.223 Reloading Data for 16" Barrels?

[RockAndSage]

Does anyone have a source for reloading data that's specific to 16" barrels, for .223 or 5.56? Everything I turn up seems to be standardized on a 24" barrel, but I'm hoping that with 16" being so common that someone, somewhere, has a trove of info they've published for it. Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

Just subtract 25fps off the velocity for every inch shorter?

 

[RockAndSage]

Just subtract 25fps off the velocity for every inch shorter?

Yeah, that works in estimating velocities, but I'm thinking that there may be more optimal powders for 16" barrels over, say, 20" AR barrels. That's the hope, anyhow.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

Quickload or GRT then?

 

[RockAndSage]

you are overthinking it

That's an easy thing to toss out online, but if I wasn't actually interested in overthinking ammunition and getting the most out of an individual gun, I wouldn't be into handloading. Factory ammo would be fine, right?

There is a big difference in how complete a powder burn is when one barrel is 8 inches shorter than the other. A powder that's optimal for a 24" barrel is going to have a slower burn rate than one optimal for a 16" barrel - which generally translates to an increase in flash when used in shorter barrels and an unnecessary loss of potential velocity, had a different powder been used.

 

[Lawnboi]

The reloading data is the same, your rifle isn’t going to make the speed their test barrel did.

I have had a few longer and shorter barrels, safe load don’t change and lengths we are talking you’re not going to load your short barrel into a longer one. Imo thinking that you can is an internet farce.

Assume 25 fps for every inch plus or minus 100 fps for that individual barrel. These numbers you read in the manual are only a reference.

 

[Northpark]

I love handloading. I load for 3 different 16” barreled ARs. There is a velocity difference obviously from a 20” or 24” published data but here’s the deal, you have .223 it’s not overbore. It doesn’t need tons of barrel to burn all powder. You could argue that maybe a faster burn rate powder is an advantage but it would likely result in having to drop the powder charge weight which would lead to reduced velocity anyway.

To your original question I don’t know of any official published data for 16” .223rem.
Wish I could be more help.

 

[RockAndSage]

Not looking to get 24" barrel performance out of a 16", my apologies if I needed to state that upfront and neglected to. I'm asking on here because the differences in velocity loss over the 24" barrel data I experienced a couple of years ago when building up a load seemed to decrease as I got into a couple of faster burning powders.

I'd need to dig into storage to find my notes, but I hit the sweet spot with 8208 XBR (77gr TMKs). I'm down to my last hundred rounds or so of that ammo and it's time to set up my reloading bench again after a move, but can't find any 8208. So I'm digging around doing more research for my next round of load development because of that. Was hoping that someone else had noticed something similar, or had just decided to use a 16" barrel as the benchmark for their reloading data, over a barrel length that virtually nobody uses, comparatively.

 

[deerhunter628]

Hodgdon website reloading data you can select pistol and .223. Their .223 pistol load data is for a 15” barrel.

 

[RockAndSage]

Hodgdon website reloading data you can select pistol and .223. Their .223 pistol load data is for a 15” barrel.

Perfect, thank you!

 

[A382DWDZQ]

I used a 77tmk in Quickload and the powders that produce the best velocities didn’t change all that much shortening from 24” to 16”. The top five were pretty much the same, but 1st & 2nd flipped. That said, of those five, there are one or two that offer other benefits like copper de-fouling and temp stability,

 

[Gingerman]

77SMK & 77 Berger TACT: (Max charges)
TAC - 24gr
N135 - 23.7gr
CCI 41/Ginex
2680-2700fps 16”
2730-2740 18”

 

[Wyoming Shooter]

Christensen Arms Ridgeline Scout .223
16" barrel
Hornady 80 ELD-M
24.4 grains Varget
2636 FPS

Tikka T3X Varmint .223
20" barrel
Hornady 80 ELD-M
24.4 grains Varget
2746 FPS

 

[Stu]

Christensen Arms Ridgeline Scout .223
16" barrel
Hornady 80 ELD-M
24.4 grains Varget
2636 FPS

Tikka T3X Varmint .223
20" barrel
Hornady 80 ELD-M
24.4 grains Varget
2746 FPS

What OAL in your tikka?

 

[Sizthediz]

Perfect, thank you!

Have you tried using the 223 pistol loads?

 

[35WhelenAI]

The powder is burned more or less completely within the first few inches of the barrel right in front of the chamber. It matters not what powder. Unburned powder is not a result of barrel length, it's result of the wrong powder in the first place, and not enough pressure being developed for complete burn. Any differences would be anecdotal and specific to an individual firearm.

Hodgdon website when comparing the above mentioned 15" pistol data to rifle data holds true other than what could easily be characterized as a lot to lot powder difference between two powders when they were doing the testing.

 

[Wyoming Shooter]

What OAL in your tikka?

As in COAL? 2.437"

 

[j3h8]

Barnes has data for several different barrel lengths as well as the 556 vs 223.