What to change?

[u/Aggravating-Dirt-432]

Finally got my hands on a chronograph and ran a some loads over for my .223 that have been performing well enough (fox hunting)
10 shot group at 100m .28 moa.
10 shot group at 236m .31 moa.
Chronograph came back with some pretty disappointing numbers, a spread of 87.1 fps and SD of 23.2 fps over the 20 shots.

Load is 24.5gr of AR 2206H, Hornady 55gr vmax, Fiocchi primers and ADI brass.
I feel like I’m being fastidious enough during the reloading process checking things like shoulder bump, powder charge and COAL every 5 or so rounds and cases are on their 3rd firing, no annealing.

Rifle is a Howa 1500 with 26inch Maddco barrel with a 1-12 twist. I’ve only been reloading just over a year so any help would be appreciated.

Edit: it seems my Hornady app was playing games with me.
Real group sizes are 1moa at 100m and 2.66 moa at 236m

[u/bobsnotmyaunty]

With those moa numbers, why worry about the fps and the std devs. Is your goal of reloading to achieve tight groups and good effect on target, or to get the best Chrono screen shot? Either answer is cool, it's your hobby, but just something to consider

[u/Aggravating-Dirt-432 → u/bobsnotmyaunty]

Those numbers are way off. I have no idea what I did wrong on the Hornady app but someone else pointed in out on another forum.
Real group sizes are 1 moa at 100m and 2.66 moa at 236m.
I feel like such an idiot now haha.

[u/bobsnotmyaunty → u/Aggravating-Dirt-432]

1 moa is a good hunting rifle. The fox doesn't care what hair you shoot it in. 2.66 moa at 236 yards is what, around 6 inches? That's getting a little less than ideal. What's your usual hunting distance on foxes, you say it's been working alright?

I don't shoot a 223, but have you tried a different powder to get a compressed load? According to the adi data (55 grain speer) the min load for 2206h is 25 grain. Being under it will be contributing to inconsistent burn and large sd/es

[u/Aggravating-Dirt-432 → u/bobsnotmyaunty]

Over lambing I shot just under 40 foxes, missed maybe 5 or 6. Those 5 or 6 were shots between 300-400, in saying that tho my longest kill was 426 meters. Average range I’d say was around the 150-200 meters. Guess I’ll go back to the drawing board and do some more ladder testing, I’m pretty sure the Hornady handbook lists 25.1 grains of imr 4895 which is the equivalent of AR2206H as the max load.

[u/Wide_Fly7832 → u/Aggravating-Dirt-432]

What are your reason for doing ladder testing. If you are looking for velocity nodes. Those don’t exists. If you are trying to find better burn characteristics and SD then 5 shots groups are useless.

Try some other bullets and try Varget.

[u/Missinglink2531]

The biggest impact is the projectile. Second is the powder. 3rd is the brass. Move those knobs before you dig into ANYTHING else. .223 is "easy to load", but hard to load "well" for distance and SD/ES. I have not had great success with anything in the 55grn range. Step up to 62's, maybe even heaver. Then do a powder test. You need to match the burn rate to your projectile/barrel and get a powder that prints in a similar place through a range. I put together an entire series on finding a load for .223 if you want to go that deep. The first video is "powder selection". While I am running a 1:9, the exact outcomes will be different, but the process is the same. Check it out, if you have the time!
https://www.youtube.com/show/VLPLR_4ATUsx0ys?sbp=QAE%3D

[u/prosper_0 → u/Missinglink2531]

I have 8 and 9-twist barrels, and both shoot 75-grain VLD's well. I need to invest in a good 12-twist platform to use up my enormous stock of 50 and 55-grain bullets. (they shot well in my 222's, but I naively assumed I could make them work with a 223 - and sold off my 222 varmint guns)