Ar15 powders

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I am looking to get an idea of what powders yall are using in your ARs. The majority of the reloading I have done in the 223 is for my bolt gun which is 19.8gn of IMR4198 with a 55gn hornady sp with COL at 2.200. The load works good in the bolt gun. I recently finished my AR and I am not sure this load is best for it. This is my first personal AR. I ran a three hundred round function test with the AR using LC m193 ball. As the gun cycled, it ejected the brass at the 3-4 oclock area like my issued AR, but with my above load it ejected more so at the 12 to 1 oclock area. I may be wrong but it is my understanding that this means too much gas for the action ( buffer weight, spring, bolt weight, gas port). I have a small amount of blc-2 that I tried ,but velocity was not where I wanted to be before almost maxing out (upper 2600 fps). I have alot of bullets and brass that need loaded so I plan to buy a large container of powder to save on hazmat. So I need to get it right the first time.
 
I use Varget and W748 with 69 Sierra Matchkings. Varget is my main choice these days.

Accurate 2230 with 55 FMJs.

I've dabbled a bit with H4895.

But there are lots of good, suitable powders for an AR in 223 Remington. Both Sierra Bullets and Hornady have AR specific chapters in their loading manuals. I am sure there are other good sources.

My match service rifle ejects the brass at about 1 o'clock. But the ejector spring has been modified to do that. Keeps the brass out of my neighboring competitor's back.
 
I've only used varget, with good results. Lyman lists it as their potentially most accurate load with a 55gr FMJ, and I've heard of others getting good results with it.
 
Good success here with 748 and H322. I use the H322 in .223 since my primary AR cartridge uses it too and it simplifies the powder shelf. H335 and Varget are also popular powders for .223.
 
Varget for Me

i use 24g of varget over a hornady 55g v-max. don't know how fast and don't care.
1" groups @ 100 yds. 1.766 @ 200.

fave load is 23g varget with a Berger 73g bthp match. same group @ 100 and 200 but busts clays out to 500 yds.:D
 
Ejector spring tention has more to do where your brass is going to land than the powder load.

A friend of mine has had very good luck with the Horn 55's and Varget with his match AR. I like Reloder 15 for 77 and 80 gr SMK's.

However, there are several powders which work well in the AR.
 
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I use Varget or RL-15.
I think my AR likes the RL-15 just a tiny hair more, but the Varget was available in an 8# canister
So it was cheaper by weight than the RL-15.

What powder you use is also dependent upon your gun & what bullet you use.

Mine is a 20" 1 in 9. And it likes the cheap 55 gr fmj.
I've tried 55, 60 & 62 gr bullets.
There didn't seem to any appreciable difference in accuracy.
All of them were pretty darn good.
 
I've had good loads with a lot of powders, but I guess my preference is 8208. Just for kicks I shot a 15 round group today with it - right around 1.2", including fliers. Take those two out and it would probably be around 1.0-1.1".

I tried Varget a couple years ago when I first started reloading, maybe I need to give it another go.
 
cfullgraf, " use Varget and W748 with 69 Sierra Matchkings " How much Varget did you find works best with the 69 MC ?
 
Benchmark, for the 55 grainers at least.

Accurate, clean burning, temperature stable, measures nicely. (The kernels almost looks like 2400.)

Tried Varget but it was too slow burning, got some unburnt powder in my 20" AR with 55ers. IIRC, the 20" AR was designed to run on IMR4198, a fast powder. Benchmark is much closer to that than Varget. for the 60-69 bullets, I am going to try H4895.
 
Don't use Blue Dot with 33 gr Vmax.

It will not cycle an AR15.
There is not enough gas and it is not there for long enough.
Even the highest pressure loads do not work, and the gas is there for even less time.
 
HP shooters use 69 - 82 grain bullets and 80% are shooting either RL-15 or Varget, with a little Vihta or 4895 making up the the other 20%. 2460 and 2520 are also good and meter well (not always the case with Varget and 4895).

Lighter bullets would favor 748, 322 and 335.
/Bryan
 
Another fan of Varget

I started with it, and just got 'lucky' I guess. It worked very well for me. Another one which worked well was IMR 4895. Both are fairly versatile powders- if you decide you want to load for another caliber - you're good to go!
 
Well, Varget covers the whole range of bulelts, but it hard to manage for bulk relaoding as it needs a drop tube for larger charges with lighter bullets. It does not meter especially consistent from most powder measures, like a ball powder would.

If it were me....TAC would be my choice for bulk reloading of mid to heavy wt bullets in the AR. Measures like water, cheaper then most other powders. No down side.

Most other powders save for RL 15, N135, N140, and N540 do not work well with heavier bullets in the 223 meaning poor choices would 2230, H335, 748, and 4895 as then shine with mid wt bullets.
 
I use Ramshot's X-terminator with pulled 55gr FMJ bullets in LC brass lighted by Wolf SR Magnum primers in my AR15. The combination is inexpensive, and the results are satisfying. I can shoot as many 30rd mags as I like, and not have to worry about what it's costing me.
 
H335 and Varget are the go-to powders I use in any of my AR-15 rifles. Don't have any bolt-actions to test with, but both powders have performed exceedingly well behind 53-55gr SMK, 55gr Nosler Varmint, and 55gr Remington bulk bullets.
 
Varget, benchmark and BLC-2, mostly reload only 60 to 69 grain bullets, my AR really likes the 62gr barnes TSX with 23.5 grains of varget.
 
I have gotten good accuracy with 40, 50, 55 and 60 gr. bullets using both H335 and IMR 4064. Both powders work quite well for 308 Win. as well as 223 Rem.
 
I use AA2230 for my AR. Varget for my bolt gun. I'm tempted to buy an 8 lb jug of Varget and use it for everything.
 
ive been using rl10x and H4895. in my 16" upper i cannt get the varget to shoot good at all, probally not enough barrel. the 10x shoots the best in my bolt gun though.
 
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