Quote Originally Posted by PaddyD View Post
Does anyone know why the Hornady manual in the 223 section only goes up to 60 gn bullets? They have a service rifle section for the 68 and over, but unless I'm mistaken a service rifle uses a NATO chamber and throat. Right? I'm trying to get good data for a 223 Rem Mod 70HV with the 68 HPBT and this manual has me baffled at how it is put together..

Because the loading data is for a Remington 700 with a 1in12 twist that will not stabilize bullets over 65 grains. So this leaves out the Hornady 68 bullets and above.

There is nothing wrong with the Hornady manual and its .223 and 5.56 reloading data. The data varies by the twist rate and throat length and you need to "Know Thy Rifle".

My Savage .223 has a 1in9 twist and a throat longer than my AR15 rifles.

My Ruger American Ranch Rifle is marked 5.56 NATO and has a 1in8 twist.

My AR15 A2 HBAR has a 1in9 twist.

My AR15 carbine as a 1in7 twist.

Quickload has three listings for the .223 and 5.56 and are based on the rifles twist rate and throat.

Bottom line, you will have .223 rifles with 1in 14, 1in12 and 1in9 1in8 and 1in7 twist rates and AR15 rifles with 1in9, 1in8 and 1in7 twist rates.

So find out what the twist rate for your .223/5.56 rifle and check your throat length, and then pick your appropriate load data.




Look at freebore diameter (G) and freebore length (N) below, and this is just "some" of the .223/5.56 chamber variations.