5.56 NATO and ball powders

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Orcon

Orcon

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I am soon to be a reloader of 5.56 NATO. I already have a fair number of medium burning powders for my 308s and considering the relationship of powder capacity to bore size, I figured most of those powders should be suitable for the 5.56 as well. However, I've noticed that most preferred target loads are utilizing ball powders such as H335, AA-2230 and R-15. Is there a reason why this is so? Should I buy a jug of ball powder or buck conventional wisdom and just stuff a case full of Varget or AA-2495 and let 'er buck?
 
Ball powders tend to flow through the powder measures more readily and more consistently than "stick" and "flake" powders, but other than that I don't know why someone would have a preference.

Pretty much all of my 223 loads use IMR-4198, IMR-3031 or Winchester 748. My RCBS powder measure sounds like it is crushing ice cubes when it meters the IMR powders while it runs as smooth as silk with the Winchester, but all three load up, deliver consistent performance and operate all the semi-automatics reliably.

I don't think you'll find 223 that much different from 308 except that the bits and pieces are smaller, a pound of powder lasts longer and it's easier to push down the handle on your press.

Welcome and Good luck.
 
I think ball powders TAC, H335, BLC(2) etc are popular for .223/5.56 mostly because they meter well, a factor for semi auto owners who may load and shoot a lot of ammo. (hdwhit beat me to this by a minute:))
In this order I like TAC, BLC(2) H335+8208XBR are a tie, for my use which is general paper punching and backup Zombie attack type SD rounds.
I haven't tried stick powders to see if they shoot better for me (other feedback seems to indicate in general they do) because good metering is one of my main concerns for almost all the .223/5.56 ammo I load.
For me with my Mini14 or AR15 I tend to go through a lot of ammo when shooting them, so a powder that meters well saves time reloading.
Of course with the Mini 14 accuracy is a relative thing, :) What it lacks in accuracy it makes up for with fun factor.
If I had a bolt .223 I would probably have taken a different path in powder selection.

If you have .308 powders that have listed .223 loads no reason not to start with them.
 
hdwhit said:
Ball powders tend to flow through the powder measures more readily and more consistently than "stick" and "flake" powders, but other than that I don't know why someone would have a preference.
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Oh. Duh. Didn't even consider that. I guess it would make sense for folks who load thousands at a time on a progressive for service rifle comp to gravitate toward ball powders.

What's the consensus on primers? CCI 41, Rem 7 1/2 good to go?
 
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Add me to the list.

I tried imr 4064 and had good results, but I'm on the ball powder bandwagon simply for ease of charging cases.

Primers? I like CCI 41 just for the piece of mind. Ive used regular CCI primers without issue though. Some manufacturers Recommend not using certain primers in rifles with floating firing pins. I'm not that experienced though.
 
See, this is why I don't like ARs...they're so much fun to shoot that you need to grossly expedite the reloading process. I'm gonna end up with a Dillon. Do you want a 650? Because this is how we get a 650.

What have I got myself into?
 
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I get a lower deviation and spread with CCI four fifties, but I have thousands of the four hundreds. Both are perfectly interchangeable in my AR, I save the four fifties for my bolt action.
 
I have used a lot of the TulAmmo KVB556M in my AR and Mini14 no issues and a bit less expensive than CCI41s.

A factor since you may be buying lots of them:evil::)
 
Orcon said:
Should I buy a jug of ball powder or buck conventional wisdom and just stuff a case full of Varget or AA-2495 and let 'er buck?
Click to expand...
Either one. Lots of Varget in .223 fans. What other powders do you have in the neighborhood of 4198 to CFE 223 on this burn rate chart?
 
You may want a powder with a Copper Fouling Eraser ingredient, if planning on firing many round in a day?

All Vihtavuori reloading powders produced today have an added decoppering agent, also called anti-fouling agent.
The Alliant Reloder series has it also, except #17 powder does not.

There are others.
 
Dudedog said:
I have used a lot of the TulAmmo KVB556M in my AR and Mini14 no issues and a bit less expensive than CCI41s.

A factor since you may be buying lots of them:evil::)
Click to expand...

They work well. I also have the CCI 41s as well.
QQQSRM KVB-5.56M SMALL RIFLE MAGNUM PRIMERS (For use in 5.56 loads)$14.00 /1000 QQQSRM $140.00
Ordered: 10
Click to expand...
:D
 
Walkalong said:
Either one. Lots of Varget in .223 fans. What other powders do you have in the neighborhood of 4198 to CFE 223 on this burn rate chart?
Click to expand...

IMR-4320, Power Pro 2000MR, BL-C(2), IMR-4064, a bit of TAC and about a half pound of CFE 223.

243winxb said:
You may want a powder with a Copper Fouling Eraser ingredient, if planning on firing many round in a day?
Click to expand...

Maybe, though I do have a brush and a bottle of Butch's Boreshine.
 
Orcon wrote:
What's the consensus on primers? CCI 41, Rem 7 1/2 good to go?
Click to expand...

If you already have them; either one will be fine. It's easier for me to get Winchester primers locally although I used to use CCI (regular, magnum and benchrest, interchangeably) and since I'm not a benchrest precision shooter, I have never noticed any significant difference between any of them.
 
hdwhit said:
If you already have them; either one will be fine. It's easier for me to get Winchester primers locally although I used to use CCI (regular, magnum and benchrest, interchangeably) and since I'm not a benchrest precision shooter, I have never noticed any significant difference between any of them.
Click to expand...

I'm more concerned about the possibility of a slamfire or a pierced primer. I'm not too keen on the idea of having a case act as a cutting torch on my bolt and firing pin. Win primers are more readily available to me but I will go out of my way and spend a bit more to protect my equipment.
 
Orcon wrote:
I'm more concerned about the possibility of a slamfire or a pierced primer.
Click to expand...

Well, nobody can fault you for wanting to proceed with an abundance of caution.

When I got started, the military primers weren't available (or if they were, I didn't know they were available and so never realized to look for them) so I used what was available to me. At the time it was all CCI. For a time in the early 90's, all I could get was Remington. During the most recent panic, Winchester was what was on the shelves. By the dawning of the 21st Century, I knew military primers were available, but by then I had built up a considerable body of experience with the garden variety ones and saw no need to change.
 
Orcon said:
I am soon to be a reloader of 5.56 NATO
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I know ramshot lists 5.56 NATO loads with TAC, and TAC is a good metering ball powder that works well in 5.56 , not sure if the other powders list 5.56 NATO load data , they maybe 223 load data if that makes a difference to you
 
Orcon wrote:
You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villian.
Click to expand...

When I was an LEO, I worked for the Treasury Department, so in the eyes of most people, I became a villain at 27.
 
What rifle - AR, I presume so far - and what application?
I tried hard to like AA2520 for both .223 and .308 because it metered so well. Adjust the measure, load off the measure. Check measure tomorrow, load.off the measure.
But it was perceptibly less accurate than extruded powders. Not much, but you need all the help you can get at 1000 yards, and I was loading for F Class.
 
Jim Watson said:
What rifle - AR, I presume so far - and what application?
I tried hard to like AA2520 for both .223 and .308 because it metered so well. Adjust the measure, load off the measure. Check measure tomorrow, load.off the measure.
But it was perceptibly less accurate than extruded powders. Not much, but you need all the help you can get at 1000 yards, and I was loading for F Class.
Click to expand...

The rifle is an FN "M16" Collectors series, allegedly as close to true milspec as one can get (though I would posit no more "milspec" than a Colt). I generally avoid ball powders just because of the temp range I deal with at my latitude, 100°F to -20°F ambient, depending on the time of year. Not only do you lose a great deal of velocity when it gets cold but velocity spreads always get worse at lower temps, it happens to stick powders but just not as pronounced in my experience.
 
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Orcon said:
However, I've noticed that most preferred target loads are utilizing ball powders such as H335, AA-2230 and R-15. Is there a reason why this is so?
Click to expand...

For 55 grain bullets, I like Accurate 2230. When I was shooting Service Rifle, I used Varget with 69 grain Sierra OTM bullets.

There are lots of good powders out there that could be used besides my favorites. I've been loading CFE223 in 204 Ruger for a 204 Ruger AR-15 and it has worked well including minimizing copper build up. One of these days, I'll get around to trying it in 223 Remington but I have too many other projects underway these days.

Generally, I use Remington 7-1/2 primers but have used others when I could not get 7-1/2 primers. I've never had a problem with pierced primers using CCI standard primers in an AR-15. Since I have managed to lay in a good supply of Remington 7-1/2s I load on the safe side and use them.
 
JO JO said:
FN M16 20in barrel , should be a sweet rifle
Congrats
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Thanks, it was a steal. I hate buying stuff based on "the feels" but honestly, that's what motivated me to buy one. Hopefully it lives up to my expectation, haven't seen any reviews outside of dudes looking all tacticool and shooting at off camera targets. I was like, What the hell? I know what a dude shooting a rifle looks like, show me how it prints!
 
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