.223 Remington Powders in Decending Order

[cliffy]

Alliant Reloder 10x; Ramshot X-Terminator; Hodgdon H335; whatever works. These are my findings, so chide me or offer some suggestions, I may have not tried already. Always use small rifle magnum primers in .223 heavy loads, or suffer the "duh" why'd I pierce a primer and foul my bolt's interior. Alliant 10x with MAGTECH 7 1/2 primers never fail to produce tight groups with maximum fps results. cliffy

 

[lgbloader]

Varget, H335, IMR 4895, BLC(2).

 

[Crazy Fingers]

I got me 8 pounds of Winchester 748 to load .223 rounds with. Not for accuracy, though. I hope it works well because I have a lot of it.

 

[James Thomson]

Actually 748 is one of the best powders out there!

 

[cbm1948]

RL-15, I use this in bolt and single shot rifles
BLC-2 AR type
WW 748 AR type

Both BLC-2 and 748 meter well in my Dillon 550

 

[neal7250]

I use H-335 exclusivly. Works very well in Dillon powder measures.

 

[jmorris]

I don’t like extruded powders for 223, too many problems with the powder bridging. My favorites are 748, Ramshot TAC and X-term.

 

[elChupacabra!]

I'd probably say at the top of the list (for me - 20" 1/8 twist SS barrel, AR)

Varget
H335

Middle -

IMR 3031

Bottom -
RL-15
IMR 4198 (given 3 lbs, tried to get SOMETHING to work, but it just won't cycle the action reliably)

I was suprised by how poorly RL15 worked in my rifle, but I got generally terrible accuracy. Varget and H335 are both superior powders for me, depending on what bullet weight I'm going for.

 

[Galil5.56]

All tops for me:

H335
WW748
AA2460

 

[Bowfishrp]

H335 and BCL-2 are the best in my rifles.
Can use Varget but my 308 likes it more!

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

My .223's like:
WW748
H335

No favorite order.

 

[tbtrout]

My Encore likes IMR 4064. Have not shot the Bushmaster yet to know its favorite.

 

[brentwal]

ctually 748 is one of the best powders out there!

All but 2 or 3 of the guys I shoot HP with use w784.

 

[GooseGestapo]

1) BLC2/Win748 (essentially the same)
2) Reloader 15, particularily with 60gr and heavier loads.
3) H335 and TAC (very, very simular)
4) H4198/IMR4198
least favorite IMR3031, Varget; neither can get enough in case to develope decent velocities. Neither of the two lot#'s of Varget came anywhere near close to claimed velocity with "packed, crammed and compressed" powder charges.

 

[YodaVader]

For target shooting loads these 3 have returned very consistent results with the best accuracy in my current .223s:

Benchmark - for 55 and 69 grain
H322 - for 69 grains
H335 - 52 and 55 grains

Varget has performed pretty well for me but does not meter well in my powder measures.
Win 748 - used a lot of it in the past mainly with 52 grain match bullets.

VV N133 - has shown very promising results first time out in a TC Contender Super 14 and a 20" barrel 700LTR. May eventually make it up to the top 3 if the trend of great accuracy continues!

 

[FlyinBryan]

i cant list ten as ive only used a few, but from my best to worst from an accuracy standpoint id have to say:

1. h322
2. varget
3. h335

i dont really have a 223 target rifle but my best groups have definitly been with h322.

my bushmaster is a pretty standard 16" rifle, and is touted as a heavy barreled model, but weighs only about 6 lbs. the included pic is with 322. other powders will not group quite as well.

 

[cliffy]

10x ?

No one actually mentioned Alliant Reloder 10x. Has no one actually tried this, my favorite powder? Has anyone experienced problems with this relatively new powder? I find it a super-performer in .223 Remington applications. cliffy

 

[SteveW-II]

> Alliant 10x with MAGTECH 7 1/2 primers never fail to produce tight groups with maximum fps results

Cliffy, what RL-10 charge are you using, for what bullet ? I have been trying to find a RL-10 load that will work well with the Hornady 55gr FMJ-BT bullet in an 16" AR. I am at 22.5 gr in Federal brass and Rem SR primers and I keep getting primers falling out..

 

[Tarvis]

Awesome thread. I use win 748, but the dillon powder dispenser seems to get a few .3 grains high. I hear 2230 is good, probably only because it's ball. I was having bridging problems with 4064 when loading 22-250, so I get the feeling you need to be pretty careful when using an auto powder dispenser with extruded.

 

[FlyinBryan]

cliffy, what are you launching these loads from?

 

[cliffy]

10x Powder in AR-15s

Steve, I would add .2 grain of 10x up to 80 degrees ambient temperature. Over that temperature, your load seems sound. Try CCI primers, because primers should not back-out until your primer pockets are worn-out, or your loads are too light. My son specifies that I load 22.7 grains with 55 grain Hornady FMJs with CCI 400 primers for his AR-15. Since I don't own an AR-type rifle, I load 24.4 grains of 10x behind a 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip using MAGTECH 7 1/2 primers for my Ruger Model 77 Mark II Sporter. These are my standard, if maximum load below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, .223 fare. cliffy

 

[Chris Rhines]

For 69grn. bullets and up, I like RL15 (1.5" groups at 300 yards in my competition rifle.) I've shot some good groups with Ramshot TAC, too.

For lighter bullets, I like Benchmark, H332, and BLC-2, no particular order. I've been told that you can get good groups with Varget and Hornady 55grn. FMJ-BTs, and intend to try that out shortly.

Never tried Reloader 10X.

- Chris

 

[jhansman]

H322 in my bolt gun is just excellent. For semiauto, H335.

 

[ftierson]

By the way, in terms of primers, I have used CCI 400 (Standard SR) primers for all of my reloading life (which includes a lot of 5.56x45mm/.225 Rem.) and I have never experienced a pierced primer...

This was all in M193 spec loads and some other 55gr bullets loaded to 3200/3300fps (depending on barrel length)...

And this was mostly using H335/AA2230C/W748/WC-846 Ball powders, too.

For what it's worth...

Forrest

 

[schloe]

I use AA 2230