123 gr. Hornady SST with IMR 4895

[Ronson2]

[A5BLASTER]

Haven't used it, I will add never start at someone's max load.

Drop it down to 25.5 or 26 grains and work up in 2 or 3 tenths.

[FW Conch]

The starting load is 26grns of 4895. Start with that and work up. Find out how far out You can seat Your pills without hitting the lands or exceeding the mag length. If You don't hit pressure signs, You can use a drop tube or vibration to settle the load and avoid powder crunch. 99% fill is almost full . Even temperature change could sway that a little.

JMO...Good Luck

[Ronson2]

[Wafavre2]

IMR 4895 is a good powder it will be a little slower 2300-2400 fps. Keep good records and try IMR 8208 XBR It can get you to 2550 fps with a 123 gr. Or 2650 with a 107 gr. Bullets.

[1Shot]

I tried just one load of IMR 4895 when I was trying to get the Hornady 123 SST to shoot in a BCA 20" barrel. I have two rifles the other is an 18" Oden Works barrel. Neither one really liked this bullet no matter what I tried. I only had five 123 SST bullets left. I used the max load data that Nosler listed for their 123/125 gr bullet that said it was the most accurate load. I have been hand loading over 40 years so this max load was not foolishly used. I know that the burn rate of IMR 4895 is quite a bit slower than IMR 8208 and if a case full of it was OK then IMR 4895 would be. The first round fired was out of a clean bore and like normal was high out of the group a fouled barrel would shoot. The next 4 went into a .831 outside to outside group. Shooting was 100 yards. I don't know if this was a fluke or not because I did not repeat it because I did not have or want any more 123 SSTs because I found great accuracy with 120 Sierra Pro Hunter and Speer Gold Dots with IMR8208.
The load that I used was with Hornady case, CCI450, 28.0 Grs IMR 4895, 123 SST, COAL 2.250 velocity was 2416 fps with ES 19 SD 8 and showed no signs of pressure. Your mileage may vary.

[Klem]

Ronson,

H4895 is an efficient and therefore good choice of powder for the weight of bullet.

The bullet on the Nosler website is the 123 Nosler Custom Comp. You are talking about a different manufacturer's bullet with different length and boat tail. Only the weight is the same. The 123SST loaded to Nosler's OAL will leave a different case capacity and this has implications for pressure. At the same weight this is not a big concern but it should be a concern if you are wanting max pressure in an unforgiving receiver like an AR15.

Quickload lists the length of the 123SST bullet at 1.243", and the Nosler CC as 1.200". The bullet with the plastic tip, the SST is longer and this means you need to shave 0.3gns off the Nosler tables to predict the same pressures.

Your suggested 27grains will be fine however (obviously load a few 5-10% below this to check safety in your gun).

At the OAL of 2.250" QL predicts 27gns as max for the SST, however Nosler suggest you can fit up to a max of 27.7gns (28 - 0.3 = 27.7). QL is notoriously conservative so in your shoes I would set 27.5 as max; being the difference between the two. For a bolt gun you can go higher and be more relaxed but a relatively fragile AR bolt is the canary in the coal mine of over-pressure.