Can someone let me know what the Hornady manual says for the 75gr eld in 223?
Powders I have for this are Varget, IMR 4166, Reloader 15 and Ramshot Tac.

If this load is for an AR-15 you might want to stick with Varget.

24.0 Varget

I use TAC all the time in ARs.

I'm well aware but they dont specifically list the 75 eld and I wanna know specifically what Hornady manual has to say.
You're usually helpful. I guess no one bats a thousand. I actually bought a copy of the magazine because I like print. I really wanna know what Hornady is listing.

Nope. Bolt gun with an actual 223 chamber.

And you, daily, like to talk about how intelligent you are. If that were more true you would look at:

.223 Rem
H-Varget
55gr
then 62 gr
then 65 gr
then 68 gr

Then switch powder and do it all again.

That intelligence might let you see a pattern as to where alleged maximum charge would lead to.

That intelligence might lead you to go try and figure it out for yourself on a rifle range.

And P.S. their "maximum charges" are not hard rules. Innovation happens by breaking glass ceilings.

First. Thanks Dstroud.

Now fireman,
I was honestly just trying to poke the bear a little. I actually hate "intellegent" because it's what white college liberals use to just how much better they r than you, a la Robin DeAngelo. I brag about being number based, which is to imply logic oriented and wanna find stuff out. Almost the opposite of intelligence. Which is just knowing things regardless of utility.

And the next point, principle I also follow is that more info is rarely a bad thing even if it's bad info. Everyone should be more informed on Karl Marx and marxists theory to know how truly God awful and bad the information is. So yea, the past experiences of some may conclude Hornady specifically is not that valuable but I may not truly "know" this yet. Which implies I'm not that intelligent regarding reloading.

Innovations do happen at boundaries and outside of them. But even philosophically speaking, usually all the successful innovations have has a spade of failures usually proceeding them. Maybe this is me working through the failures to get to a more intelligent place. The guy who ate the first edible mushroom was probably proceed a bunch of idiots eating the wrong ones.

Haha, all that macro level nonsense aside. I really f'ed up an attempt a 75gr amax a fee years ago; hard bolt lift, split case necks, ejector marks, etc. I think it was because I got cocky and basically tried what you're implying. Fast forward a week ago where I prepped some brass and found 4pcs where I could have probably slipped in the primer without a tool. This is just making me gun shy. I have the pre-eld manual and just wanted to know precisely what load and speed they're getting. Btw, my experience has shown me the hornady manual gets closest to the published speeds is why I like it as a reference.

Finally u actually nailed it on the head I am trying a little, long term experiment. I figure I just skip everything under 65gr and see how I can go. 65 and 68 is good and learned alot. I'm on the 75gr phase and we where it ends up. An intelligent person would already think they know.

You poked the bear, you knew what would happen.

And I still helped anyway...

huggy bear

That's what I run in my Tikka Varmint. Slightly less in my Rock River - 23.7 I think.

Fozzie Bear

Since you’re trying out large .224 bullets I figured you wouldn’t mind a suggestion.

Have you thought about trying Sierra 77 SMK’s? I use them with AR Comp powder and get phenomenal results. I think the tipped version is too long for an AR though. I’ve never really liked Hornday 75 grain bullets.

If you run the 75 ELDM in the 223, you will need to seat it out long. It's not a good bullet to load at AR-15 lengths of 2.250". At that length, the ogive of the bullet is into the case mouth. The 73 grain ELDX is fine at 2.250". In the pic DStroud posted, you can see the different COAL lengths for those bullets.

Ha, the exaggerated image I have of poking the bear is Kurt Russell in Tombstone during the train station scene. "you called down the thunder, well now you've got it!" What a bad motherF in the greatest western of all time.

tenyearsago, no I haven't. Honestly, it's the cost was the final decision maker. the 75gr eld was slightly cheaper so I'm arbitrarily starting with it. I've had some really good luck with 308 168gr smk before. I also don't know what the limit of my 1:8 twist in weight is. It's probably the bullet that i'll try next.

Chad, that was one of the things I wanted to see in the manual. the mag thing is not an issue. I have a ghetto-rigged solution for about 0.200" longer than standard tikka magazine. I'm also willing to hand feed if necessary. I have a recipe of a 68gr bthp that is mag length and feeds great for low cost. I'm now looking for a more "extreme" longer range load. I'm actually considering splurging on Lapua brass here too.

thanks to all for humoring me. Looks like Varget gets the nod.

I never could make varget shoot out of my tikka varmint 223. Hope you have better luck than me.

I would up with CFE223, which was crazy accurate if the temp was between 50 and 85, but no good otherwise. I have heard that H4895 (or something like that) was a better powder to make the 223 reach out a bit further. If I'd kept the rifle, that's what I would have tried.

75-80 gr bullets over 24.5 gr of Varget have always shot good for me, especially if your are not confined to mag length. I have settled on 24.5 Varget and 80 SMK's for my Tikka. Not the latest or greatest bullet but so easy to tune.

AR Comp is good too

out of curiosity, what length are you loading the 80gr smk? I'll take the COAL or a measurement with a bullet comparator (either zeroed or with comparator length).

If you make it fit in the magazine, you probably aren't touching rifling anyway. So .010" shorter than mag length, then see if it hits rifling. I bet it wont, so start at that O.A.L.