Best Powder for .223 Rem/with 40-50gr. bullets?

[rks1949]

I'm still on the bench about deciding which powder to go with. Either Benchmark,or Varget! I've also had good results with BL-C2,but it burns pretty  dirty in the Encore. I'm kinda leaning towards the Varget,seems to give a little lower pressure than the Benchmark with the same bullets. Whats your favorite powder? Ron

[David D.]

My last Tender in 223 liked Varget as does my Encore 22-250Rem. I try a lot of different powder bullet combos until the barrel tales me what it likes. Variations are almost unlimited and can get expensive, but it is fun.

[billy_56081]

I like Accurate 2015 Good velocity and clean burning.

[rks1949]

Thanks guy's! I have shot some Benchmark,but never shot any Varget,or AA2015 . I guess a couple of pounds more powder on the bench won't hurt!  Ron

[oldandslow]

My 23" bull barreled Contender likes Varget so well I haven't tried anything else. Shooting groups of .25-.45" at 100 yds. when you are as old and shaky as I am is fantastic. I am using 26.5 grs Varget with Sierra 40 gr.HP's. Pretty mild load.

[BCB]

H-335...

[james]

I've had good luck with varget and 55gr. bullets in most 223s.  I have an old 788 Rem that will cloverleaf three shots  with 50gr Sierras and !MR 4198 but the varget opens the groups up slightly.  I use Varget for several calibers (223, 308, 6.5 x 55) and if I had only one powder, it would be my choice.

[rks1949]

Thanks,for the information. I picked up a pound of Varget today. I'll see what load I can come up with,with a 50gr. V-Max. The Bench mark was pretty impressive,but runs at a little higher pressure according to the data available from Hogdon. Ron

[Heavy C]

I'm about to start reloading for my 223's and Varget was what was recommended most followed by H335.  So I bought a pound of each.  I figured if the H335 didn't work out I can use it for my 7-30 Waters.  We'll see how it works out.

[Davemuzz]

My T\C factory .223 Contender rifle barrel DID NOT LIKE: (all 40 & 50 grain bullets)

H-335 with V-Max regular and Moly's or Nosler's
Varget  with V-Max regular and Moly's or Nosler's
H-4198 with V-Max regular and Moly's or Nosler's
IMR-4895 with V-Max regular and Moly's or Nosler's
H-4895 with V-Max regular and Moly's or Nosler's

However, it LOVES the 40 grain with a max load of BL-C2 and the 50 grain it just "likes".

Dave

[rks1949]

Got a little time to shoot today,before the rain set in. I set up the crony and proceeded to run some loads through to see the velocity. First up was the Varget,it shot well,and had a decent ES,and SD. Next up was the Benchmark, ! The ES (extreem spread) was 39.74 fps. and the SD (standard deviation) was 17.5 fps! It's no wonder why this load shoots into a 1/2 inch,or less at 200yds. The Varget is good but is going to have to work,to get this kind of numbers. Ron

[Old Syko]

WW748 with CCI450 primers consistently gives me the same numbers as you have stated with your Benchmark load, if not a bit better in medium-heavy loads.  Varget has never come close to this for me.  You will probably want to stick with the Benchmark as it is usually a bit cheaper than the WW748.  For all out velocity AA2230 outruns them all but SD suffers a bit causing accuracy to suffer a bit.

[rks1949]

OldSyko, Yeah it looks like this is going to be the powder this gun likes best. We were shooting at a steel swinging plate last week,and this load would put three shots into the same pock mark on the plate,at 200yds. We would paint it then shoot the plate.He covered The three shots with a quarter. My friend said"You better make sure you have that load wrote down" in your book. Ron