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Powder recommendations

I mainly shoot 60 grain bullets.

I have consistent loads using IMR-4198, IMR-3031, IMR-4064, WW-748 and Benchmark.

My loads are not searching for a particular velocity, but are intended to produce the same point of impact at 100 yards in all five of my familys' rifles.

It has been a balancing act, but I can now be confident that wherever I aim, the bullet will arrive there.
 
For 55 grain bullets and lighter, Accurate 2230.

For heavier bullets, Varget

I use CFE223 in 204 Ruger so it could be used well in 223 Rem.

H4895 or IMR4895 would be another alternate.

Mostly, these are powders I have on hand. Other powders out there would workk well, I just do not inventory them.
 
W 748 for light to mid weight bullets. With Rem 7 1/2 primers, it has been very accurate with good velocity in my bolts/Ar-15's. It flows exceptionally well through the powder measure, not requiring weighing every charge. It is temp sensitive, but so am i and the temp sensitivity is not as much as in the 308. It's usually cheaper, more easily available and works well in the .30 calibers am loading for.
 
For lighter bullets, 52-55, CFE223 has worked best for me. For reference, any 100 yard 5 shot group over .5 MOA is not acceptable to me. I have an 8lb jug of H335 and have never found what I consider a good load with it, in either my Zev AR or my bolt Tikka Super Varmint. I have tried multiple ladders with it with many different brands and weights of well thought of bullets. Did that again yesterday. Not hard to get barely sub-MOA with H335, but not much better.

Varget and Tac would both also be ahead of H335 for me.
 
Bullet choice makes a bigger difference than powder choice in a 223. A quality bullet can go a long way toward small groups.

AA2230, TAC and H335 are good all purpose powders, especially if you are just dropping charges from a powder measure.

H4895 and 8208XBR are excellent extruded powders in 223 for almost any bullet weight I have tried with them. I hear good things about AR Comp as well.

A lot of people like Varget but it has worked better in heavier, 68 grain and up loads in my experience. RL15 is similar. A friend likes CFE223 with 77s.

The combination of H322 with 52/53 grain match bullets can really print some nice groups. Benchmark, N133, and N135 are also good for this role.

Lately I have been shooting N540 with the 80 ELD and am getting good results.
 
I typically use whatever I can find or have. I do not work up accuracy loads, never did have an AR that was accurate enough to test further. I like H335, and BLC2, but have used IMR 4064 and Varget.
 
2ndtimer said:
TAC
X-Terminator
Benchmark
H-335
Accurate 2015
Accurate 2230
Accurate 2460
Shooter’s World AR Plus
Shooter’s World Precision Rifle
I have yet to try H-322, but it is on my list, along with Vihtavuori N-133 and N-135. The others listed have worked well in my rifles.
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The list is long and .223 is so easy. Don't forget 748 ,4895, bl c2, varget, sw tactical which is totally awesome. Easy to pick a powder that works so well for .223 and my common calibers. 45/70, .308 , 30-30 , garand loads . I'm addicted to trying new powders. It's hard to walk in somewhere and not find something that works. If I only had one caliber?
 
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Soonerpesek said:
:rofl: 😂🤣:what:
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Ya that is funny. Is it even possible . Cant imagine. But in my 20's the cows ate first . Then there was the snap on and Mac man. Don't know how much reloading went on in the 80's. A hardware store box of 30 30 core lokt's had to last. Some people get started when they only have one firearm . I'd go stir crazy.
 
I’ve switched mostly to Shooters World rifle powders. AR Plus, Match Rifle and Tactical Rifle are my go to 223 powders now. I also have a light bullet load with my 20” upper for 52 grain Barnes with TAC.
 
Show Me said:
Ya that is funny. Is it even possible . Cant imagine. But in my 20's the cows ate first . Then there was the snap on and Mac man. Don't know how much reloading went on in the 80's. A hardware store box of 30 30 core lokt's had to last. Some people get started when they only have one firearm . I'd go stir crazy.
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I had only a handful of guns until the mid 90’s when I signed a contract to network and write some software for a chain of gun stores. It started with a Colt Official Police in .38Spl the shop took in at a gun show. I saw it sitting there in a box next to the cleaning room and decided I wanted it. The manager offered to trade me a new terminal for the gun - both valued at around $100 - and I agreed.

The rest is history. By the end of the Y2K jazz I had four 45-gun safes filled to overflowing with long guns stacked like cord wood. I did work for several shops, not all the same and only a couple related, and did a lot of swapping time and materials for guns and ammo. And still managed to make money! 🥳

Now I’m selling off all those guns in preparation for retirement. Eventually I will be down to a handful of rifle calibers again: .30-30, .30-40, .30-06, .35W, and .35Rem.

It’s gonna hurt selling off my two remaining Marlin big-bores 🙁😩
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
I had only a handful of guns until the mid 90’s when I signed a contract to network and write some software for a chain of gun stores. It started with a Colt Official Police in .38Spl the shop took in at a gun show. I saw it sitting there in a box next to the cleaning room and decided I wanted it. The manager offered to trade me a new terminal for - both valued at around $100 - and I agreed.

The rest is history. By the end of the Y2K jazz I had four 45-gun safes filled to overflowing with long guns stacked like cord wood. I did work for several shops, not all the same and only a couple related, and did a lot of swapping time and materials for guns and ammo. And still managed to make money! 🥳

Now I’m selling off all those guns in preparation for retirement. Eventually I will be down to a handful of rifle calibers again: .30-30, .30-40, .30-06, .35W, and .35Rem.

It’s gonna hurt selling off my two remaining Marlin big-bores 🙁😩
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I had only what I thought was necessary. Then when scrap metal was high I sold farm scrap and spent on gun metal. I shopped everywhere. 90% new because I work on equipment that others have screwed with all the time. Way more than i should have . Dies and molds for all. Now I have thinned out as much as I dare. What I might need and a few to love and hold. About 1/5 of what you have. It's almost funny how much anxiety it causes. But you must say been there done that. Just let go , and all that. I have found less is more. Less to fool with makes time to shoot more. Less talk more doing , and all that. Dang good comment .
PS I'll keep my seldom used perfect example of a rem marlin 45-70 standard 1895 till I croak
 
westernrover said:
Really? I passed up Varget because I understood it was better suited to heavy projectiles vs. 55 grain and I was concerned that with lighter bullets, I would have trouble getting enough Varget in the case.
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In the winter of 1998/1999, I was handed a "magic load" of 27.3grn of Varget under 55grn ball as a practice load for Service Rifle. I switched around 2002 to use the same load under 50grn Vmax's as a proving load for rifles I was putting together. In the time until now, I've shot that load in over 400 barrels, and have handed it to dozens of other shooters as a proving load for new rifles - I can say with confidence, if this doesn't shoot sub-moa, then there's something wrong with the rifle.

So yeah, Varget works for lighter bullets in 223/5.56 too.
 
alanwk said:
Bullet wt 55g in ar15 and Rugar Amarican bolt action. Mostly plinking. Self defense if needed.
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H-335 or Winchester 748 will do what you want to do here with the least amount of fuss.

I had to like all of the posts about Varget and lighter bullets, because my experience says they're all correct. I have some 55 grain Nosler Varmeggedons loaded over Varget that shoot fantastically in my CZ527. But it's also a squeeze to get enough Varget into a .223 case when using bullets under 60 grains. My current batch of .223 cases might not hold Varminterror's quoted charge weight for the 50-55 grain bullets. Of course now I have to set-up and experiment to see if that gets me the accuracy I've always expected with what's left of my box of 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips, which didn't want to shoot with my normal charges of W748.
 
Varminterror said:
If you can't get it done with Varget in 223, you're doing something wrong.
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We all know I'm doing something wrong. :uhoh:

A couple years ago I shot up a whole pound of Varget with 4 different 69gr .224" bullets and never found a load in my rifle that would shoot as well as A2460 or Benchmark. Now the rifle I am using doesn't seem to like the 2460 as well as the Benchmark.
 
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