Using Blue Dot for .223

[Capt. mike]

I always liked the idea of using a slower pistol powder for .223 in shorter barrels and being that I'm fresh out of cfe223 and have plenty of blue dot I tried to find someone that has used blue dot in .223. I stumbled across this

From most barrel length tests I have seen most 55gr bullets start to loose velocity after about 20' of barrel, and most .223 loads in 16" barrels get around 3000 fps on a good day. Anybody actually try this with blue dot? As far as cycling the bolt on an AR I'm sure there is much less gas, (and muzzle blast/recoil, not that a .223 has much anyway) But I've got plenty of blue dot, 55 gr fmj, and time.

[Winchester 55 grain FMJ

4 grs: 896 fps
5 grs: 1264 fps
6 grs: 1568 fps
7 grs: 1825 fps
8 grs: 1994 fps

9 grs: 2201 fps
10 grs: 2328 fps
11 grs: 2453 fps

12 grs: 2677 fps
13 grs: 2821 fps
14 grs: 2915 fps]

These were worked up by people wanting reduced loads for varmint hunting in 26" barrels

[mapper]

I haven't tried blue dot, but i have enough h335 that it was not a issue to try a shotgun powder but i don't run it in a short barrel either.

Any powder position sensitivity or was a filler used ?
I remember where either unique or reddot was used in reduced loads for 30-06
See post#8
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=497572

But I found this on 24 campfire as well, and this links back to the above thread as well.
Last time I was in academy they had cfe223, but it has been a month or 2 ago.
It was 1 of the 5 or so powders they usually carried.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5703236/223_Blue_Dot

Ok, I found a better thread, with a little more info in it.
http://www.bersachat.com/forums/showthread.php?631-Blue-Dot-loads-for-223-range-report

[Capt. mike]

The last link was where I found it at

[Capt. mike]

If it was ideal it would be a posted load but I was just interested if I could make it work, with half the powder charge it would be a cheap plinking load

[Capt. mike]

well it works, nothing blew up, its pretty quiet too, just tried two at about 13.5 gr and one cycled, one stove piped, I do believe there is room for improvement

[SB]

Did you shoot the first one with your eyes closed?

[Capt. mike]

No I wasn’t too worried about it