AR Pistol loads …… Help Needed

[scatter15]

I have been reloading for rifle and pistol loads for 20 + years but have recently got into the AR pistols. The ones I have now have the 5.5 and 7.5 barrels. I have been shooting my hand loads for my rifles with 20 to 26 inch barrels and know I’m wasting a lot of powder.
looking for some advice on downloading for these AR pistols to conserve on powder and still have proper operation all the way to below sub-sonic
My reloading manuals don’t really carry this information
I load mainly with BLC2 powder and some varget,,748,,etc.
Thank You for your time and help
Have a Great Day

 

[rosewood]

You will need some really fast powders. Something in the magnum pistol range to reduce blast maybe even faster. Any standard rifle powders are going to give a heck of a blast. In 300 BLK, I had a 7.5" barrel and Lil'gun powder was a flame thrower. Tried out IMR4227 and it was much more tame although I lost about 200 FPS. Ended up swapping to a 10" barrel and all is well now with Lil'gun.

I had looked briefly and load data for fast powders in .223 is hard to find. Might have luck with some older manuals.

Rosewood

 

[rosewood]

A little slow, but this would be whisper quiet, but would probably not cycle the action.

 

[rosewood]

Cast boolit data in the Lyman manual may get u where u want to be.

 

[rosewood]

I haven't experimented with it, but would think the faster powder and less amount will give you less boom and flash, but most likely will give you less gas to operate the gun. The slower powders with more powder in the recipe will give you a better chance of cycling the action, but more boom and flash. You may have to experiment to see what works for you.

Rosewood

 

[1006]

Reloader 7 (the fastest 223 powder I use) would be my go to.

AA5744, or AA2200 or some of the 300 BlackOut powders might work: CFE BLK, or Shooters World BLK.

You won’t likely get an AR pistol in 223 to cycle with subsonic ammo.

 

[User42]

hi bro. You cant do subsonic and cycle in any 223 AR15. But you can shoot low recoil for sure. You need really heavy buffer in that pistol, and that is major impact. Then you want faster rifle powder. Like Rl10x, N130, H22 or something like that with ligher bullets. Adjustable gas block needed for sure. I would use no powder that is slower than H335/Benchmark/AA2230 for your application.

 

[optimumdetails]

This video should help

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

 

[scatter15]

You will need some really fast powders. Something in the magnum pistol range to reduce blast maybe even faster. Any standard rifle powders are going to give a heck of a blast. In 300 BLK, I had a 7.5" barrel and Lil'gun powder was a flame thrower. Tried out IMR4227 and it was much more tame although I lost about 200 FPS. Ended up swapping to a 10" barrel and all is well now with Lil'gun.

I had looked briefly and load data for fast powders in .223 is hard to find. Might have luck with some older manuals.

Rosewood

Thank You and have a Great Day buddy

 

[scatter15]

hi bro. You cant do subsonic and cycle in any 223 AR15. But you can shoot low recoil for sure. You need really heavy buffer in that pistol, and that is major impact. Then you want faster rifle powder. Like Rl10x, N130, H22 or something like that with ligher bullets. Adjustable gas block needed for sure. I would use no powder that is slower than H335/Benchmark/AA2230 for your application.

Thank you for your help
I have all of the powders you have listed above and will start working on it soon
thank you again and have a Great week