can't get good groupings

[blink]

well perhaps it's crude and not real accurate but i used a round with slices in the neck to allow it to push in when seated and measured it repeatedly and got a consistent reading of 2.340.i figured it will at least give me a rough starting point and i can adjust from there.
brass is all once fired federal and remington brass.
i'm somewhat new to reloading .223 so any advice is appreciated,just thought the best place to start is with other savage shooters.
i'm not expecting someone to give me a perfect load but a good starting point would sure help.
i read many posts saying that 25gn of varget for 55gn vmax worked well and being a mid range safe load i went with it.
i measure and weight everything at least twice for consistency so my rounds are identical.
again,it's all about a starting point and fine tune from there,question then would be what is a good starting point?

[PaddyD]

well perhaps it's crude and not real accurate but i used a round with slices in the neck to allow it to push in when seated and measured it repeatedly and got a consistent reading of 2.340.i figured it will at least give me a rough starting point and i can adjust from there.
brass is all once fired federal and remington brass.
i'm somewhat new to reloading .223 so any advice is appreciated,just thought the best place to start is with other savage shooters.
i'm not expecting someone to give me a perfect load but a good starting point would sure help.
i read many posts saying that 25gn of varget for 55gn vmax worked well and being a mid range safe load i went with it.
i measure and weight everything at least twice for consistency so my rounds are identical.
again,it's all about a starting point and fine tune from there,question then would be what is a good starting point?

You might be surprised at just how easy a bullet will tend to stick in the throat when you insert that homemade chamber guage in the chamber. Then as you extract it it might momentarily grab that bullet and pull it out of the case neck slightly. The more accurate method would be to first use a Hornady or similar OAC guage to determine distance to lands followed with a RCBS MIC guage to be sure your modified case used with the tool is the same dimensions as your cases used for actual loading. When I use the tool, even with almost zero pressure, the bullet hangs in the throat and I need to put a cleaning rod down the barrel to push it back out. Try starting at .018 -.020 short of the lands and then start lengthening your rounds in increments of .001 to .002 if the groups tighten continue this lengthening by .001" till they either open back up or you contact the lands. If there's no difference say contacting the lands or a few thou off then go with the few thou short as it will tend to keep your chamber pressures safe.