Rock Knocker
Active member
The only 223 ammo I've shot for years has only been handloads, and I usually load them pretty warm even my cheap plinking stuff.
Few weeks ago I gave my buddy a few of my handloads to see how they would do in his gun and he gave my some of his cheap 556 stuff, green tips and one other type I forget now.
Those cheap 556 rounds seemed to really pack a wallop compared to my handloads, granted, we're comparing my 50gr SP to the 65gr or whatever greentips.
I was just curious about the pressures of each round, I load my 50gr SP with CCI400 primers and H335 and they are loaded just to where the primers are starting to flatten out. When I checked out the 556 cases after firing the primers were still as round as they day they were made. And both 556 and my handloads were LC brass.
So this is as much a primer question as it is a 223 vs 556 question... If I switch primers can I turn up the heat of my handloads without flattening primers as quick? Or is the persieved increase in power purely because of the slightly heavier bullets?
Few weeks ago I gave my buddy a few of my handloads to see how they would do in his gun and he gave my some of his cheap 556 stuff, green tips and one other type I forget now.
Those cheap 556 rounds seemed to really pack a wallop compared to my handloads, granted, we're comparing my 50gr SP to the 65gr or whatever greentips.
I was just curious about the pressures of each round, I load my 50gr SP with CCI400 primers and H335 and they are loaded just to where the primers are starting to flatten out. When I checked out the 556 cases after firing the primers were still as round as they day they were made. And both 556 and my handloads were LC brass.
So this is as much a primer question as it is a 223 vs 556 question... If I switch primers can I turn up the heat of my handloads without flattening primers as quick? Or is the persieved increase in power purely because of the slightly heavier bullets?