Sooty 223 primer pocket

[Unclenick]

Panfisher,

I must have missed your post earlier.

The dirty burn suggests low pressure for the powder. With bullets at all close to M193's 55 grain weight, this is not too surprising. BL-C(2) (canister grade WC846) was rejected for M193 5.56 ball ammo by the military because, having been formulated for 7.62 ball ammo, it proved too slow. They found an odd lot of WC846 that was unusually fast burning and were satisfied with that, so they ordered more from Olin, which gave this special fast version of the powder a new designation, WC844.

The canister grade version of WC844 is H335. If you have soot issues with BL-C(2), try working up a load using H335. BL-C(2), IME, does better with 69 grain and heavier bullets in the .223/5.56; the same applications you might choose Winchester 748 (canister grade WC748) for. Indeed, if you look at Hodgdon's burn rate chart, these two powders are right next to each other in positions 103 and 104 for 748 and BL-C(2), respectively.