223 and 308 powder metering

[genebofunk]

Hello I'm trying to find a powder that meters well in my hornady powder measure in my lock and load ap. right now I'm using imr 3031 and can feel that I'm cutting grains. I'm reloading for my ar-15 and my m1a. These rounds will be mainly for plinking. I use a trickles for my competition rounds.

 

[animator]

3031 is a looong grain. I used it both in .308 and .223, but decided to stop using it due to the metering problem, as well as the bridging problem I ran into with .223 cases. It would stop up the narrower drop tube for the .223. The wider tube I use for .308 cases doesn't have much of a problem though.


Varget, imr 4895, and imr 4064 all meter a bit better. These are all extruded powders, but at much shorter grains when compared to 3031.


H335 is what I use for .223, and it meters generally within .1 or .2 gr every pull. It's a ball powder, so cutting isn't really a problem. It produces the most accurate loads I have been able to come up with through a variety of bullets.


I've tried it in .308 as well, but find Varget gets me the best results through the rifles I use it with.

 

[cfullgraf]

Any of the ball powders will meter more smoothly than the stick powders.

There are several good ones that will work for both from just about all the power manufacturers/distributers.

Consult your reloading manuals.

 

[rsrocket1]

Second on the H335. I use it for 55g .223 and 150/168g .308 and they meter and shoot great.

 

[genebofunk]

I've used varget doesn't cut as much but still requires a bit of assistance on the lever. Basically ball powders are the way to go. I don't recall in my few reloading manuals there being a section saying which rifle powders are extruded and which are ball.

 

[Canuck-IL]

RL-15 - good for both cals and meters fine in my L'n'Ls.
/B

 

[rfwobbly]

TAC (by Ramshot) is a ball powder that works well in 223 and 308. Feeds like a dream; shoots clean. Inexpensive too.

 

[CZ57]

Tac +1!

 

[W.E.G.]

There is no harm whatsoever in "cutting grains."

However, it can be annoying, and can slow down the process if you have to apply extra effort to operate the powder-drop operation.

TAC is a popular powder for folks who don't want to deal with compressed loads, or the additional difficulty of "cutting grains" during the powder-drop operation.

There are several other ball-type (spherical) powders that are easier to use in the powder measure. Winchester 748 has always been popular. IIRC, all the Accurate Arms powders are spherical.

 

[IndispensableDestiny]

H335 for .223. BL-C(2) for .308. Both are spherical powders.

 

[Jasper1573]

If you don't already have one, you might consider spending around $20 and getting a Lee Perfect Powder Measure. Yes, it is a cheap piece of plastic, and all of the internal parts are plastic as well, so when it gets a long granule of powder stuck in there, it doesn't cut it like a metal drum would. It does meter powder as accurately as my Uniflow powder measure. I only use it with long grain powders as I find it tends to leak with fine ball stuff.

I bought one to use with IMR 4064 and it was worth the $$. The fellow who sold it to me said that it probably won't still be working in 20 years, but it does solve the problem of cutting grains, and it can be replaced cheaply if and when it does fail.

https://fsreloading.com/lee-perfect...edium=cpc&utm_content=CSE&utm_campaign=Nextag

 

[2ndtimer]

There is no harm whatsoever in "cutting grains."

However, it can be annoying, and can slow down the process if you have to apply extra effort to operate the powder-drop operation.

TAC is a popular powder for folks who don't want to deal with compressed loads, or the additional difficulty of "cutting grains" during the powder-drop operation.

There are several other ball-type (spherical) powders that are easier to use in the powder measure. Winchester 748 has always been popular. IIRC, all the Accurate Arms powders are spherical.

Actually, some of the Accurate powders are extruded, 2015, 2495, 4064, 4350 and the old 3100, for instance. All the Ramshot powders are spherical, maybe that was what you were thinking of.

 

[BP44]

H335 and H322 both work well, I went out on a limb a few years back and purchased 32lbs of WC844 mil pull powder and it meters like Crome plated dust true 1/10 of a grain on from full hopper to empty.

 

[joneb]

+ 1 Post #10
I use BLc-2 for 308 Win with very good results, not as clean as I would like but very accurate and easy to work with.

 

[cheeze]

I'll chime in for H335. It meters well and works fine in both calibers. I believe it was pretty much designed for .223. Works in many different calibers.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

H335 for .223. BL-C(2) for .308. Both are spherical powders.

My thoughts exactly. Ball powders meter like water, you will like them!