Starting loads

[Giant81]

I'm loading some 5.56 brass with 62gr pulled SS109's. My intention is to use them as cheap plinking rounds, but I can't find load data for them. Should I use the load data for a slightly heavier bullet and work up? If I'm right, heavier bullets will have a lower powder charge because the additional mass of the bullet causes it to move slower allowing pressures to build up a bit more in the chamber?

Or if someone has any load data for the 5.56 nato brass and 62gr SS109. I have CCI #400 and IMR 4895 sitting here ready to go, all I need to do is find a safe starting point to start working up from.

Edited April 1, 2012 by Giant81

[Chills1994]

I think it is over at handloads.com that they have a search function where you can type in the caliber, the weight of the bullet, and the powder type and it will spit out recipes that other people have used, supposedly.

The heavier bullet should actually extend further into the case giving you less volume for all those rapidly expanding gases. It's like a Charles and Boyle's Laws thing.

[Linear Thinker]

I've experimented with SS109 bullets and 4895. My load was: 25.0gr IMR-4895 under new commercial SS109 bullets at 2.250" COL, using CCI mil-spec primers (not CCI 400!). The cases were LC or somesuch military.

This was a full-power accurate load, giving me ~2750 FPS from a 1:7 20" AR.

I would start at 24gr, and work up.

I recommend against CCI400 primers in 223 - they are too thin and better suited for low pressure rifle calibers eg. 22 Hornet, or high pressure pistol calibers (I use them for 38SC and 357 Mag). I ruptured plenty of CCI400s in 223 before learning my lesson.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Linear Thinker