Powder recommendations

Some of that depends on what weight bullet you are shooting, and what you are shooting it in. The generic answer is... H335, TAC, IMR4895, and some of the other powders in that burn range, but, again, it circles back to my first sentence.
 
TAC
X-Terminator
Benchmark
H-335
Accurate 2015
Accurate 2230
Accurate 2460
Shooter’s World AR Plus
Shooter’s World Precision Rifle
I have yet to try H-322, but it is on my list, along with Vihtavuori N-133 and N-135. The others listed have worked well in my rifles.
 
I found 8 lbs of W-748 for cheap about 5 years ago. Seems to work OK. It has about the same properties as H-335 and N-135.

No I didn't say it was the same so use published load data for the powder you're using.
 
If you are buying powder for the 223, ball powders seem to be more available and/or less costly right now.

For 50 gr - 55 gr bullets, ball powders in the right burn rate range include: BL-C2, Win 748, H335, Ramshot X-Terminator, SW Tactical Rifle, SW AR Plus, CFE-223 Accurate 2200, Accurate 2230.

For other recommendations, it would be helpful to know bullet weight, gun, and desired usage.
 
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P Flados said:
If you are buying powder for the 223, ball powders seem to be more available and/or less costly right now.

For 50 gr - 55 gr bullets, ball powders in the right burn rate range include: BL-C2, Win 748, H335, Ramshot X-Terminator, SW Tactical Rifle, CFE-223.

For other recommendations, it would be helpful to know bullet weight, gun, and desired usage.
Click to expand...
Bullet wt 55g in ar15 and Rugar Amarican bolt action. Mostly plinking. Self defense if needed.
 
alanwk said:
What are your goto powders for 223 rem?
Click to expand...
It used to be H335 as reference powder with H4895 and Varget.

Wanted to try Benchmark and AR Comp due to reported smaller groups they produced but in recent shortages, they became scarce and price jumped when they finally became available. Thought about trying comparable burn rate powders made by Accurate, Ramshot, Shooters World and even Vihtavuori as prices became comparable/cheaper but ended up deciding against testing various powders when prices skyrocketed.

Eventually, I have decided on H335 for 55/62 gr bullets and TAC/BL-C(2) for 69/75 gr bullets as there are well established loads and they are more readily available powders usually at lower prices.
 
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TAC, X-Terminator, AA2230, AA2460, SW AR Plus, SW Tactical Rifle, AR Comp, Power Pro Varmint, N133, N135, N140, 8208XBR, H4895, Benchmark have all been pretty solid for me. If I had to pick one to do all of my .223 loading (55-77gr) it'd be 8208XBR, then AR Comp, then TAC.
 
Used H335 for years now with only different 55Gr bullets. Plan to try H4895 with something heavier since I have a decent amount of H4895.

-Jeff
 
alanwk said:
Bullet wt 55g in ar15 and Rugar Amarican bolt action. Mostly plinking. Self defense if needed.
Click to expand...

Check out the thread I created on reloading for a Mini-14. It's all about 55 grain bullets and I worked with four powders: H-335, Benchmark, X-Terminator, and StaBALL Match. The thread has more details, but I'll repeat some of the salient ones.

The Hodgdon website has a burn-rate comparison chart. It includes a lot of non-Hodgdon powders:
https://hodgdonpowderco.com/wp-cont...mokeless-Relative-Burn-Rate-Chart-WEBSITE.pdf

Note that 223 burn-rate range goes from about Reloder 7 up to about CFE223. That chart has about 40 powders in that range.

Generally speaking, faster burning powders are going to reach peak pressure sooner and lose pressure behind the bullet faster. They can be effective for keeping pressure up behind quickly accelerating lightweight bullets that have less inertia. On the other hand, they will have reach max pressure and taper off their conversion to gas sooner, providing less acceleration to heavy bullets.

Generally speaking, slower burning powders may not ignite or burn consistently at the lower pressures that exist behind a light bullet. The bullet gets out of the way before enough pressure can build up. On the other hand, these slower burning powders, especially those with a more progressive burn rate, are just the ticket to keep pressure up behind heavier bullets all the way down the bore, maximizing velocity.

Powders have other features like temperature stability, copper fouling reducing agents, flash suppressants, and granule shapes and sizes that are either condusive to volumetric metering or that demand trickling to meter by mass.

Another factor to consider is case capacity and powder bulk. 223 cases vary in their capacity by make and some powders, especially the slower burn rate powders can take up a lot of case volume. Sometimes it's not possible to fit the desired powder mass into a case under a bullet. The 223 case is pretty small.

Check out videos by Johnny's Reloading Bench because he does extensive testing of numerous powders using 55 grain bullets -- Bob's bullets in particular, but he also compares them to several other 55 gr. bullets.

Check out natoreloading.com and the 5.56 section because they evaluate numerous powders.

Consider what your goals are: accuracy, velocity, some balance of both... there are trade-offs. Single-based extruded powders of faster burn rates are the easy-button for accuracy, but double-based, ball powders often deliver higher velocities. I think the biggest factor in accuracy is the rifle, not the ammo. Bad ammo can ruin results, but awesome ammo isn't going to fix problems with the rifle.

The particular results in my work don't match what could be expected from the published reloading data. For example, I got much less velocity from X-Terminator than H-335, Benchmark, or StaBALL Match. The data does not show X-Terminator delivering low velocity compared to those other powders. Was my rifle not getting enough pressure out of book-max loads? Should I have kept pushing it past max to get the numbers expected? I decided not to. Should I tell you to forget about X-Terminator? You might get totally different results. I think Longdayjake wrote at one point it was his favorite powder from which he got the best results -- either X-Terminator or A2230, which used to be the same thing. A2230 has since been domesticated and is now produced by St. Marks in Florida. My sample of one is not enough for me to tell you that it won't work great for you.

StaBALL Match is a relatively new powder. I think it was introduced last year if I'm not mistaken. Generally speaking, it's best suited for heavier bullets. I had to pack a compressed load into Lake City brass (which has the highest capacity) to get good results from a 55 grain bullet.

H-335 is a traditional powder for 5.56x45. It's the closest thing to what the DoD has loaded for government use behind 55 and 62 grain projectiles since the 60's I think. Works fine.

Benchmark performed remarkably for me. It delivered impressive velocity that I was not at all expecting based on the published data. It was consistent and appeared accurate. natoreloading.com reported it as their go-to powder for 55 grain bullets. It was my least-favored going into the tests, but I can't ignore the results. It worked for me. If you're shooting 55 grain, it's worth trying a pound of it. It's not as cheap as some ball powders, so it might not be a fit for plinking as cheap as possible. But it's less costly than AR-Comp at the moment, so it's not like it's the most exorbitantly priced luxury out there. It's just not cheap.

I remember watching Johnny's Reloading Bench. I think it was that channel, or maybe it was Bolt Action Reloading (they're pretty similar). They were testing two different loads and one clearly beat the other. The narrator was really pleased because it's not unusual that we can do these exhaustive tests and find no real difference in the results, coming to the conclusion that it just doesn't matter and we're wasting our time. But every once in a while, there's an obvious distinction that this is better than that. The process of finding something better than another from 40-something possible powders could be pretty daunting. Will you find any difference between them? Will it matter for plinking? I guess that a lot of us reloaders think we will and that it does.
 
IALoder said:
TAC, X-Terminator, AA2230, AA2460, SW AR Plus, SW Tactical Rifle, AR Comp, Power Pro Varmint, N133, N135, N140, 8208XBR, H4895, Benchmark have all been pretty solid for me. If I had to pick one to do all of my .223 loading (55-77gr) it'd be 8208XBR, then AR Comp, then TAC.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reminding me. Add IMR-8208XBR to my previous list. And while I have a pound of AR Comp, I am afraid to try it. If it is awesome, I either can’t find it or can’t afford it. 😢
 
IMG_7643.jpeg These are 7-12 round groups of RMR 75 gr OTM over 24 - 25.5 gr N140 2.245 OAL

If I used lighter rounds I’d probably consider N135

Top square sheet was a 16” AR with 6X scope, bottom round targets was a red dot, so no precision from my

Way better than factory blaster ammo. IMG_7644.jpeg
 

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alanwk said:
What are your goto powders for 223 rem? Thanks
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I’m old enough to remember when the IMR canister powders were the cheapest and most common label on the shelf. Those days are no more. These days I don’t load .223 (or .22Jet, .221Fireball, .22Hornet, etc). Arthritis and aging eyes pretty much spoiled the fun of loading tiny bullets. But I would suggest looking in the local retailers for what you can get and compare it to what is listed in a current manual for the exact bullet you plan to use. Then ask here about those combinations. It doesn’t do any good to get great advice about powders that are unavailable.
 
H335, and BL-(C)2 I have used to great effect. I have TAC to try and found some Varget and AA2460 squirreled away I may try also. Lots of good choices for each bullet weight. Make a list from this post and see what is available and give it a shot.
 
H335 or AA2230 for plinking ammo and 55 gr varmint loads.

Most recently AA2495 for 75 grain match ammo. In the past I have used R-15, Varget and H4895 in this application with good results, and BL-C2 with the caveat that maximum loads were deemed too hot for my brass and primers in hot weather.
 
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