Jump to content
308AR.com Community
  • Visit Aero Precision
  • Visit Brownells
  • Visit EuroOptic
  • Visit Site
  • Visit Beachin Tactical
  • Visit Rainier Arms
  • Visit Ballistic Advantage
  • Visit Palmetto State Armory
  • Visit Cabelas
  • Visit Sportsmans Guide

OCW CFE223 & 168gr A-Max


seasprite

Recommended Posts

Started my OCW on my DPMS Oracle today found what might be my low and high nodes but I need to go back out and verify before I can say for sure. Started at 46.6gr and ended at 48.2gr because at 48.8 primer was cratered and recoil impulse was very sharp. I'm using ppu brass with WLP primers with a COL of 2.815. My lower node seems to be around 47.3gr and my upper node 48.2gr.

My next step is going to be loading from 48.4 on down to 47.3 by reducing the charge .2gr at a time. I'll update this post when I get back to the range hopefully get some pics of some targets then. MAN IT WAS FUN TO SHOOT TODAY :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 103
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Alrighty guy's got out today for some more testing and I found my lower and upper charge weights for this CFE 223 powder and the A-Max bullets plus I mounted a bi-pod on my Oracle using a machine thread swivel stud and fender washers ground down to hold it in place since there is no place to mount them on these hand guards.

DSCF0324.jpg

On to the target pics now <thumbsup>

[img width=810 height=607]http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac176/seasprite/DPMS/DSCF0322.jpg

[img width=810 height=607]http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac176/seasprite/DPMS/DSCF0323.jpg

Sorry my charge weights are a little hard to read if you guy's have trouble seeing them let me know and I'll edit this post so you can tell what they are. As for my OCW at the lower node the groups measured at 7/8" for 47.0gr & 47.2gr for an OCW of 47.1gr but the 47.4 looks good to just the POI is a little farther off than the other 2 targets. My upper node came in 47.8gr & 48.0gr for an OCW 47.9gr the group at 47.8 was 1" and at 48 was 1.25". Going to try to develop the upper node by changing seating depth now. All shooting was done at 100 yards. So what do you think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once you get the load the rifle likes , you will see better . That's half the fun of working up loads , is to watch them get better & you get to see what works & what doesn't .

When I make a powder charge for a new bullet , I switch out primer manufactures to see what changes . I will load 5-6 of each , just to see what happens

I also use a Chronograph , they open your eyes ,as to what is really happening .

What trigger is in your rifle ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't wait to make up some new rounds with my OCW and very the length to see if it tightens up thats the next step in the OCW method of developing a load. After that I was thinking of trying different primers to see what happens. I do have chronograph my brother currently has to check his loads I plan on getting back today so in a week or two I should have some numbers to go with this load. As far as the trigger goes its a stock DPMS trigger it definitely needs some work on it, would like to shave 2-3lbs. off it.

Forgot to mention my barrel is not free floated yet. Wounder how much of a difference that will make on the group sizes as well?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good trigger will really show how you & the rifle work together . It will even make milspec ammo shine , but your hand load groups will shrink & you may lose most of your fliers.

The free float hand guards do make a difference ,but nothing spectacular.I think the word we are looking for is consistency, its what a FF will do better than an A2 or M4 type & they do run much cooler , in rapid fire mode.

The bi-pod putting pressure on the hand guards that are attached to the barrel , may not help in accuracy. They work much better on a FF hand guard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good trigger will really show how you & the rifle work together . It will even make milspec ammo shine , but your hand load groups will shrink & you may lose most of your fliers.

The free float hand guards do make a difference ,but nothing spectacular.I think the word we are looking for is consistency, its what a FF will do better than an A2 or M4 type & they do run much cooler , in rapid fire mode.

The bi-pod putting pressure on the hand guards that are attached to the barrel , may not help in accuracy. They work much better on a FF hand guard.

The more I shoot this rifle the more I want to do something to this trigger especially the creep that it has. Thinking about trying to stone the sear & hammer hook and see what that does just don't want to go to far with it. I have polished my trigger a couple of other firearms I have, but this is a new platform for me so not a 100% sure I want to mess with it yet.

As far as the hand guard goes that will probably be the last thing I change on this rifle.

The bi-pod I set as close to the receiver as possible to keep as much pressure off the barrel as possible. Is it working  <dontknow> don't really have a clue other than the groups seem to get better the more I shoot ;) Maybe we'll discover how good this rifle is together with a little tuning and more practice <thumbsup>.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I polish all my std trigger groups after several hundred rds. of break in ammo . Some work out OK , some make it worse. I polish ever thing that moves or comes in contact with some thing .

I have one in my 300BLK that breaks @ a hair over 5 # consistently .

Bill Springfield , will do a trigger job for $ 35 + shipping  & he does good work .

I have found that the Spikes Tactical enhanced trigger set is not bad for the $ 59 + shipping. Its Nickel Boron coated & mine was almost 7# pull when I first put it in my 16" rifle & after a hundred rds. its down to 61/4 # & will probably get better . They say it will get between 5-6 #.

I will be putting more Spikes enhanced triggers in my service or hunting AR type rifles.

I have a Geissele SSA in my 20" & by far the best trigger I have ever pulled in an AR . Pricey , yes , maybe not needed for a hunting or service rifle , but every one that shoots with it says it is the nicest trigger they have ever used .That says some thing about a trigger .

If you change to a good trigger , you will see your group size change & also fliers .

I assume you are hand weighing your powder charges.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4-5lbs sounds really good to me like you I want to use it for field and paper or what ever else I get a chance to shoot at. ;D As far as my weighing of the powder its done by hand for now well mostly I use my powder measure to get close then trickle it by hand the rest of the way until I get this load developed. Now the only problem is it going to be at least 2 weeks before I can get out again >:(.

On a side note I finished loading my seating depth test rounds. Started at 2.820 (max for my pmags) down to 2.795 reducing by .003 each time. I did find out the DPMS mags can take a longer COL of 2.840. Might be something I play with later if this load doesn't work with the pmag length.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well it looks like its going to be another week before I can get out and do some testing :'(. I tried to polish the sear on my stock trigger and took it to far  >:( ended up failing trigger reset and bump test. On a bright note though I did find a Geissele SSA at midway for $180.00  <thumbsup>. After reading about the 4.5lbs two stage trigger I couldn't resist. I'm glad you like yours survivalshop but why do you think this trigger would not be good in the field  <dontknow> even in there description they tout it as a good field trigger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some ,no matter how you train them , will still rest there finger on the trigger & that could & does cause problems.

I say smack that finger with a hammer not enough to break it just enough that the throbbing pain will tell them not to do that again :o. Just hunting and paper for me so this trigger should do thanks survivalshop

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My trigger came in yesterday so I got to go try it out today  <thumbsup>. The trigger is great glad I went with the Geissele SSA the difference is like night and day just wish my shooting was better going to chalk it up to getting use to this trigger. I did my next step in finding my loads but I'm going to have to retry a couple to make sure its not me getting used to the trigger so here is the target pics for this portion of the test. I,m thinking of loading up 5 rounds each at 2.790 & 2.800 & 2.810 and see if I can get the groups to tighten up. If I can't I'm going to dump this load and try the lesser charge of 47.1 with different seating lengths to see what happens. Survivalshop whats your thoughts on this try to work it a little more or dump it?

post-1747-136297276282_thumb.jpg

post-1747-136297276285_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see you have some under an inch , were all of them the same loading ?

Yes by all means shoot to get used to the trigger , they take some getting used to .

The one target on the top row thats 3rd from the left only shows 2 holes I want to convince my self that I sent 2 of the 3 rounds through the same hole but the only evidence I have is the carbon ring is darker and the hole looks to be slightly stretched so I decided to give my self some piece of mind and include the 2.817 in my next test :cookoo:.

They were all loaded the same PPU brass, Winchester primers and 47.9gr of CFE223. I plan to shoot a lot more here in a another week I will be on vacation so hopefully I,ll get this load dialed in along with a good feel for the trigger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gave my Lar-8 a spinhad the 2 stage RRA trigger stoned and made a nice improvement for factory trigger.Between that and mounting bipod to handguard,wraping sling around arm I was a happy dog.Even the belguim milsurp flew better.You were right brother survival a good trigger is a happy trigger. <thumbsup>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well on Sat. Tom Knapp is going to be at Lake City range for a show what a way to kick off my vacation. Go watch a world class shotgun shooter, try some of the different firearms that some different manufacturers are suppose to bring and possibly wrap up this load. :2nd: If anybody lives in the KCMO area it starts at 10:00am if you want to show up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got to watch Tom Knapp today boy I wish I could shoot a shotgun half as good as he can. CZ & Savage were out there today letting people try out there products so the range was closed for general shooting today but I did get to shoot some handguns and shotguns from CZ along with some bolt action rifles from Savage. Can't tell you guy's the models I shot there were to many to keep track. I will tell you the Savage .308 with the acushot trigger shot pretty good they had the targets sat up at 75 yards. and I managed put up .75" group with some Remington 180gr hunting loads. It looks like Wed. before I can get out and test my reloads I'm going to take the chronograph this time so I can get some numbers up for us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Made it to the range yesterday the only problem was I did this after playing tennis with the wife and walked around the park a couple of times so my heart rate was up a little and I couldn't hold the rifle still at all yesterday so my groups aren't that great. I keep thinking that this rifle has .5" moa capability but the nut behind the trigger can't seem to hold it together. I did manage to get some crony numbers so here they are.

168gr Amax

47.9 cfe 223

ppu once fired brass

Winchester primer

Col 2.817

1. 2616    avg.  2627

2. 2636    es.  34

3. 2625    sd.  14

4. 2614

5. 2648

Col. 2.810

1. 2677    avg. 2660

2. 2686    es.  68

3. 2618    sd.  36

4. no read

5. no read

Col. 2.800

1. 2596  avg. 2612

2. 2607    es.  27

3. 2620    sd.  11

4. 2623

5. 2618

Col. 2.790

1. 2661  avg. 2642

2. 2638    es.  41

3. 2620    sd.  15

4. 2650

5. 2644

I'm thinking of going with a Col. of 2.790" for my loads it seems to perform the most consistent out of the other but I'm still on the fence with the 2.817" it seems to perform well to, just wish I could get act together for this load  :cookoo:

I did have a primer come out on me yesterday and also on my previous test to that I didn't mention last time. These WLR primers seat to easy(I can seat some with my fingers only) so I knew I might run into problems with them and I'm not showing any pressure signs. I'm thinking of going with a tray of CCI primers to see if my es. and sd. numbers drop plus I'm thinking of playing the crimp a little bit right now my crimp is very light just the Lee setup instructions that came in the box. So what do you guy's think I should work on next to get this load in tune?

post-1747-136297276339_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I just tried seating some CCI 200 primers and there is a difference in the pressure it took to seat them so this should cure my loose primer problem I guess I'll save the Winchesters for some mixed cases I have when I make a plinking load. <thumbsup>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...