03-02-2020, 06:43 PM
My Hornady brass measured .0125" thick at the neck before forming. After I necked them down They measured .014". The neck in the chamber is .255" but I still got higher than expected pressures. When I checked the fired cases, some of the necks had gotten thicker as they fired. and were showing .254" OD and .222" ID. So, I am going to neck turn them and try again.
The shoulder on the .224 Predator appears to be exactly where the 6.5 Grendel shoulder was. Since the shoulder taper now goes to .224" the actual neck is slightly shorter. You can hold them side by wide with the 6.5's and see the difference.
The most common powder seems to be CFE223 and it's only filling the case about 90-95% with the 75gr ELD. I bought some 95gr SMK on sale, and hope to try them to see if they like slower powders. Just doing some Quickload estimates, it looks like we get close to H4350, RL16 or RL17 territory with the 95's. With those I can make real use of the larger volume. My goal is to get the 95gr to 2800 fps. This would closely mirror the trajectory of the 6.5 Creedmoor.
The shoulder on the .224 Predator appears to be exactly where the 6.5 Grendel shoulder was. Since the shoulder taper now goes to .224" the actual neck is slightly shorter. You can hold them side by wide with the 6.5's and see the difference.
The most common powder seems to be CFE223 and it's only filling the case about 90-95% with the 75gr ELD. I bought some 95gr SMK on sale, and hope to try them to see if they like slower powders. Just doing some Quickload estimates, it looks like we get close to H4350, RL16 or RL17 territory with the 95's. With those I can make real use of the larger volume. My goal is to get the 95gr to 2800 fps. This would closely mirror the trajectory of the 6.5 Creedmoor.