Powder question

[LkWinnipesaukee]

What powder would you guys recommend for loading .223 and .308? If it matters, some will be match cartridges and I want to be as consistent as possible.


Thanks

 

[308win]

748, BL(2)C

 

[ATAShooter]

Alliant Reloader 15

 

[ocabj]

Varget or RL15. Pick your poison.

 

[CZ57]

Lesser known, but worth a look: Ramshot TAC.

 

[Walkalong]

For .223 I've shot a lot of H335 as well as BL(2)C with very good results. TAC shoots great in my 6PPC (except in high humidity) and should do very well also. Haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

 

[redneck2]

Varget

 

[SUBMOAS]

Powders

223---------Accurate 2015
.308--------IMR4064

 

[SUBMOAS]

What style for firearm??

Bolt,Semi-Auto
Heavy or light bullets???

 

[Sunray]

IMR4064 with 168 grain match bullets for the .308. If you plan on loading match quality ammo, don't even think about a powder thrower. Weigh each charge. I don't shoot .223, but the principle applies. If you want consistency, weighing each charge is the only way to go.

 

[Doug b]

Varget

 

[snuffy]

IMR4064 with 168 grain match bullets for the .308. If you plan on loading match quality ammo, don't even think about a powder thrower. Weigh each charge. I don't shoot .223, but the principle applies. If you want consistency, weighing each charge is the only way to go.

Try telling a bech rest shooter that. They throw their powder charges!

I did a little test a few days ago. I load .223 on my dillon 650. I worked up an accurate,(small groups), load on the dillon, using varget and 69 grain nosler J-4 match bullets. Before I get any further, here's the set-up.





Those are for my bushy ar-15. You can see I use a Hornady measure, it consistantly throws within .02 + or - using Varget.

I wondered if a trickled charge would be any more accurate. I also have the pact/RCBS dispensor that is as good as a trickler. So I removed the measure, paused the loader at the top of the stroke, then poured the trickled charge into the powder die. I shot 3 5 shot groups, comparing them to groups I saved from the thrown charges. Same size, shape, same point of impact! The only thing I didn't do was chronograph both lloads.

Powders I use for both .223 and .308 are varget, IMR 4895, and surplus WC-844,(uses H-335 data). The IMR 4895 is also a surplus pull down,(was loaded in .308 and/or .223). The WC-844 is als a pull-down powder.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Powder

LkWinnipesaukee--No experience w/.223. Get VERY nice results with the .308's that I load with H380, using a 165 grain bullet. It also meters very nicely.

 

[LkWinnipesaukee]

Thanks guys.

I use whatevers on my Lee Pro 1000 for dropping powder. Should that be consistent enough? If not, I guess I'm going to need a new press

 

[Smokey Joe]

Consistency

Lk Winnipesaukee--To check consistency of yr powder meter, you have to throw and weigh a number of charges on an accurate powder scale. If yr powder meter throws charges that vary by not more than +/-0.1 grains, it's about as good as you're going to get. And that's probably good enough, except in benchrest shooting, where they use much more accurate (and much more costly) equipment than usual.

And of course, the granule size & shape of the powder plays a large factor. The hardest to meter accurately are the rod-shaped granules. That's why there is a market for the "short-cut" powders--they have "SC" tacked onto their names--the rods are shorter and therefore easier to meter.

The easiest-to-meter powders are those made as small spheres, e.g. H380, which seems to flow like water.

 

[db_tanker]

for the 223, all of the powders I have had good results with have been mentioned...three in particular are Varget, BL-C(2) and H-335.


Now some specialty loads I tried in my 223 that blew my mind were some 50 gr. FB spitzers and AA-5744...but this was out of a 12" TC and not a mouse gun.

RL-7 was also an interesting experiment, but I found that the easiest way to load the 223 was with ball powders. You will find that most of the time, though, that the two cases will have seperate likes and dislikes.


D

 

[Shoney]

Most bench rest shooters use a Harrel powder measure, which costs over $300. Very accurate. If you even reach for a bench resters Harrel when it is set, you'll probably draw back a bloody stump. Very protective buggers.

snuffy: Why didn't you say it lowder that on your Dillon, you have a Hornady case activated powder measure??????

 

[P0832177]

Personally Varget gets my nod!

But, RL 15 is another great option I just have limited experience with it. It did not work so well with lighter 22 cal bullets for me.

TAC is great for Dillon Powder Measure applications, but I never tweaked enough with the 308.

The bad thing about Varget, is not too powder measure friendly. I use a RCBS CM1500 to weigh charges out.

 

[308win]

I also had disappointing results with RL15 and light bullets (110gr Vmax) in my 308.

 

[USSR]

I also had disappointing results with RL15 and light bullets (110gr Vmax) in my 308.

You've got to use faster burning powders with lighter bullets. RL15 is an excellent powder with bullets in the 150-178gr range. For lightweight bullets like the 110gr Vmax, use something like IMR4895.

Don

 

[Lennyjoe]

I like H-335 out of my 16" AR and my buddy likes Varget out of his 20" AR both using 55gr bullets.

 

[Khornet]

I've settled on

4895. That way I can load for AR and M1 and not fuss with a bunch of different powders. Works fine in both.