Thread: Downloading 223 for hunting goats

Thinking about downloading my 223 to say between 22 magnum and 22 hornet power levels.
For goats in forestry areas that are normally shot under 70m.
Main purpose of downloading is to reduce noise level. Already have a DPT suppressor on it.
1:8 twist rate.

Anyone has any ideas?

Is this reasonable or is it better to stick with standard old 223 power level with a 55 grain projectile?

Put two extra baffles in the DPT and carry on

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Put two extra baffles in the DPT and carry on

Good idea actually, always just been using 5 baffles and never thought of that.

Have you had complaints? I wouldnt think it would be worth the hassle unless close to housing etc

Originally Posted by matto1234

Have you had complaints? I wouldnt think it would be worth the hassle unless close to housing etc

No houses nearby, just for my own hearing.

From experience with other calibers i have found that dropping the load to close to the minium recommended powder charge drops the noise and recoil significantly. However to get down to hornet levels??
Quick look and I see a hornet maxes a 55gr bullet at 2650 fps and a 223 min load for a 55gr bullet is 2800-3100fps depending upon powder.
Or 4 gr trail boss for 1050fps but i suspect they may pencil through.
Mild loads and upgrade the silencer.
Z

Iv got 12 baffles on my 300blk Dpt
Just keep adding them till you get the desired result

12-13gr of AP100 and a 50-55gr projectile.

Greetings All,
Two of the ADI powders can be used in light loads. With 55 grain projectiles and AR2206H (H4895) you can go down to 16 grains (60% of 26 grains) and with Trail Boss down to 4 grains (70% of case capacity). You can find more info on this on the Hodgdon site. 4 grains of Trail Boss is likely subsonic. Accuracy is probably best a bit above minimum. You can't double charge the case with either of these powders. A very good thing.
Grandpamac.

2206h somewhere around 24.5 grns was my go to load for years.....its not hot with a 50 grn projectile and its noticably quieter than a hot load...drop it down some more and watch your accuracy....if you can go down to 16 grns I WOULD TRY 20 grns and see what you think....

Have posted this previously on thread "Reloading 223R to low velocity". May be of interest.
Not quite the velocity you're looking for but found the following with Trail Boss, CCI primers, 55gr V-Max. Howa 1500/ 16" barrel, Sonic 45 suppressor.
8.5gr TB :1678fps av vel. 204fps ES, 105fps SD. Accuracy so so.
8.0gr TB :1725fps av vel. 56fps ES, 28fps SD. Accurate load.
Using 8.0gr load on goats around sensitive areas successfully.
Have also tried H322/AR2219 15.6gr: 1738fps av vel. 67fps ES, 37fps SD. Works alright but decided to go with TB as had a reasonable amount on hand at the time.

Originally Posted by woods223

Have posted this previously on thread "Reloading 223R to low velocity". May be of interest.
Not quite the velocity you're looking for but found the following with Trail Boss, CCI primers, 55gr V-Max. Howa 1500/ 16" barrel, Sonic 45 suppressor.
8.5gr TB :1678fps av vel. 204fps ES, 105fps SD. Accuracy so so.
8.0gr TB :1725fps av vel. 56fps ES, 28fps SD. Accurate load.
Using 8.0gr load on goats around sensitive areas successfully.
Have also tried H322/AR2219 15.6gr: 1738fps av vel. 67fps ES, 37fps SD. Works alright but decided to go with TB as had a reasonable amount on hand at the time.

Are you finding the vmax is expanding at those velocities?

They seem to be mostly,although i did get a couple that pencilled through yesterday.But I can live with the odd one doing that, out of 14 goats and two small pigs only two minimal expansion isn't bad. I will try some other projectiles shortly,only got about 20 of the vmax loads left Some people don't reckon they work but get the odd unexplained failure with a lot of projectiles.

Originally Posted by woods223

They seem to be mostly,although i did get a couple that pencilled through yesterday.But I can live with the odd one doing that, out of 14 goats and two small pigs only two minimal expansion isn't bad. I will try some other projectiles shortly,only got about 20 of the vmax loads left Some people don't reckon they work but get the odd unexplained failure with a lot of projectiles.

Good info cheers.
I am running the 60gr vmax but at high power loads for the opposite reasons.....to extend the 223s effective range of humane killing.

I'm mainly only using this load for shooting around sensitive areas eg. bordering residential areas and near camping ground. Still put in a work order with police for residential areas, avoids having a meeting with AOS.