O.L.=2.245"
Powder-grains-Vel.--p.s.i.
No.2---5.5----889---52,600
No.5---6.3---1062---38,200
No.7---7.5---1043---44,500
No.9---8.2---1056---39,500

I have been told not use the faster powders in an AR15. But if your gas port is in the pistol position you might be able to get A#7 to work for you. So A#7 should give you higher pressures at the gas port and thus cycle the action better.

I have also had some luck with 2400. Bottom line is that you have to try them all until you find the one that works in your rifle.

I hope this helps

320pf

[Salmonaxe]

Where did you get this load data? I looked at accurate powders website and only found a really basic PDF. Did you get their hardcopy? Just in case I you're talking about accurate reloading, I checked there and couldn't find the same data.

What I think is weird is that in quarterbore's subsonic section, it shows a way heavier load for Accurate No. 7

ACCURATE ARMS No. 7 POWDER

10.45 220 976/465 38 19

10.82 220 1055/544 49 17

11.00 220 1071/560 48 19

10.45 250 1012/569 73 28

[320pf]

Originally Posted by Salmonaxe

Where did you get this load data? I looked at accurate powders website and only found a really basic PDF. Did you get their hardcopy? Just in case I you're talking about accurate reloading, I checked there and couldn't find the same data.

What I think is weird is that in quarterbore's subsonic section, it shows a way heavier load for Accurate No. 7

ACCURATE ARMS No. 7 POWDER

10.45 220 976/465 38 19

10.82 220 1055/544 49 17

11.00 220 1071/560 48 19

10.45 250 1012/569 73 28

I got the data from the Accurate Arms website before they were bought by Western Powder. After they were bought by Western Powder the website change, particularly the online reloading data.

Each gun is different. Also gas operated gun may need a bit more powder to run. I would suggest that you start with about 9.0gr and see what you get. And then work up or down from there.

320pf