CFE rifle load for 223

[gifbohane]

My buddy scored a pound of CFE and I plan on helping him with it. Never used CFE before. Figure he should get about 270 rounds out of it

I plan on laddering from 24.8 to to 26 grains For full info I am using Hornady 55 BT's and Lake City brass in 20 inch barrel.

Gonna load 10 each of the ladder. And seat to the cannelure.

Do you guys have thoughts on this powder and some favorite loads?

 

[stillquietvoice]

Is this for an AR 15 or a bolt action. 223 rem chamber or nato chamber

 

[gifbohane]

Sorry I knew I left out something Standard AR 15 223 Rem

 

[bangbig]

CFE worked ok for the 62gr I loaded up. No better or worse than the 335.

Need to find the time to see how the rmr 69gr do.

Sorry, no 55gr data to report!

 

[Bfh_auto]

My buddy scored a pound of CFE and I plan on helping him with it. Never used CFE before. Figure he should get about 270 rounds out of it

I plan on laddering from 24.8 to to 26 grains For full info I am using Hornady 55 BT's and Lake City brass in 20 inch barrel.

Gonna load 10 each of the ladder. And seat to the cannelure.

Do you guys have thoughts on this powder and some favorite loads?

It's not very good in 223 in my experience. It does very well in many other cartridges.

 

[stillquietvoice]

Hodgen data says 27.4 max with win brass and Barnes 55gr and 27.8 with win brass and sie 55 flat base sp.

Sorry I knew I left out something Standard AR 15 223 Rem

Your load ladder should work, lc may have less capacity than win brass data I sighted is from hodgen site and posted FYI that the powder manufacturers data shows a higher max load.

No worries about forgetting something. The older I get the more I forget.

 

[badkarmamib]

Hodgen data says 27.4 max with win brass and Barnes 55gr and 27.8 with win brass and sie 55 flat base sp.

Going off Hodgdon's data, I found my best load at 27.5, with a Hornady 55gr FMJ BT. As always, this was my components and my equipment, so work up your own load, carefully.

eta: bullet manufacturer

 

[armoredman]

I have had decent results with 27gr CFE 223 and 55gr Hornaday SP.
Now, we ARE supposing something - this IS CFE 223, right? Not CFE BLK?

 

[Blue68f100]

My best load with CFE-223 and the 55gr FMJBT (Hornady) was with 27.1-27.2 gr @ 2.220". This produced just slightly larger than 1 moa, (30 shots) which is not bad for a cheap bullet.

 

[gifbohane]

Now, we ARE supposing something - this IS CFE 223, right? Not CFE BLK?

Correct, that is what he has.

 

[badkarmamib]

Something I neglected to mention with my pet load, I set COAL at 2.25" (mag length) which left the cannelure a good bit out of the mouth.

 

[twarr1]

I don’t load 55 gn FMJ for the 223/5.56 any more. My thinking; The 55 FMJ is by far the most common and least expensive for this chamber. With the same effort and quality components, for a few cents more I can load a Match round that would cost 2x as much if bought commercially.
But - I load on a single stage and I’m willing to pay an extra 5-10 cents for a GMX, V-Max or 68 gn BTHP. If you’re loading on a progressive your thinking might be different. Just my thoughts.

 

[gifbohane]

I don’t load 55 gn FMJ for the 223/5.56 any more. My thinking; The 55 FMJ is by far the most common and least expensive for this chamber. With the same effort and quality components, for a few cents more I can load a Match round that would cost 2x as much if bought commercially.
But - I load on a single stage and I’m willing to pay an extra 5-10 cents for a GMX, V-Max or 68 gn BTHP. If you’re loading on a progressive your thinking might be different. Just my thoughts.

Interesting and worthwhile thought. No I do not use a Progressive, I use a Turret more like a single stage. And have nothing but time.

Where do you buy your bullets?

 

[twarr1]

I get my rifle bullets and 22 cal 35 gn (for the 5.7) from MidwayUSA and handgun bullets from RMR.
https://www.rmrbullets.com/

 

[Blue68f100]

RMR 69gr HPBT is a very good bullet and is cheap, not much more than the Hornady 55gr FMJBT. This bullet is also is designed to expand so it can be used for hunting if you want.

 

[stillquietvoice]

Interesting and worthwhile thought. No I do not use a Progressive, I use a Turret more like a single stage. And have nothing but time.

Where do you buy your bullets?

A friend bought Hornady 62 gr fmj bt from rmr in a 1k lot, they have 55's as well. I've been getting mine from midsouth shooters supply, my last couple of orders were hornandy 62 gr hpbt, 32.49 for 250, 64 for 500. But have picked up 50 through 68 from there.

 

[gifbohane]

RMR 69gr HPBT is a very good bullet and is cheap, not much more than the Hornady 55gr FMJBT. This bullet is also is designed to expand so it can be used for hunting if you want.

I have bought and accumulated 3 years of bullets from RMR. During COVID this spring they had a deal on 62 grain FMJ BT 223. It was real attractive but I did not buy them since to me long term is three years.