Good .223/5.56 Powder Choices?

[alsaqr]

It doesn't meter good at all, but my god is it forgiving.

For sure it won't meter well. Powder for my accuracy loads are weighed. Don't have any idea what the SD is. i do know that my rifles make small five shot groups at 125 yards. When i'm having a good day 5/8-3/4 inch five shot groups are common. There's a big mud hole where the 100 yard target would be.

 

[peeplwtchr]

What type of accuracy are you looking for? Are you hunting or shooting service rifle competion or just plinking. Does 1/4 of an moa or less make a huge difference to the shooting you do. Powder is down the list of important things for raw accuracy and barrel and bullets are at the top. Are you shooting a smk or burger target bullet and your trying to get that last little bit. A final thing to know is the barrel and bullet will tell you what powder works best. Tac, acc2520, cfe, all ball powders that you should try.

Thanks, I nabbed 3# of CFE when I saw it 2 weeks ago, for the fouling prevention. In summer here guns stay very hot, and I have to defoul the copper about every 800 rounds. I bought it because it was there, and got good reviews. Now I learn it is temp. sensitive. Didn't know about sensitivity 2 weeks ago. Winter powder I guess.

 

[AJC1]

Thanks, I nabbed 3# of CFE when I saw it 2 weeks ago, for the fouling prevention. In summer here guns stay very hot, and I have to defoul the copper about every 800 rounds. I bought it because it was there, and got good reviews. Now I learn it is temp. sensitive. Didn't know about sensitivity 2 weeks ago. Winter powder I guess.

I had a very good experience with the pound I loaded for a friend. It sure metered well and not being able to test I just picked the center of the load range and he was very happy with the results. If it's what I had there would be zero worries.

 

[frankmako]

varget, blc2, precision rifle, and wc846 work well. wc846 is good for blasting ammo.

 

[Dudedog]

Thanks, I nabbed 3# of CFE when I saw it 2 weeks ago, for the fouling prevention. In summer here guns stay very hot, and I have to defoul the copper about every 800 rounds. I bought it because it was there, and got good reviews. Now I learn it is temp. sensitive. Didn't know about sensitivity 2 weeks ago. Winter powder I guess.

The main issue with temp sensitive powders is a safe load worked up in the cold weather could be unsafe in hot weather. If you work up your load when it's hot you should be ok safety wise.

 

[Ironicaintit]

I’m another fan of 3031! The new stuff meters better than it used to, but still not fantastic.
If memory serves, it and 4198 were the original powders used by Robert Hutton in the development of the 223/5.56 and the AR itself.
So who am I to argue?

4198 gives me my most accurate load, but it meters (for me) even worse than the 3031 does.

 

[Toprudder]

For precision, besides Varget, I really like 8208xbr.

 

[Bula]

I like AA2230 for 55g stuff. I find it's getting harder to find. Had some W748 so I just loaded up a few and I'm ready test. I'm no benchrest guy, just a plinker. My bulk loaded .223 loads probably will never be better than 2-3 MOA. I like ball powders to load from a Lee Pro Disc powder drop. Precision stuff (with better bullets like Hornady V-Max or Sierra Blitz etc) get charged/trickled one at a time, so Varget for me there.

 

[10wt308]

I use Benchmark with 55 gr. Seems like not many use Benchmark. Is it limited to lighter weights?

 

[Average Joe]

WC846 when you can find it, or BLC2 , other than that W748 works nice.

 

[dranrab]

I use W748 , it's a ball powder and meters easily.

I have used it CFE223, Varget, 4198 and TAC. W748 has given me the best groups.

 

[bdb242]

Interesting thing happened tonight at the loading bench. After re-reading this thread tonight, I went downstairs to load some 70gr VLD's in new .223 brass for a M700 rifle I picked up a couple of weeks ago. Was throwing 5 round of 3 separate powders and noticed that 1 case had powder up in the neck and all the other cases had powder below the shoulder of the cases. Well, I reweighed the powder from that case and it was 23.4 grs as it should be. I looked in the case and thought I saw a little powder still in the bottom. I tapped the case and a couple grains fell out, still saw what I thought was more powder. I took a small allen wrench and tried to clean out the powder that I thought was stuck. It was a small green stink bug in the bottom of the case, guessing about .224" big. Just one more reason I check powder level before seating bullets. Was going to post a picture but it flew off............

 

[2ndtimer]

Hi All-

I am looking for powders which are very accurate, and also interchange between these loads. Initial research shows that for cost/plinking TAC is great for 55g and 75g.

For more precision and less temperature sensitivity, Varget is better. It is over 110 here for 2 months per year. You wouldn't believe the wierd s**t I see in my groups at that temp., even with a really good chamber fan.

I want to initially go with 2 powders. All reviews said they both metrer well. Let me know what you think about my choices please.

These days, you might have to settle for what is available, unless price is no object for you. Varget has been very hard to find for several years, and it isn’t even among my personal favorites for loading .223/5.56. My personal preference is Ramshot TAC for bullets from 40 gr up through 77 gr. Solid accuracy, great metering through my RCBS Uniflow powder measure and shoots very clean in my rifles. Following TAC, I have had good experiences with IMR-8208XBR, Benchmark, and recently Alliant Reloder 10x. I have also used most of the other powders available, and most of them have worked well, like Accurate 2015, 2230, 2460, H-335, H-4895, IMR-4064 (low velocity, but very good accuracy), BL-C2, W-748, and others. The one powder I don’t recommend is 4198, either IMR or H. My experience with those were poor metering, low velocity and mediocre accuracy, but others report better results. Maybe I just got a bad batch, it was a long time ago. I won’t buy it again.

 

[peeplwtchr]

These days, you might have to settle for what is available, unless price is no object for you. Varget has been very hard to find for several years, and it isn’t even among my personal favorites for loading .223/5.56. My personal preference is Ramshot TAC for bullets from 40 gr up through 77 gr. Solid accuracy, great metering through my RCBS Uniflow powder measure and shoots very clean in my rifles. Following TAC, I have had good experiences with IMR-8208XBR, Benchmark, and recently Alliant Reloder 10x. I have also used most of the other powders available, and most of them have worked well, like Accurate 2015, 2230, 2460, H-335, H-4895, IMR-4064 (low velocity, but very good accuracy), BL-C2, W-748, and others. The one powder I don’t recommend is 4198, either IMR or H. My experience with those were poor metering, low velocity and mediocre accuracy, but others report better results. Maybe I just got a bad batch, it was a long time ago. I won’t buy it again.

Thanks, I'm leaning towards Benchmark, as it is more temperature stable. It's over 110 degrees here for almost 2 months.

 

[hardheart]

I'm getting pretty good results with H335 and 55 gr soft points, managing right at 1 MOA at 100 yds. What powders would meter well and shoot clean for 69-77 gr bullets? I'm getting about 1 MOA or sometimes slightly better (still not holding my mouth right) with 2520 behind 70 gr Speers and SMKs in 69/77, but when I go to clean my rifle it looks like I dropped it in a coal mine. TAC isn't bad either, but I'm wondering if there's an extruded powder with a short cut that would be a little better shooting and cleaning. Maybe 8208, if I can find it?

 

[2ndtimer]

Thanks, I'm leaning towards Benchmark, as it is more temperature stable. It's over 110 degrees here for almost 2 months.

If you are concerned about temperature stability, Benchmark should be a good option (although, I have shot TAC loads at over 100 degrees without issues, but my loads are not usually maximum pressure). IMR-8208XBR would be another good option, given your concerns. The advantage Benchmark has over 8208XBR is that Benchmark is actually available to purchase. IMR-8208XBR is almost as hard to find in stock as Varget. And TAC is also available, and cheaper. Good luck, hope you already have a good supply of small rifle primers!

 

[3% outdoorsman]

Cfe223 and aa2015 are my top two pics.some of the large stick powders suck getting powder to flow into that small case mouth.rl15 has been great in 308 far as temp sensitivity but I haven't tried it in 223 yet being cfe223 and aa2015 have done me so well

 

[peeplwtchr]

Thanks, my first purchase was CFE223, because guns get very hot here. Copper fouling is an issue because barrels stay hot (Even with a barrel fan) when the ambient temp. is 100++.

 

[hdwhit]

"I am looking for powders which are very accurate, and also interchange between these loads."

Hand's down, the most economical load I have found is IMR4198 (i.e. most loads in the 20-21 grain range while other powders offering comparable performance are in the 24 to 26 grain range). Still, I have found that along with IMR4198, powders such as IMR3031, IMR4064 and Winchester 748 can all be worked up to allow interchangeability at a given distance.

 

[packetloss]

I'm curious about this as well. I did some test loads using H322, IMR4198 and IMR4064 (the 3 I happened to have on hand). 322 metered great. 4198 didn't meter too well but wasn't horrible and 4064 was absolutely horrible. I did weigh all my charges and after testing in my gun with Hornady 52gr HPBT match bullets, H322 was just ok (but not great compared to 4198), 4198 was very good and 4064 was absolutely horrible. Optimally, I'd like a powder that meters like H322 but produced groups like 4198. Any suggestions on a powder that would be worth trying that might fit those requirements?

 

[Toprudder]

"I am looking for powders which are very accurate, and also interchange between these loads."

Hand's down, the most economical load I have found is IMR4198 (i.e. most loads in the 20-21 grain range while other powders offering comparable performance are in the 24 to 26 grain range). Still, I have found that along with IMR4198, powders such as IMR3031, IMR4064 and Winchester 748 can all be worked up to allow interchangeability at a given distance.

I use H4198, and it is fairly economical, but some semi-auto guns may not cycle, as it does not produce as much gas as the slower burning powders. I have an AR pistol that my preferred load is 20.0gn and 55SP bullets, but I have to go up to the max charge to get my 16" mid-length to cycle reliably.

The most economical powder I have found is WC844 when you can find it on sale. I picked up some for $14.34 per pound, shipped. Supposed to be similar to H335. With blem 55fmj bullets, not counting brass, my cost-per-shot is around $0.15 each.

 

[hdwhit]

I use H4198, and it is fairly economical, but some semi-auto guns may not cycle, as it does not produce as much gas as the slower burning powders. I have an AR pistol that my preferred load is 20.0gn and 55SP bullets, but I have to go up to the max charge to get my 16" mid-length to cycle reliably.

The most economical powder I have found is WC844 when you can find it on sale. I picked up some for $14.34 per pound, shipped. Supposed to be similar to H335. With blem 55fmj bullets, not counting brass, my cost-per-shot is around $0.15 each.

First of all, I referred to IMR-4198, not H4198, which at some point in our collective past were different powders.

Second, I have used IMR-4198 in both Mini-14 (18 inch barrel) and AR-15 style rifles (i.e. 16 inch barrel) and have NEVER had a failure to fire, failure to extract, failure to feed or failure to cycle. But, as IMR-4198 (nothing is being said here about H4198) is a comparatively "fast" powder, loads need to be carefully developed.

 

[Blue68f100]

I'm curious about this as well. I did some test loads using H322, IMR4198 and IMR4064 (the 3 I happened to have on hand). 322 metered great. 4198 didn't meter too well but wasn't horrible and 4064 was absolutely horrible. I did weigh all my charges and after testing in my gun with Hornady 52gr HPBT match bullets, H322 was just ok (but not great compared to 4198), 4198 was very good and 4064 was absolutely horrible. Optimally, I'd like a powder that meters like H322 but produced groups like 4198. Any suggestions on a powder that would be worth trying that might fit those requirements?

TAC, has given me dime size groups repeatedly using 52gr SMK, and 69gr SMK. TAC is a super fine ball powder that likes to go every where. But it had been hard to beat, only with Varget on larger group sizes.

 

[Dudedog]

I like TAC, good stuff for .223/5.56. Meters well if you are throwing charges.

 

[Toprudder]

First of all, I referred to IMR-4198, not H4198, which at some point in our collective past were different powders.

Second, I have used IMR-4198 in both Mini-14 (18 inch barrel) and AR-15 style rifles (i.e. 16 inch barrel) and have NEVER had a failure to fire, failure to extract, failure to feed or failure to cycle. But, as IMR-4198 (nothing is being said here about H4198) is a comparatively "fast" powder, loads need to be carefully developed.

Sorry, I did not mean to ruffle your feathers, I wasn’t disputing anything you said - I was merely adding my input. I know H4198 and IMR4198 are not the same powder, but they are relatively close on the burn rate charts, at the faster end for 223 appropriate powders. The published load data bear this out with the relatively low max charges for both. And I also pointed out that it did work at the max charge in the specific gun I mentioned.

I suspect either will work well with carbine length gas systems on 16” AR, but a mid-length gas system has less dwell time and may have issues depending on how it is ported. And the Ruger Mini is well known to be over-gassed (I have a Mini 30 that ejects shells into the next county).