powder for a 223?

[burntmuch]

 got dies, got bullets, got brass, What about powder? Lots of choices, Im thinking Varget but would like some opinions, Ive got some 40 grain Vmaxes & some 50 grain Nosler BTs. Im shooting a remington 700 ADL.

[stimpylu32]

Boy , now you went and done it , IMR4895 , H4895 , BLC-2 , Varget , IMR4320 , H335 , Benchmark , IMR3031 , H4198 , and those are just what Hodgdon's lists .

I happen to like IMR4895 , Most like Varget & BLC-2

stimpy

[1sourdough]

 Plenty of good choices out there. I am sold on Ramshot TAC at the moment & have a few years supply on hand. I usually load 50-55 grn bullets. I also use TAC in the 204 Ruger & may consider a few others that are compatable.

[LaOtto222]

It is not one of the more common powders, but I have had very good results using VV N 133 and a 50 grain V Max. Stimpy is correct, there is a very long list of powders that are suitable for the 223. I have most of the powders he mentioned on my bench. Some swear by WW 748, personally I have not had real good luck with it, but every gun is a thing to it self. I have not experimented with BLC2 in the 223, but I have in the 222 Rem and it and Hornady 50 SPSX (that my 700 was chambered in) was the best powder/bullet I found for it.

Here is a picture of a target I shot a while back with one of my 223's with a 50 V Max and N 133 powder
disclaimer; you may or may not get these results



You will get a lot of enjoyment out your 700 and the 223 is an excellent varmint/target round
Good Luck and Good Shooting

[Graybeard]

Boy , now you went and done it , IMR4895 , H4895 , BLC-2 , Varget , IMR4320 , H335 , Benchmark , IMR3031 , H4198 , and those are just what Hodgdon's lists .

I happen to like IMR4895 , Most like Varget & BLC-2

stimpy

You forgot some.

AA2230, AA2460, AA2520, W748. I always try those early on in load work up for the .223. Varget and H335 mostly round out my choices but some times BL-C2 gets the call as well.

[Old Syko]

Start with W748, then try H335 or AA2230 (the old standbys).  If you determine you need a faster burning powder due to light bullets and/or a short barrel H322 will usually help.

I've been having great results with Ramshot Tac also and if price makes a difference it is definitely the way to go.

[bilmac]

While most of the suggestions are small grain powders, ball powders measure and go through that little 22 cal drop tube better than sticks. And it's hard to find better accuracy than W748.

[tn_junk]

H4895 was my favorite for my .223 Handi.
Course it was also my favorite for my .308, .270, .30-30, 7.62x39 and even worked quite well in my 454 Casull, 460 S&W and was real interesting stuffed in a .357 MAX case with a 250 grain bullet.
Did I mention I think H4895 is the best all around powder out there.

alan

[351 power]

i use H322 with my .223. it works better than the H335 i origanally used to handload

[burntmuch]

Im stopping by Gander MTN this morning, from the posts here & what Ive read in my books ,I think Im gonna go with varget, Looks like a pretty versitle powder. If it doesnt work out for the 223, looks like it works good for the 45/70, Just ran out of RX7 . & I thought I would save money reloading. Thats a lie
but man Im getting to shoot alot more. Thanks for the input guys

[drdougrx]

I'm looking at RL15 for a 60gr partition laod. We'll see.

[Old Syko]

I thought I would save money reloading. Thats a lie

Now we know you've mastered lesson #1.

Good luck with the Varget.  Always been more hype than performance for me.

[burntmuch]

W748 it is. I had a list of powders I could use, W748 was all they had. I LL give it a go. Cant find a load for 40 grain bullet, Closest is for 45 grain bullet, Would that be safe.

[beemanbeme]

I've used H335.  Also AA2230. I've tried Varget and a couple of others and one Data powder which was supposed to be the same as AA2015(I think).  I keep coming back to H335. This has held true for about half a dozen .223's. Bolt guns, no auttermatics. I've only shot 52gr bullets up to 55gr bullets.

[stimpylu32]

W748 it is. I had a list of powders I could use, W748 was all they had. I LL give it a go. Cant find a load for 40 grain bullet, Closest is for 45 grain bullet, Would that be safe.

In most cases you are going to be fine with that data just dropping 1 bullet weight , the only problems would be with powders like H110 / Win296 were loads don't have much room to fudge due to the pressure level's and curve's .

stimpy

[Graybeard]

W748 it is. I had a list of powders I could use, W748 was all they had. I LL give it a go. Cant find a load for 40 grain bullet, Closest is for 45 grain bullet, Would that be safe.

You need a wider selection of reloading manuals then. I found plenty of 40 grain loads in mine. Look in the Hornady and Nosler manuals I suspect you'll find what you need since both make 40 grain bullets and I use  both theirs. I've gotten over 3800 fps from the .223 Remington in the 26" barrels of my Remington rifles using book loads.

[jasonprox700]

+1 with the W748.  This has shot by far the best with 55 gr Vmax & 52 gr Sierra Matchkings.

Varget & H335 have worked well too.  But the W748 edged them out.  Plus, a body of mine gave me about 5 lbs of the W748.  Free powder that shoots great out of my gun, can't beat that!!! 

[burntmuch]

GB I looked at a hornady manual just this morning. I didnt see a load for 40 grain bullet. I must have missed it?? Didnt look at the Nosler manual. Actually I was gonna buy the hornady manual, But I ended up buying a bunch of other crap . Ive been working off my Lee & Lyman 48th, Time for another book

[Old Syko]

Now you need CCI 450 primers to go with the 748 and you will see the lowest standard deviation you can imagine provided you get proper neck tension.

[Graybeard]

According to Nosler manual I have at my desk here 26.0 to 28.0 grains of W748 with their Nosler 40 BT. I use ONLY CCI Bench Rest Primers for my .223 loads. I think it's the BR-4 but would need to look to be sure.

[LaOtto222]

The Hornady 7th edition lists their 40 V Max, how ever it does not list WW 748 powder with this bullet. Benchmark is the slowest powder listed and it is 200 fps slower than most of the other powders they do list. I suspect that WW 748 is a little too slow for the 40 grain bullets to be at their best. Nosler 5th edition lists WW 748 (saying it is their most accurate powder BTW) but it is 200 - 250 fps slower than several other powders listed for their 40 ballistic tip. The Speer 14th edition lists WW 748 as their fastest powder @ 3557 fps with 40 grain bullets. The Sierra edition V second printing also lists WW 748 with their 40 grain bullets, again WW 748 gets 250 - 300 fps less than several other powders. I suspect that Speer has limited the ceiling on their bullets to the 3500 or so limit because their bullets will fly apart just above that speed, just a guess on that because all the other manuals list a max velocity in the 3800 fps range with 40 grain bullets. The four manuals I mentioned all had 40 grain bullets listed. Sierra and Nosler listed several other powders that got much higher velocity with 40 grain bullets. Hornady did not list WW 748 with their bullet at all. Speer listed WW 748 as their fastest powder, but it was about the same as the other manuals top speed in the 3500 fps range. The others had speeds in the 3700 - 3800 fps range for a 40 grain bullet with other powders. I suspect that the WW 748 is a little slow burning for top speed with a 40 grain bullet. That does not mean it will shoot badly, Nosler lists it as their most accurate powder even though it is one of the slowest powders used. I really think that WW 748 comes into it's own with bullets of 50 grains or more.

As far as primers are concerned I use Remington 7 1/2 when I can get them. In my area the CCI BR 4 primers cost $.80 - $1.00 more per hundred and I can not tell any difference in the way they shoot, so I shoot the cheaper ones unless I can not get them. I do have 1500 BR 4 on the bench for when I can not get the Remington primers (emergency back up). I have not had any ignition trouble with either one with any powder I have used, including WW 748. Many manuals list the Remington 7 1/2 for their testing in a wide variety of their loads for the 222 family of cartridges. BTW the Remington 7 1/2 are hard to come by in my neck of the woods, I just ordered 2K (I hope they are in stock). I can find CCI BR 4 easier, but they are more expensive