You should have no problem on your Dillon with .223 ammo. Just use a ball powder, like W-W 748, H322, or something like that. Any ball powder will throw very consistently with no need to weigh charges once it's set up.

I've had great luck with the Hornady V-Max and Nosler Ballistic tip in the 40 grain weight in my .223's. Mine have all been the old 1:14" twist; I've never explored the fast twist, heavy bullet side of the .223. For me, it's always been an intermediate range varmint cartridge, for 200-300 yard work. As such, the difference in trajectory at those ranges favor the lighter bullets. Wind drift favors the heavier, but I like the flatter trajectory.

Another great .223 bullet that I'm using today is the 50 grain V-Max. It seems to be a good compromise that shoots darn near as flat as the 40's, but does better in the wind. The plastic tip seems to really help it do a lot of damage when it connects as well.

For pure plinking and paper punching, where no little pesky rodents are involved, it's hard to beat the 52 and 53 grain Sierra match bullets. I've shot thousands of those things and they work well in everything.

Thanks Abisel, thanks Jeff. I think I will explore handloading with this gun. But it is VERY fussy about what it shoots.

I've got used to using the .17HMR for casual target shooting out to 200 yards. No reloading, cheap ammo, easy on the body and the ears. But I think I'll dust off the .223 and get back into that.

I've worked with "fussy" rifles in the past. It's usually something about the chamber that allows factory ammo to lay in it inconsistently. I've found a lot of the fussiness seems to go away once you have properly prepped cases for that rifle, and that rifle alone.

The only purpose the first firing of any new lot of cases serves in such a rifle is to fireform the brass to the chamber. These are essentially throw-away. Use the brass you want to use in the long run, but just use cheap bulk bullets and any reasonable powder charge. Just blaze away and have fun - accuracy is not a goal at this point.

Once fireformed to that particular rifle, do not use them in anything else. They now fit the chamber in that rifle. From here, you want to keep them that way - so never, ever, full length resize them under any circumstances. Once you set the shoulder back by doing this, you have to start over. So don't.

Neck size, or better yet, partially resize them with a standard sizing die. Back it off the shell holder a couple of turns, and mark some cases either by smoking the necks and shoulders or by using a felt pen. Then size a case. It should come out with the marking rubbed off partway down the neck. Screw the die in farther until it rubs off to just above the bottom of the neck and top of the shoulder. Lock the die down here for all future use. You want it to stop before setting the shoulder back. A little high up the neck is better than touching the shoulder. Even if it leaves a bit of a visible "doughnut" at the base of the neck / top of the shoulder, that's fine. Actually, it's desirable in most rifles. It may actually be a little harder to close the bolt, but that's o.k. The cartridge is centered, concentric, and tight - not rattling around in the chamber.

This will ensure that the cases are always a good, concentric fit in the chamber, rather than laying in the bottom as they would if full length resized. You can get away with this in bolt guns and single shots that cam a little bit on closing. Autoloaders and lever guns won't stand for this, requiring full length sizing - often with small base dies - to chamber.

I have found that treating brass like this makes a fussy rifle less fussy. It eliminates one of the most accuracy destroying variables, cartridge to chamber fit. I only do this, of course, on "fun" guns. In my serious hunting rifles, I'll accept a bit looser fit - I just want to be damn sure it goes in, the bolt closes, and it goes "bang". Ultimate accuracy takes a back seat to more important concerns.

Oh, here - I just found a photo on my computer that illustrates what I outlined above. These are a .223, a 6.5 Swede, and a .30-'06, all prepped as described. You can see a bit of a "doughnut" at the base of each neck where the necks have not been sized. I know I said I wouldn't do this on a "serious" hunting rifle, but the 6.5 and '06 are just for deer and elk hunting. .375's and larger get full length resized.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1528776635.JPG

Wow. My advice of putting the rifle on sandbags seems so mundane.

We jumped right to reloading?

That makes sense Jeff, the neck sizing only.

When I first got the gun I bought some cheap Highland (Russian made) stuff and it was all over the place at 100m. Some shots weren't even on the target :eek: Then I switched to some cheap reloads sold by a local gunsmith. Looking through the scope it looked like I'd hit the target once and the rest had missed completely, but it turned out to be one ragged hole. Sadly the old guy isn't on the scene anymore but I'd really like to get that accuracy back.

Yep, slippery slope.

Last weekend was a bust, so I tried it again today going back to the basics with the bi-pod. I worked on a comfortable position, adjusted the scope for eye relief and used my every day glasses. I also went over the entire spoon making sure everything was tight/no loose screws. I snugged up several.

Started at 50 yards and then went to 100 yards.

I think I’d like to try a bigger scope for grins.

50 yards
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1529172231.jpg

100 yards
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1529172621.jpg

Bill, how much drop were you getting at 200 yards? Ive just ordered a Savage 17HMR for rabbits but I was think only out to about 150yards. What size groups did you get?

What fun!

Mine is sighted in for 150m (possibly 100m, I can't remember) and the drop at 200m is only about 100mm. The bullet has obviously dropped more that that but being sighted in for a closer range means it's still on it's way upwards for a while. At 50m it's fairly much a ragged hole. At 200m a group of about 100mm.

I was shooting at some rabbits 300m away and the drop was about 1.2m Didn't hit any of course.

I use Hornady v-max 17 grain. But the guys on Rimfire cental collectively think the 20 gr hollow nose is a better projectile. Boat tailed jacked hollow point Speer brand projectile.

Sorry my bad, I'm just a city slicker with 870 and a 9mm in the closet to scare off bad guys and know little to nothing about long rifles or hunting.

I am reading the 'sighting in' post very closely, I have a Ruger PC9 and LP100 waiting to be picked up.