Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 223 Ackley experts, what do you think?

So I was talking to a fellow reloader the other day and he told me he was using Superformance powder in 223 Rem. I explained to him that just because Hornady loaded Superformance ammo in 223, it didn’t mean that was the powder they used. He shrugged and said “seems to work OK”. I asked what kind velocity are you getting? “Dunno, I don’t own a chronograph”. I thought “well it’s slow enough, he probably won’t blow himself up.
I’ve got a couple of 8 pounders of Superformance and I am running low on varmint powder so I thought what the heck let’s try it with 75gr Amaxes in the 223 Ackley. My trial run was 26-28gr in 1/2 grain increments with FC cases, F205s, 75 gr Amaxes @ 2.495”. The sweet spot was at 27.5gr, but the velocity was only 2700 FPS with a spread of about 40 FPS.
My next test was 28gr-30gr -1/2gr increments. 30grs seems to take up most of the air space in the FC case. The next node seems to be at 29grs for 2850fps and still about 40 FPS spread. Nice round 1/2” 5 shot groups. Might be a nice 500 yard PD load. The spreads seem to lower as I went up, so I’ll try the test again at 200. Pressure seems to be pretty mild compared to my Varget loads at 3075 FPS.

Superformance works very well in several cartridges--took my last buck pronghorn with it at 350 yards, because it proved to be the most accurate and highest-velocity powder in a fast-twist ,22-250 from Whittaker Guns. But haven't tried it much in the .223.

In my tests hasn't been very temperature-resistant. Dunno how much that might affect your hunting.

In my experience the same powders that work best in the standard .223 also work best in the .223 AI.

I run rl15 and H335 with 75gr amax with great results and Lever also works out very well.

This little experiment was more about putting some components to use that I really had less than satisfactory results with in other cartridges and because of the recent shortages.
I will be continuing to test these loads to see if there is a top end before running out case capacity, not to get every last FPS but to see I can lower the es.

What does .223 AI mean?

I'd cease with the 1/2 grain increments in such a small case.

Ackley Improved.

Parker O. Ackley was a gunsmith and experimenter that "Improved" standard cartridges by basically straightening the case taper and using a 40 degree shoulder angle.

https://www.ronspomeroutdoors.com/blog/best-ackley-improved-cartridge

Ron's excellent treatise

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.O._Ackley

How long have you been around here?

Haha!

So today I tried 28.5-31.0gr., winds were gusty but I shot at 200 yards anyway. The accuracy sweet spot was between 29.0 -30.0gr with 30grs getting a 1 1/4” 5 shot group. Groups with the 30.5 and 31.0 opened up to 2”+ and at velocity spiked at 31.0gr to 3150 FPS. No loads showed any pressure indications. I don’t see any reason to go above 30grs because I doubt there is another accuracy node and pressure seems to spike at 31gr.

My next range session, I’d like to tweak the seating depth. All loads so far have been at 2.495” , about .005 off the lands. Have you folks noticed if the Hornady 75gr Amax or ELD a preferred seating depth?