Good powders for the .223?

[Heavy-D]

Hi everybody,

After years of "dissing" the .223, I finally decided that it was time to give this cartridge a chance. I always favored the .22-250 for varmints but after some serious consideration and study, it appears that this little sweetheart is no slouch, so I just bought a Browning Low wall chambered in .223. I have some IMR 4064 and some Varget on hand, as well as some 50 and 55 grain Noslers and Sierra's, as I'm always reloading for the .22-250, but I'm wondering what might be best for the .223? Should I consider some other powders?

Thanks in advance,

Heavy-D

 

[jack44]

There are other powders for the 223 but I use VARGET and in 308 also.

 

[cfullgraf]

There many powders suitable for 223 Remington and everyone will have their own favorite.

I use AA2230 for 55 grain and Varget for 69 gr.

 

[Miata Mike]

H335 or WC844 military pull powder.

 

[T Bran]

I use several different powders in .223 but one of my favorites is Varget give it a try.
T

 

[climbnjump]

H335 with 40 gr V-Max and CFE223 with 53 gr V-Max and Benchmark with 50 gr TNT work well in my rifle.

 

[john wall]

Accurate 2015 with a 60 gr bullet.

 

[redneck2]

I use Varget and AA2230, along with some BL-C(2). Benchmark gets a lot of play. Kinda depends on the bullet weight.

My favorite is 50 grain Nosler BT over 26.0 of Varget. Got the BL-C(2) and 2230 on closeout for $11/# last year. There was about 10 pounds of AA2230 but I only got a couple.

 

[Cherokee]

H335 is my most used, WC844, AA2230. Lots of other powders but that is what I use for 45-60 gr. H380 for 69 gr match bullets.

 

[cheeze]

I believe H335 was developed specifically for the .223.

 

[KansasPaul]

I've tried many powders for .223 and my best results have come from H335 and Varget.

 

[beatledog7]

I use more Varget for .223 than anything else. Lots more.

 

[zxcvbob]

I'm really liking Varget, except for occasional *crunch* in the powder measure. I've bought some WC844 powder to use when that pound of Varget is used up.

I'd still like to try SMP842 but I can't find anybody who ships it, and H322.

 

[Tim the student]

I prefer 8208 personally.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Another vote for Varget.

 

[2ndtimer]

Ramshot TAC, Varget, Accurate 2015 and 2200, just picked up a lb of Hodgdon CFE 223 and a lb of IMR-8208XBR to try. So far, my favorite is TAC for bullets 40 to 50 gr, Varget seems to work well for 55 gr and up, as does Accurate 2200. Accurate 2015 has achieved top velocity for the 40 gr V-Max and Ballistic Tips. It is hard to find a powder that doesn't give decent results. Myself, I didn't care for 4198 in either H or IMR versions. But also used to use Accurate 2230, 2460, H-335, IMR-4064, 4895 and Win 748 with decent results.
Just FYI, if you want top velocity potential with bullets 50 gr and under, Varget is probably not the optimum choice.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I've had good success with H335, BL-C(2) and Varget with Varget being the most accurate in a bolt action rifle.

Surplus WC844 and WC846 can be used and there are very good reports on CFE223 along with W748.

 

[FROGO207]

I have used a butt load of both TAC and AA 2015 in my 223 rifles with really spectacular results. I feed some Mini 14's and several bolt/break action rifles while only using 2 basic loads with each bullet weight that are accurate out to 300+ YDS.

 

[Heavy-D]

Well, that's good news because I have plenty of Varget on hand. I've used it alot for my .22-250's (and even the .06) so I guess it's a great one to have handy. Thanks for the comments on the heavier weight bullets too (i.e., 60 grain) as Nosler makes a partition in that weight and I'm interested to try. I will not be reloading for any military applications, so I guess that will save me some headaches. Thank all for your comments.

 

[JLDickmon]

Varget and BLC-2 are a couple of the widely available ones that come to mind..

I use VV N133 in mine, but, it's not available just anywhere..

 

[NCsmitty]

You'll find that many of the recommendations being made are based on loads designed for the AR series, and used in 16" barrels. They will work fine in your Low-Wall, but to take advantage of the 24" barrel, slightly slower powders will usually give you better ballistics. The powders that you have in stock will likely be the best choice. There are literally dozens of powders that will do the job, as shown by www.hodgdon.com load site.
I personally use H4895 in my 223.
It's unlikely that you have a fast twist barrel so your choices in bullet weight are limited to the lighter range, but that is not a handicap.


NCsmitty

 

[Redneck with a 40]

H-4895 is my go-to powder in .223. 50 grain to 69 grain bullets.

 

[velocette]

I got my best groups with Reloder 15 & Sierra 69 gr HPBT bullets.
This in a RRA 24" 1:8 barrel. Varget almost as good.

Roger

 

[Ky Larry]

The .223 is one of the easiest rounds to load. It's hard to find a bad powder/bullet combo. I've used AA-2230, H-335, Re-12. -4064, IMR-4320, IMR-8208, and IMR-3031 plus several others. However, my 'go to' is always AA-2460. YMMV.