They can be made to work - but I would go for a custom reamer, making a tight chamber. That would be the single most important factor in getting good accuracy from this round. The standard CIP chamber is a bit 'generous' IMO, even though good accuracy can be obtained with it. It's just that it requires some specialized loading techniques.
Mine has a standard chamber and won't shoot at all with any factory ammo I tried, but the reloads do fine - and I need to do following:
- Necksize with the Lee Collet die set - it's the only one that won't stretch the (pretty delicate) brass when sizing.
- Seat the bullets with a competition-type seater - I use a Forster micrometric seater, to guarantee minimal bullet runout, and seat the bullets into the rifling.
My best loads were with VV N110 and 45gr bullets, but then my rifle has a standard 1:16" twist, so won't stabilize anything heavier.
I even got some pretty good results with the H&N Hi-speed bullets, which are swaged lead, then copper-plated and with a plastic coating.
Older rifles were .223, I believe, but all modern ones are .224.
I worked up loads using the ladder technique (and to my surprise, it does work...), and managed some very nice groups with it. And the rifle, I hear you ask? Of course it is a Martini! :-)
