What would you say are the top 2 powders for 223

[Michael Wilson]

Looking at 55 grain fmj boat tail bullets mainly but would also be interested in a powder that could handle a heaver bullet too.
Also is there a powder that would work well with a 90 grain 223 and handle a 308 and 30-06 up to 180 grain? Thanks

[5R milspec]

well for me I like varget,R15,4064,Benchmark,4007,4895,BlC-2,W748,for a 223 with 50-55gn bullets.and all of these will do good in a 308 or 30/06.but not sure about the 4007.and with the 4007 powder I only have tested it with a 75-77gn bullet in a 223 with a 1:9 twist.

but my go to powder for a 55gn NBT is 27.5gn of varget,but the is a HOT load.and 25,5gn of 4064 is all so a good load for me with a 52-55gn bullet.

but with the 308 I would go with varget or 4064 and a 165/168gn bullet.or even a 175gn bullet with the same powders.

and with the 06 I would might go with 4350 or 4064 but I cannot really say since I do not really load for a n06 that much.just when my dad has run out.and I cannot remember the load at the momment but think I was useing IMR 4831.

[DiscoRacing]

ramshot tac and varget for 223
4064 for 308 and 06

[plainsman456]

2 of the moet used powders are h-322 and tac with most weights up to 60gr bullets.But find out what your rifle likes for the weight of the bullet you are going to shoot.

[Rembrandt]

H335, Varget, Benchmark

[A_Gamehog]

Reloader 15 and Varget, both work very good in all three .223, 308, 30-06.

[Dave R]

H335 and Varget.

[FM12]

223: H-335,h-322:d

223 & 308: WW 748

[hapinga]

all loads shot from new england firearms single shot bull barrel
53g barnes TSX 25-26g of varget OAL 2.345

60g nosler partion 24g of varget OAL2.335
50g nosler ballistic tip 25g of benchmark OAL 2.313
55g remington psp 27g ofBL-C 2 OAL 2.275
Remington brass
all loads I used Remington small rifle bench rest primers
bullets are seated out a little closer to lands

Show me someone who makes no mistakes, & I will show you someone who does not do anything.. DAVID EDGE

[gdcpony]

I would have to say H-335 and Varget are the two most common I hear people using. But I also use them myself so I'm biased.

[Scorch]

Didn't we just do this one? No Mulligans.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...d.php?t=399074

[Unclenick]

But what's the board gonna do with all its excess bandwidth, then?

I prefer faster stuff for 50's. Had excellent results from IMR 4198 and Reloader 10X at that weight. 90's are problematic. I saw a study of them in Precision Shooting showing that the low BC VLD types eat too far into the powder space to get enough velocity to outperform the 80 grain VLD shapes. This was going to 1000 yards. Note that you need rifling in the 7"-8" twist range to stabilize the long heavies, but 12" works better with the 50's. If you shoot 90's, a number of the earlier mentioned powders will cross over from them to .308; 748 and RL15 just to name a couple.

[whitedogone]

IMR 4198 with 52 match and 55 v-max is all I need.

[Lavid2002]

AA2230.... the powder the cartridge was designed with

[Dirk00001]

Varget; for me, at least, it works great with any weight bullet. I've used H-335 and AA2230 as well, though, and can't say as I had any probs with either, but metering of ball powder is a pain and the temps I fire in fluctuate a lot so Varget is overall the best choice for my 223's, IMO.

...plus I use Varget in my 308, and it also does a great job there. Although IMR-4064 is my 308 standard.

[Unclenick]

Lavid2002,

Hmmm. I think you've got the cart before the horse, there. The cartridge began as the .222 Special in 1957. The name was changed to .223 Remington in 1959, though it wasn't released commercially for five more years. Accurate powders were pretty new at Camp Perry in the mid 1990's. I have their first printed load manual, dated 1994 on the overleaf.


From the Gun Zone's chronology on the subject:

"May (1957): Stoner provides a brief live-fire demonstration of the prototype AR-15 for General Wyman. CONARC formally requests the purchase of 10 test rifles for the Infantry Board (five days after the 7.62mm NATO M14's official adoption is announced). After a visit to Fort Benning, Stoner begins to tweak the .222 Remington round to fit the Infantry Board's penetration requirements. First, Stoner and Sierra's Frank Snow modify the .224" 68 grain "M1 ball homologue" to 55 grains by shortening the bearing length and the boattail, while maintaining the original 7-caliber ogive and 9-degree boattail. The new projectile is also produced by Sierra. Robert Hutton uses Speer's Ballistic Calculator to estimate the muzzle velocity need to provide the desired performance at 500 yards. The results indicate a muzzle velocity of 3300fps with the 55 grain bullet will be required. Hutton begins load development with IMR 4198, IMR 3031, and an unnamed Olin ball powder. Using a Remington Model 722 with a 22" Apex bull barrel and a Lyman 25x scope, Hutton successfully perforates US helmets at 500 yards during a public demonstration. However, testing also indicates that the .222 Remington cannot achieve the required velocity without excessive chamber pressure. Stoner contacts Winchester and Remington about increasing the case capacity; Remington accepts the request. (This refusal is hardly surprising since Winchester had their own SCHV rifle and cartridge in the works.) The resulting cartridge is designated the .222 Special."

[BUZ]

I use nothing but W748 in all my 223 loads.

[Toolman]

.223 in 1-9 twist: TAC & H335.
30-06: 4064, TAC & H380

[Blue Grass]

IMR-4064 can be used in the 3 calibers listed but my favorite powders for them are:

.223 AA-2460 & AA-2230
.308 IMR-4320
.30-06 IMR-4350

[jeeping]

Heck are you kidding me? There are only hand full of points reloaders will agree on. Asking what kind of powder is best for one caliber is like asking who makes best truck ( we all know ford does ).
Varget and h335 are good powders for 223.

[Dis-1-Shooter]

Michael Wilson, in my opinion and my opinion only. You will get different recommendations pertaining to your questions, but I suggest you load up some test samples and shoot them. The gun will tell you what it likes. I noticed Varget shows up ALOT for the .308 Win loads, but my gun likes H4895. Under .25" groups @ 100 yds and .27" at 200 yds. Feed your gun and it will talk back...he..he. Good luck and happy shooting.

[Sarge]

I use H4895 for all my bottleneck centerfires now and it works great in the .223 Remington.

[Hammonje]

TAC (64 gr and below) and RL-15 (69/77/80 gr).

[rezmedic54]

I use Ramshot Tac for all my .223 loads. I use 22.4 grs. under a Hornady 75gr. A-max and that pushes it at 2750 pretty consistently. For my .308 Rd's. I use IMR-4320 for which I load 150 gr. over 43 grs. and 168 gr. over 43.6 grs. Berger bullets which pusses them at 2750 for the 150's and 2760 for the 168's. All my bullets are set at .006 off the lands and grooves.

[birdshot]

just a quick tally;*

varget - 8
h335 - 6
tac - 4

also ran
rl15 2, 4198 2, aa2230 2, h322 2, benchmark 2,
h4895 1, 4064 1, rl10x 1, w748 1.

* some margin of error, due to convuleted question.