Another 223 powder question

[BsChoy]

Tomorrow I am taking out a few guns to get ready for hunting and I am perplexed by my 223. It was running fine with 26.2 grains of Varget under a 60 Vmax but, my primer pockets blew out and I switched to winny brass. This brass average wieght is a full 10-11 grains heavier than federal and I of course am back to step one. I tried loading in .2-.3 grain increments with both RE15 and Varget in the winny brass at the same oal as the other really good loads with the federal cases and they didn't shoot that well.

I have loaded a bunch more in the same increments for tomorrow but made them longer, almost mag length (Stevens 200). If these don't work I was wanting to try Tac but no one in my area sells it and I don't want to pay 30.00 in shipping for a bunch of powder that may not shoot for me. So I have narrowed it down to the following:

1. BL(c)2- very close to TAC in burn rate and seems to be a fav.
2. H335- A little faster burn rate than BL(C) or TAC but also a favorite and good velocity.
3. H4895- good velocity, is supposedly temp insens (it is a cold weather Coyote gun after all), and easy to find.

Please no suggestions for VV as they cannot be found locally either. The Pros and Cons to the 3 listed would be appreciated for 60 grain bullets.

 

[RustyFN]

I use W748 and have been very happy with the results. I have tried BLC(2) and didn't like it as well as W748. I just bought four pounds of H335 because most people prefer H335 over most other powders for 223. I have loaded 60 rounds but haven't had a chance to shoot them yet. H335 meters very well in my powder measure.
Rusty

 

[Walkalong]

I tried H335, IMR 4895, and BLC2 years ago in the .223's near ballistic twin the .222 Mag. I dropped the BLC2 in favor of the H335 and then dropped the 4895 in favor of the H335, although 4895 did work quite well. H335 just meters so great and gave excellent velocities without pressure signs with 50, 55, and 60 Gr. bullets here in the HOT South. My Sako has a 1 in 14 twist rate and will not shoot bullets over 60 Gr. very well. I had to run them to hot to get them to settle down. This may not be a fair comparison to a .223 in a faster twist, but I beleive you can't go wrong with H335.

I now have other powders (Tac, N130, N133) that may work as well, but have not tried them because the H335 loads will shoot the Hornady 50 & 55 Gr. SP's as well as the 55 & 60 Gr. V-Max's through one hole in my Sako.

 

[LotI]

H335 is a go-to powder in .223 for the mid-weight bullets. 60gr is getting heavy for it's speed but there are lots of recipes for this older powder. It was the least accurate out of 4 powders with the 60gr. V-max in my testing.

Looking through my records, my most accurate load with the 60gr. Vmax is 25.0gr H4895 @ 2.260"(2944fps). Then 24.9 Varget @ 2.260"(2733fps). 20" 1:9 AR with a 5.56 chamber. RL-15 was okay but I think that 60gr. is on the light side of its range.

 

[1lostinspace]

I have been messing with varget but I think I am going back to the good old H4895

 

[DougW]

I use IMR4064 mainly because the strands are a bit shorter than IMR4895, and the loading works well in my AR's. Guess I need to try some IMR4895.

 

[GaryArkansas]

I shoot a Savage 110, with 1:9 twist barrel. I use BLC(2) because its easy for me to buy here in Arkansas, and it meters quite nicely.

I use it for 40 to 55 grain Hornady bullets.

 

[Slamfire]

I believe I have heard from a number of sources that BLC is the same as W748. Having just visited the Hodgens site, the load data for the 69 Sierra is identical, with identical pressures and velocities.

I prefer stick powders. Stick powders just seem to have a big sweet spot. I have used IMR 4895 in the .223, and in the future I will be using H4895. I like the shorter cut grains of H4895. Any of the 4895 class of powders, which include IMR, AA2495, work exceptionally well across a wide variety of calibers. I know they are capable of match winning accuracy in the .223, 308, and 30-06.

I have shot 1000's of 30-06 rounds with 42.0 grains IMR 4895 with a 168. This load, though quite reduced, shoots cleans out to 200 yards. The normal load with that bullet would be 47.0 grains. I just do not know many powders that can shoot as well across a wide spectrum of velocities as the 4895 powders. And they shoot well in a bunch of cartridges.