223 Wylde AR loads

kyotekiller25

Sergeant of the Hide
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Jan 31, 2021
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Working on my first AR15 build. Have a WOA 20" Kriger upper coming. Aero lower, Larue trigger, Luth MBA-1 stock, Warne 20 MOA cantilever mount with a Burris E1 4-14x LR MOA reticle.

I've got 73g ELDMs and 75g Hornady HPBT Match bullets. IMR4895, IMR8208XBR, and Benchmark for powders.

What are some more proven loads out to 600+ with the above combos?

The rifle is just a LR steel/truck/coyote rifle. Nothing crazy. Will be slow fired and babied just like my bolts. Would like to run it out to at least 600, maybe even 7-800 yards also.

Thanks!
 
I have 20" SS Proof 7 twist in Aero upper, over Aero lower with Rise Armament 434 trigger. I'm running 23.6gr 8208XBR, cci450 primers in LC Brass at roughly 2780fps for both the 75bthp & 73 eld. The bthp is 3/4" for me and the eld is just slightly better. I've seen lots of reports of 23.2-23.8 of XBR working well
That range of 8208 xbr with the 75 bthp or a sierra 77 smk. 23.2 works for me.
 
Finally got out to test a couple loads in my AR. Loaded up 53g VMAX at 2.260" over Benchmark and 73g ELDMs at 2.3" over IMR8208XBR. Both out of ASC mags. These were the winners from each. Not to bad for throwing some loads together. Probably won't change a whole lot. Bout as good as I can do with the funky 2 stage trigger and springy recoil of these ARs. The 53 vmax will make a nice truck/calling load for dogs, and the 73 eldms can play out to 800 on steel.

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I prefer a one and done type of load (yeah right). Maybe a better way to put it is I prefer specific bullet weights and done. I have always had good luck with the Hornady 75 BTHP in many AR's with the usual extruded powders. Surprisingly good luck with that bullet considering they are always available and inexpensive. Pointing them helps in my experience but pointing is not much more fun than a root canal and the tools used cost like a trip to the Dentist too.

Both of your groups look nice but I would use a larger number of shots (I know you know that though). I can't remember when XBR8208 was ever a bad choice for finding a good load. Maybe not the fastest or most accurate combination but never a bad choice.

Back to my humorous one and done statement. I'm more than a little interested in Hornady's newest 223 varmint bullet. 62/63 grain with a lot of letters after the number. That might be a good one and done.
 
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I prefer a one and done type of load (yeah right). Maybe a better way to put it is I prefer specific bullet weights and done. I have always had good luck with the Hornady 75 BTHP in many AR's with the usual extruded powders. Surprisingly good luck with that bullet considering they are always available and inexpensive. Pointing them helps in my experience but pointing is not much more fun than a root canal and the tools used cost like a trip to the Dentist too.

Both of your groups look nice but I would use a larger number of shots (I know you know that though). I can't remember when XBR8208 was ever a bad choice for finding a good load. Maybe not the fastest or most accurate combination but never a bad choice.

Back to my humorous one and done statement. I'm more than a little interested in Hornady's newest 223 varmint bullet. 62/63 grain with a lot of letters after the number. That might be a good one and done.
I just like the 53s for dogs since they are quite a bit faster/flatter. Don't have to worry about things out to 300. But they aren't the best for longer range either.

I'll load up 10 of each of those and then probably just shoot a 100 yard group and see what they do. If they're not to bad I'll just go with it.