In truth, I didn’t have to experiment to create these
loads as I’d already done so many years ago. My standard Hornet/Bee clone in the 223 uses a 45-gr. Hornet bullet over 13.0 grains of Blue Dot. Velocity is almost exactly 2,800 fps with low noise signature and astounding accuracy. These loads were pioneered by James Calhoon, and are well known by many readers of TVHM. Moving into the 221 Fireball/222 Rem. class brings
us into more standard loadings using the 223 case. There’s not much new for me to report here beyond listing a few of my long-time pet loads. For 3,000 fps, I have long turned to a 50-gr. varmint bullet like the Hornady V-Max, Speer TNT, Nosler Ballistic Tip or the Sierra Blitz over 24.0 gr. of H322. To explore something “new,” I used several recent powders. That same 24.0 gr. charge of Hodgdon Benchmark excels, and I also used and like 21.0 gr. of Reloder 10X or 23.0 gr. of Ramshot X-Terminator in this velocity range. There’s no point whatever in repeating any of a gazil-
lion superb loads for the standard 223, so I won’t bother. Besides, we’re interested in duplicating other rounds here. So that brings us to duplicating the famed 22-250. I’ll say right here that we can’t. Well, not with the
same bullets anyway. There really is no replacement for displacement, and the 22-250’s much more voluminous case will always launch a given bullet faster than the 223 at equivalent pressures. So we won’t even try. But we may be able to match muzzle velocities. To reach 3,700 fps or more with the 223, we have to turn to lightweight bullets. I used three: the Barnes 36-gr. and 30-gr. Varmint
Grenade and the brand new Hornady 35-gr. NTX. All three are lead-free designs, and the new NTX has a much sleeker profi le than the blunt 35-gr. version designed for the Hornet. I obtained a sample box of the new NTX bullet and went to work. At the suggestion of one of the Accurate Powder Co.
reps at the SHOT Show, I also obtained a jug of Accurate 2200 powder. This was originally a limited release of one lot – actually a lot of Accurate 2230 that turned out to be a bit too fast to be sold as that canister propellant. But 2200 turned out to be so popular that Accurate is once again of- fering it – this time formulated to this burn rate on purpose. Edition 3.5 of Accurate’s downloadable load data shows that bullets in this weight range can be launched at 3,800 to 4,000 fps from the 223 Rem., so I looked forward with eagerness to the readings on my Oehler 35P. Alas, the “book” velocities were developed using 24"
barrels, and my Rem. 788 rifl e had been trimmed back to a mere 19.5" before I bought it. It is ported besides. So at book maximums, the Barnes 36 VG was barely able to reach 3,700 fps. If I apply Accurate’s suggested 4% correction factor for my shorter barrel, that equates to about 3,850 fps. And that comfortably takes us into 22-250 speed range. With the Barnes 30-gr. VG (intended for the Hornet),
I was able to achieve 3,850 from my rifl e, which with the barrel length correction, equates to an even 4,000 fps. From a 223 Rem. Holy Hannah! Yes, as I admitted above, the real 22-250 can hit far
higher speeds with those same bullets. But normal loads in it do run in the 3,700 to 3,800 fps range, and those numbers are what I was trying to match. So I claim success.
Hornet/Bee equivalent load originally developed by James Calhoon has long been one of author’s favorites in the 223. This 100-yard group shows typical accuracy for this load.
From the pop of a 22 CB cap to the boom of a 22-250,
the incredible 223 Rem. can match speeds across the board. Other cartridges are versatile, but few if any can comfort- ably span a 3,000 fps load range. Does that make the 223 the world’s most versatile cartridge? Debate is open, but I think it does.
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