The answer to my 223 ES pissing and moaning?

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Originally Posted by Roarless20

an update on the 6CM velocities i mentioned in my rifle on the first page:

I kept the main load the same but pulled the expander mandrel out of the F/L die, sized with the usual 2 thou bump. Then used a mandrel (actually the mandrel from a .243win Lee collet die) to expand the necks in a second stage.

The accuracy might be slightly better, which was always good but the velocity over approx 20 shots is now SD 8.5 & ES 30. So definite improvement. I'll skim turn the necks and see if that helps more (because i can and i like tinkering).

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Greetings,
Expanding the case necks with a mandrel or even the standard expander button is a trick used quite often. The advantage is that the base of the case is held square with full support from the shell holder bottom rather than being dragged over the expander with only part of the rim held. You just need to decap first. Neck turning is another matter generally not thought to be much help in a factory chamber so don't do too many before testing.
GPM.

If you can get a decent brass like the Lapua and similar, case neck thickness variation is usually so low as to be more of a brain confidence thing than something you would see a benefit from in a factory or standard hunting chamber. A lot of times, people who are using carbide or bushing dies will drop the expander completely and deprime separately then resize in the body bushing die which can thunk the shoulder if needed as well as doing the neck squeeze while the base of the case is held square. The neck is free to float the bushing to where it needs to be so there isn't a chance of the die pushing the neck out of line (although if the case isn't straight to start with it can't fix it...).

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Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings,
So to summarise the rifle shoots quite well in 10 shot groups which are always larger than 3 or 5 shot groups. Velocity indicates book max pressures once barrel length is allowed for and the projectiles are stable to 300 metres at least. If we did not know what the ES and SD were we would be happy. Now I would be the last person to suggest aiming for perfection was not a noble goal but the law of diminishing returns does apply here. Be happy with what you have but it is still noble to strive for better. The choice is ours and ours alone.
Regards Grandpamac

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Agree 100%. If your not careful you wear out the barrel searching for the perfect load. Not to mention the costs involved.

Edit: have you considered annealing?