AR-15 Loads

[ThomasT]

I watched a video yesterday about the development of the AR rifle and the trials and so forth and one of the early problems was a switch to ball powders from stick powders. So i was wondering what you all are using for loads and powders with 55gr bullets in your AR rifles? Are stick powders still better? I have a fair selection of powders and most are stick but I do have a couple of ball powders in the mid burning range.

 

[runner3264]

I think it all comes down to whatever works best for your rifle.

 

[gpb]

The rifle range that I have easy access to is only 100 yards. So, I configured my AR (5.56) for use on that range, military peep sights and a barrel made for light bullets ranging from 50 to 55 grains. The barrel is light weight with a 1 in 12 twist.

For my rifle and the range (short) H335 has worked well with 50 to 55 grain bullets. A couple of years ago I tried some IMR 4230. It also worked well, but it has since been discontinued, and there is no point in any further experiments with it.

 

[GravelRider]

I use H4198 powder.

I started reloading 223 for my ARs during the Obama ammo shortage in '08, so I didn't have a great selection of powders to choose from (sound familiar? Lol), and H4198 was one that was in abundance at the time. I worked up a load that worked great in my rifles and have stuck with it ever since. Now H4198 is nearly as hard to come by as Varget. Go figure.

I think one of the biggest advantages that stick powders have over most ball powders for military cartridges is temperature stability.

 

[bullseye308]

Lots of folks use stick powders with great success. A big problem early on was the gov told guys they didn’t need to be cleaned and they didn’t issue a kit so there were many problems and deaths due to that.

 

[Lennyjoe]

H-335 with 55 gr FMJ and JSP. Just works so well I’ve never tried anything else.

 

[mrawesome22-250]

Ball powder for plinking loads. Plinking loads are made in large batches and ball throws well through a powder measure.

Stick powders (temp stable) for precision loads. Precision loads are made in far smaller quantities and I throw low and trickle up each powder charge.

 

[Ironicaintit]

I like IMR 3031 the best, with 4198 being my 2nd favorite.
Those were the chosen powders for the fellows who developed the 223 and the AR, so who am I to argue?

 

[entropy]

I watched a video yesterday about the development of the AR rifle and the trials and so forth and one of the early problems was a switch to ball powders from stick powders. So i was wondering what you all are using for loads and powders with 55gr bullets in your AR rifles? Are stick powders still better? I have a fair selection of powders and most are stick but I do have a couple of ball powders in the mid burning range.

I've had good results with both types of powders; I don't think it is the form so much as the formula; It wasn't that ball powders were bad, it was that the one ball powder selected, (WC 846) was a very dirty powder, and fouled the rifles much quicker than the IMR 4475 stick powder initially used did. The reason for the substitution was DuPont couldn't supply the amount of IMR 4475 need for the initial issue order, so Olin Matheson (Winchester) WC 846, which they could supply enough of, was used instead. During Stateside testing with this powder, the guns were cleaned more than they could be in later combat, and many soldiers and Marines died with rifles opened up for cleaning in a fire fight. On top of this, as bullseye308 points out,

Lots of folks use stick powders with great success. A big problem early on was the gov told guys they didn’t need to be cleaned and they didn’t issue a kit so there were many problems and deaths due to that.

they were not issued cleaning kits with them.

Ball powder for plinking loads. Plinking loads are made in large batches and ball throws well through a powder measure.

Stick powders (temp stable) for precision loads. Precision loads are made in far smaller quantities and I throw low and trickle up each powder charge.

^^^^^This. Though I always throw low and trickle up. I have a Varget load that is phenomenal in a bolt action. I like BL-C(2) in both bolts and AR's, also.

 

[cfullgraf]

I like Accurate 2230 for 55 grain bullet loads in the 223 Remington and Varget in 69 grain bullet loads.

I've used other powders as well that have worked well but these two have been my favorites for a while.

 

[Orcon]

I use both. The extruded powders I use are cross compatible with my 308 Win loads and are usually used for 69-75 grain .224 bullets. If I'm shooting 55 grain bullets I use a spherical powder just because it's faster to load. Don't get caught up in the Fudd-lore about the AR platform, it's been over 50 years since the platform hit the market and loads of things changed since then.

 

[Soonerpesek]

H-335 with 55 gr FMJ and JSP. Just works so well I’ve never tried anything else.

....and it does meter well also.....

 

[Blue68f100]

I use both. For the longest time I used the extruded powder. Then I tried TAC and sold on the ball powders. It worked great and allowed me to run full AP. I have used CFE-223 too, works good but TAC out preforms it. I do use Extruded powders (Varget) on my heavier pills and match ammo.

 

[Chuck R.]

I use both:

CFE223 and TAC for loads produced on my Dillon for 3Gun matches and practice.
Varget for the precision and varmint hunting loads.

TAC is a very good ball powder that works very well for precision loads also.

 

[ThomasT]

John Barsness always spoke well of Tac and said it also had tin(?) added to help with copper fouling. And I do have about half a pound left. Some of the 223 loads I have now are loaded with it.

A couple of years ago I tried some IMR 4230. It also worked well, but it has since been discontinued, and there is no point in any further experiments with it.

I hate that. I really liked 4320. Jack O'Conner recommended using 51-53grs with a 150gr bullet in 30-06. And it is accurate. I have a couple of pounds on hand.

I like IMR 3031 the best, with 4198 being my 2nd favorite.
Those were the chosen powders for the fellows who developed the 223 and the AR, so who am I to argue?

I didn't know that. I had never heard what the original powder was. One of the things mentioned in the vidoe was that with the ball powder they used the guns were over gassed at the port and were slamming the bolt back hard. That was probably the biggest part of my question. I know the wrong powder in a Garand can bend and damage the Op rod. So I thought I would ask about the Ar-15 damaged from the wrong powder.

I have an 8 pound jug of Accurate 2495, Accurates answer to 4895 and would like to use that since have so much of it and its the middle burn range close to Varget that everyone seems to love. But I wanted to check before I did a 500 round run.

 

[ThomasT]

Forgot to mention but my AR is a DPMS Panther Lite with 16" barrel and mid length gas port. Would that effect the load compared to a load for a 20" barreled gun with a full length gas port? I may be over thinking this.

 

[gpb]

I was disappointed when I found out that IMR 4320 had been discontinued. I have been reloading for many years and I always kept some IMR 4320 on hand. It was a very versatile powder and worked very well in a lot of different cartridges. For some reason it never seemed to get popularity that it deserved. That's probably why it's been discontinued.

 

[Blue68f100]

John Barsness always spoke well of Tac and said it also had tin(?) added to help with copper fouling. And I do have about half a pound left. Some of the 223 loads I have now are loaded with it.



I hate that. I really liked 4320. Jack O'Conner recommended using 51-53grs with a 150gr bullet in 30-06. And it is accurate. I have a couple of pounds on hand.



I didn't know that. I had never heard what the original powder was. One of the things mentioned in the vidoe was that with the ball powder they used the guns were over gassed at the port and were slamming the bolt back hard. That was probably the biggest part of my question. I know the wrong powder in a Garand can bend and damage the Op rod. So I thought I would ask about the Ar-15 damaged from the wrong powder.

I have an 8 pound jug of Accurate 2495, Accurates answer to 4895 and would like to use that since have so much of it and its the middle burn range close to Varget that everyone seems to love. But I wanted to check before I did a 500 round run.

I have adj gas blocks on all my AR's as well as Silent Capture buffer setup. I tune all my guns so the brass exits in the 3:00-4:30 range. I can run most any powder I want and don't have any issues. It's all about tuning the gun to your load once done, works with a broad range of loads. Most of the AR's I've seen are over gassed. I had one the was so over gassed it put the Case Head Separation ring around the base.

 

[Chuck R.]

I was disappointed when I found out that IMR 4320 had been discontinued. I have been reloading for many years and I always kept some IMR 4320 on hand. It was a very versatile powder and worked very well in a lot of different cartridges. For some reason it never seemed to get popularity that it deserved. That's probably why it's been discontinued.

That sucks, it is (or was) my go to powder for .350 Rem Mag! I was looking at converting to TAC when my last pound is gone anyway, but it still sucks.

 

[2ndtimer]

I watched a video yesterday about the development of the AR rifle and the trials and so forth and one of the early problems was a switch to ball powders from stick powders. So i was wondering what you all are using for loads and powders with 55gr bullets in your AR rifles? Are stick powders still better? I have a fair selection of powders and most are stick but I do have a couple of ball powders in the mid burning range.

The .223/5.56 is one of the easiest cartridges to load, and almost any powder in the proper burn rate produces decent results, from 4198 (my least favorite, but others would disagree) to Varget and IMR-4064 on the slower side (won’t achieve top velocity with lighter bullets under 55 gr, but generally accurate and really shine with heavier bullets over 60 grains for both accuracy and velocity.).
The ball powders meter superbly in my RCBS Uniflow powder measure, my favorite being Ramshot TAC, others aren’t far behind, Accurate 2230, 2460, Hodgdon H-335, W-748, and many others.
My favorite stick (extruded) powder is Hodgdon’s Benchmark, which provided good accuracy and surprisingly high velocity in a recent test in 30 degree weather with 40 gr bullets in my 26” barrel bolt gun.
For 55 gr FMJ plinking loads, I just loaded up about 500 rounds with Perfecta and Fiocchi brass, Wolf 55 gr FMJ bullets, CCI No. 41 primers and 25.0 grains of Ramshot TAC Powder. A lot of other guys use a similar load with H-335.

 

[ThomasT]

I have adj gas blocks on all my AR's as well as Silent Capture buffer setup. I tune all my guns so the brass exits in the 3:00-4:30 range. I can run most any powder I want and don't have any issues. It's all about tuning the gun to your load once done, works with a broad range of loads. Most of the AR's I've seen are over gassed. I had one the was so over gassed it put the Case Head Separation ring around the base.

Blue you lost me. I am not familiar with the parts you mentioned. I'm not really an AR fan and have had my AR since 2012. So far i have fired 80 rounds from it. But i am starting to get interested in learning more about what I have and the best way to feed it. Is using an adjustable gas block the way you are tuning your gun? I didn't really pay attention to where my gun was throwing empties and the one time I shot was when it was new in 2012.

Thanks for your help. Any suggested reading would be appreciated too. I guess I could join the Ar15 forum but I never heard any really good comments about that place. Lol.

 

[mrawesome22-250]

Get a good load developed then start tuning the gun to the load.

Adjustable gas blocks are a band-aid for an over sized gas port.

Most factory barrels come with gas ports that are far too large in order to reliably cycle cheap, whimpy factory ammo (Wolf, Tula, etc).

A quality barrel with a correctly sized gas port is always a better option than an adjustable gas block.

 

[Charlie98]

Forgot to mention but my AR is a DPMS Panther Lite with 16" barrel and mid length gas port. Would that effect the load compared to a load for a 20" barreled gun with a full length gas port? I may be over thinking this.

You are… Just work up a good load with the components you have, unless you are using something esoteric, you shouldn’t have problems. Just FYI, and this took me some years to figure this out, cheapie bullets will very often give you cheapie results… meaning, if absolute accuracy is one of your goals, put the money in the bullet. If blasting loads are your goal, then I would work towards the most reliable load you can develop.

 

[Orcon]

Get a good load developed then start tuning the gun to the load.

Adjustable gas blocks are a band-aid for an over sized gas port.

Sometimes, but also mostly wrong. I run adjustable gas on all of my rifles and all of my rifles have CLE chambered Krieger or Larue chambered Lothar barrels. Adjustable gas is a pretty nice feature.

 

[entropy]

Sometimes, but also mostly wrong. I run adjustable gas on all of my rifles and all of my rifles have CLE chambered Krieger or Larue chambered Lothar barrels. Adjustable gas is a pretty nice feature.

Quite handy when you put a can on them.