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Old December 6, 2012, 07:22 AM   #1
rebs
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H335 or ??

What is your favorite powder for loading 223 for your AR ?
I have been using H335 and like it a lot but have a desire to try something different. I load mainly all 55 gr bullets.
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Old December 6, 2012, 08:57 AM   #2
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Look at a burn rate chart for the stuff on either side of 335, then find corresponding loads in load manuals. Then find a sale on one of the powders that will work. Test it, and if it works well for you, buy a BUNCH of it. I am working my way through 'several' jugs of surplus 2230C (apparently no longer available) with great success (and greatly reduced cost). Surplus powders can be a great savings.
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Old December 6, 2012, 08:59 AM   #3
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Varget and Benchmark have worked quite well for me, both in my AR and my Cooper single shot .223's
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Old December 6, 2012, 09:05 AM   #4
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Is there a military surplus powder equal to H335 ?
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Old December 6, 2012, 09:11 AM   #5
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335 for me, though I'm probably going to try out some WC844 and see if the surplus powder is all it's cracked up to be. I sure do like the price of surplus over name brand.
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Old December 6, 2012, 09:29 AM   #6
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Yes there is an equivalent. H335 is pretty much the same as WC844.
WC846 is the same as BLC-2
The only difference is you need to work up a load with each batch of powder.
The burn rate can vary from batch to batch.
I shoot WC844 in 223,7.62 x 39, 30-30 and 308win
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Old December 6, 2012, 11:36 AM   #7
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IMR 4198, 4895 and H-322 all work for me.
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Old December 6, 2012, 12:26 PM   #8
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Try CFE 223, It has good performance and it realy does keep copper fouling to a minimum.
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Old December 6, 2012, 01:02 PM   #9
rebs
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is the cfe223 affected by temperature change ?
With the surplus WC844 is there that much difference between batches that you have you work up a load over again ?
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Old December 6, 2012, 02:41 PM   #10
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I use H335 for 5.56mm loads, no matter what the rifle may be it's used in at the time.
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Old December 6, 2012, 04:31 PM   #11
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TAC for 55 & up, Exterminator for less than 55 grains.
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Old December 6, 2012, 04:31 PM   #12
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I live in Wyoming. 100+ in summer and -10 in winter. I haven't noticed any point of impact change using CFE223 in my AR.

Thats about all I can say.
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Old December 6, 2012, 04:31 PM   #13
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What I use

I have very good luck with BLC 2
It was first formulated for the 303 British Round.
I find that with shooting 55 grain bullets is it is hard to over load them.
Using A Dillon press, sometimes the powder dump will wander a little in weight. So even with 29 grains of BLC 2 it fills the case completely up to over fill. I tried shooting them in my 223 bolt action and all it does is flatten the primer a bit. Velocity was at 3200.
its hard to over load with BLC2 that's why I like it along with 1/2 inch groups.

hope this helps

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Old December 6, 2012, 07:04 PM   #14
A pause for the COZ
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Quote:
With the surplus WC844 is there that much difference between batches that you have you work up a load over again ?
Well when I say that you need to work up a load again. You do but I dont start from scratch. If my load is 26gr WC844 from a tested lot.
I may load a few at 24,25 and 26 and run them over the chronograph. Then take the closest to my FPS from the last batch and work up or down until I get it back in the same range.
Basically thats what the military does. When they run out of one batch they mix up a new one. Test the powder to fit the expected load and load all the ammo with that new recipe.

Last edited by A pause for the COZ; December 6, 2012 at 07:10 PM.
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Old December 6, 2012, 07:19 PM   #15
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Quote:
Well when I say that you need to work up a load again. You do but I dont start from scratch. If my load is 26gr WC844 from a tested lot.
I may load a few at 24,25 and 26 and run them over the chronograph. Then take the closest to my FPS from the last batch and work up or down until I get it back in the same range.
Basically thats what the military does. When they run out of one batch they mix up a new one. Test the powder to fit the expected load and load all the ammo with that new recipe.
Thank you for the help with switching to WC844, now if I can find some. A lot of places are out of H335 right now.
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Old December 6, 2012, 08:47 PM   #16
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I've only used H4895. Once I get done with that I'm going to break open the pound of H335 I bought. Looking forward to it.
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Old December 7, 2012, 12:23 AM   #17
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WC844 works great and I get mine from www.wideners.com when they have it in stock. Can NOT beat the price.
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Old December 7, 2012, 08:15 AM   #18
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Rebs,

I've shot both H335 and H4895 in my .223 bolt action and have used both in my AR.

H335 was a bit more accurate with bullet weights under 52 grains in my rifle.
Both shot the 52 grains about the same.
H4895 was much more accurate with bullet weights of 55 grains and up.

Both produced average group sizes well under 1 MOA from 40 grains to 63 grains in my bolt action. The 25 best loads averaged under 0.39 inches.
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Old December 9, 2012, 02:55 AM   #19
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I use 335 for loads with 60gr. bullets and lighter. Tac for everything over 60gr. I have in the past used W748 and IMR-4895 and this pound of H335 is my first. It has impressed me with accuracy and cleanliness. I just wished it had better velocities with heavier bullets. I think its a little more accurate than tac.
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Old December 9, 2012, 03:15 AM   #20
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I just started using 844. I have not tried the loaded rounds yet but, the power meters just as well as TAC and the price was $85 for an 8 pound jug. I should get around to trying the loaded rounds soon but from what I have read many are having good luck with this powder. I have used benchmark, TAC, Varget and now 844.
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Old December 9, 2012, 04:20 AM   #21
Marco Califo
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WC844 = H335

WC844 = H335
They are the same powder, with only minor lot to lot variations.
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Old December 9, 2012, 10:26 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xfire68 View Post
I just started using 844. I have not tried the loaded rounds yet but, the power meters just as well as TAC and the price was $85 for an 8 pound jug. I should get around to trying the loaded rounds soon but from what I have read many are having good luck with this powder. I have used benchmark, TAC, Varget and now 844.

Can I ask where you got the 844 from. I have been looking for some.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

Last edited by jhabers; December 9, 2012 at 08:29 PM.
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Old December 9, 2012, 10:16 PM   #23
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I like BLC-2 for it's consistency in measures. Accuracy is not quite as good as with some other powders but is certainly good enough for general purpose use. IMR-4895 is good, H-335 is good, the best accuracy I have ever gotten was with IMR-4064 but consistency in measures was downright scary because of the long extruded grains so I hand weighed them when I used it.
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Old December 9, 2012, 10:58 PM   #24
Xfire68
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Quote:
Can I ask where you got the 844 from. I have been looking for some.
I bought it from Widner's. They are out of stock now but, they have 844T which from what I have read works just as well.
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Old December 10, 2012, 12:09 AM   #25
Marco Califo
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I bought 844 from Wideners, too. You really need to watch their site and use the "notify me when back in stock" feature. They will send you an email. Their prices are the best, but waiting, and then ordering what you want - not everything will be in stock at the same time. 844T is supposed to burn hotter than 844 to ignite tracer rounds. One thing I have observed about 844 is that it does burn hot when duplicating 55 gr mil spec loads, so I personally wont buy 844T, because my barrel gets too hot as it is. It is a Savage bolt gun, cheap and accurate, but I wish I had a heavy barrel on it.

http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html has WC844 in stock at $100 for 8 lbs.
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