223 powder recommendations

A lot of powders work for 223 Rem. Some are less versatile than others, some meter differently than others. But...

Varget is the king of 223rem powders.

I like BL-C(2), but Varget is a close second. I also use Power Pro Varmint when I can't get either of those.

I like H335, the classic!

H335. It's a ball powder so it meters well... better than extruded powders like IMR.

Ive used h and I 4895, as well as blc2. They all work well. From some research I've done cfe 223 looks good too.

H335, Varget, CFE223, TAC, AA2230 and a handful of others. There are many suitable .223 powders out there.

For general plinking CFE-223 and TAC works good with the light 55gr pills. I use Varget for my most accurate with TAC coming in a close 2nd.

Since you have all the time in the world if you want to see some actual testing on a bunch of powders go to Johnny's reloading bench and watch the mark 262 cloning series

Blc2, h335, wc846, and/or wc844 are my powders for 5.56. They also work well in 7.62 and 30-30.

I use Varget for my .223 precision & hunting loads.

TAC for my 3Gun ammo, but now I'm about to open an 8lb keg of CFE223

I've also been happy with H335, AA 2460 & 2230.

H335 for plinking loads with 55 grain or 62 grain FMJ. Meters great, which makes loading faster as you don't have to weigh every charge.

If you end up with Varget, be ready to weigh every charge....I use varget for heavier bullets (69 grain).

Other powders that I've used include VV N133. It's a fine cut extruded powder and it meters well also. But I tend to use it more for precision loads so I weigh each charge.

H335 for 55 grain or lighter bullets and CFE-223 for heavier bullets.

Benchmark. Same burn rate as the ever popular H335 but much less temperature sensitive.

Extremely clean burning with great accuracy and velocities. I buy it in 8lb jugs.

There are many good powders for .223,
IMR 8208 XBR is one of them

Of course, no one can say what will work best in your rifle, but one of the endearing features of the .223 Remington/5.56 NATO cartridge is that it is one of the most forgiving cartridges to load for reasonable accuracy. My favorite powders include Ramshot TAC, Accurate 2015, 2230, 2460, Hodgdon H-335, BL-C2, H-4895 and I just picked up 5 lbs of Alliant Reloder 10x to try. (It was on sale locally).
My favorite is TAC, because it shoots consistently with all bullet weights, and burns clean. It also meters perfectly in the powder measure.
I have not shared others experience with Varget, it is best with heavier bullets, and doesn't meter well from a measure. I find TAC is just as accurate in my rifles, but it may prove magic in yours. Good luck finding powder, as your options may be limited where you live. I encourage you to grab whatever is available, as the only powder I really did not like at all was IMR/H-4198. IME, it metered poorly and gave mediocre velocity and accuracy. Far better results with all other powders mentioned along with others I have used including Reloder 15, CFE-223, Power Pro 2000-MR, Accurate 2200, IMR-4064, Win 748.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Waterboy3313 said:

I really push for accuracy through I will be shooting this through the AR platform.

Click to expand...

If you can find it, give AR-Comp a try: https://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/ar_comp.aspx

I use it in my .223 bolt guns, but a buddy loves it in his AR-15.

Win 748 has been great for me when loading 55/g soft points.
It Meters great / throws very consistent.

I was able to get 5/8" 5 shot groups out of my AR with a 20" Heavy Barrel.

It took minimal effort to get there. I'm sure some luck may have been involved.

RC Model convinced me to try it.

I have been sold ever since.

Varget or RL-15.
Those are my favorites.

Living in that part of California do you have a lot of YouTube Reloaders that live in the general vicinity to that I can think of off the top of my head are lead bullets for life and fortune cookie 45lc. You may want to reach out to either one of those two and see if they can give you any help

To feed an AR using cheap bullets, Ramshot TAC. It meters very well and used to be pretty cheap. I load for my AR on a progressive press so stick powders are out of the question.

I never trim cases for the AR. If I'm gonna go through all of that trouble, I'd just as soon buy AR ammo at $5 or $6 a box to blow through. Are you sure that your cases need trimming? Since you're removing crimps, are these LC brass or something?