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

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.

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.

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.

Originally Posted by mimms2

The hodgdon "low loading advice" applies ONLY to the hodgdon powder it was printed for (4895?) So despite being comparable, ADI powders are not specified for reduced loads.
Not all ADI powders have a hodgdon branded equivalent, though some are exact same powder (manufactured by ADI, just sold under the US hodgdon brand.)

You seem to know your stuff Grandpamac, so I'd take that as good advice. I just need to point out that this is off the books. (Which there's nothing wrong with, done with due care and attention)

Greetings Mimms2,

Hodgdon H4895 is AR2206H and has been since the mid 1990's. It is all made in Oz. Same with Trail Boss. You probably remember that AR2206 was used in NZ up to 2000. This was slowed by ADI to match H4895 and given the suffix H for Hodgdon. Hodgdon found that AR2206H gave better results with reduced loads than IMR4895 and recommended only the former for that purpose. Most but not all of the ADI powders are offered by Hodgdon under their own names. I think Benchmark 1 is the only ADI rifle powder not offered by Hodgdon. All the data for the ADI powders is developed by Hodgdon. I can give you all Hodgdon names for the ADI powders if you like. Once again it is not an equivalent but exactly the same.

Regards 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....

Originally Posted by mimms2

Who's got AP100?

Me.

You could Probably dial in an off-the books load of fast bulky powder to hit 1800-2200 fps.

And you can do exactly that with it.

There is an equivalent chart for most powders on the ADI website,lots are classed as same powder just different packaging

I would use a varmint projectile if you are trying to slow them down just to get some expansion.

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.