223 Powder Choice

[Bottom Fodder]

H322 has been my go-to powder in 223 for many years, I have a recipe which seems to shoot well in every gun I’ve tried it in. Even as powders are coming back I still haven’t seen H322 in a long time, I’m going to run low in another 6-12 months. CFE223 has been gangbusters in my 223AI, I’ll probably try it in regular 223. H322 has found MANY uses, my wildcat 358, 458 SOCOM…I’m sure I’ll always want to keep some in stock.

I shot some more loads with the 80’s with H322 in the 223. They all shot great, I’m having a hard time deciding witch load to go with. Which can be a good thing

 

[6Creed73]

X2 on that!

As has already been mentioned, the list of powders that work well in 223's is very long and it's not a finicky cartridge to load for at all.

Longtrain said: "Just put on a new Hart 223 1:12 twist barrel. This is the first 1:12 I’ve had as I mostly shot heavy bullets in other 223 1:8’s. I plan to use 52-55 grain bullets.

I picked up a pound of LT-32, what about N133, AA2015 or RE7, etc? Looking for easy and accurate metering from a powder measure. Any powder rise above the others in terms of accuracy, performance and barrel life?"

Well, Hart makes one of the best button rifled barrels you can buy, I have a few of them, so you're certainly off to a great start.

With the powders you already have you'll likely be able to work up a load that serves you well. I haven't used any in awhile but one that I used to use a lot of in different 223's and it worked with a very wide range of bullet weights was Win 748. Win 748 has been around for a long time and as new powders have been developed it doesn't get used as much but that doesn't mean it still doesn't work extremely well in 223's and it's typically easy to find on the shelf and for less than the crazy 50 bucks a pound that a lot of powders are selling for now days. Also, Win 748 flows like water through a powder measure/dispenser. I use a lot of Hodgdon Benchmark with 53's in 223's and it too meters very consistently and shoots well but I don't know that it shoots any better then 748 and 748 always produced a little faster velocities.

My first 223 was a heavy barrel Olympic Arms AR I bought in 1986. It wasn't anything special but it shot the mid 50's really well with 748 and I loaded for it on a progressive. I have AR's now that are much fancier and cost way more but I don't know that any of them shoot any better then that HB Oly Arms AR did, go figure....

I agree, Win748 is an underrated powder for 223. I use it a lot with 50-62gr bullets

 

[SeabeeKen]

My best results in 223 with 52 gr bergers has been with N-133 and H-322. Both have been superb but went with N-133 since phasing out Hodgsdon from my cabinet

 

[searcher]

Talking best accuracy only in bullets from 40 to 55 grain in .223, the best powders came from one of the following for a number of rifles; Accurate LT32, Reloader 7, IMR8208XBR, TAC, W748. Have always been able get something really outstanding with one of these five. Have also shot a lot of Varget, Varmint, H4198, CFE223, Exterminator, H322, etc. - but the results were usually overshadowed by one of that first five.

 

[Lefty2506]

Just put on a new Hart 223 1:12 twist barrel. This is the first 1:12 I’ve had as I mostly shot heavy bullets in other 223 1:8’s. I plan to use 52-55 grain bullets.

I picked up a pound of LT-32, what about N133, AA2015 or RE7, etc? Looking for easy and accurate metering from a powder measure. Any powder rise above the others in terms of accuracy, performance and barrel life?

FWIW, I've been trying to get a good load for my 223 Savage using 53gr Vmax and N133, and haven't been having much luck. 1 MOA is about the best I've been able to get. Seems to shoot best near the top end of the range, and it's giving me +3400 fps, but I'm getting a lot of variation in my MV. Years ago I worked up loads with N133 using 40gr and 50gr noslers from a RRA 20" flat top. Single feeding them gave me a ragged hole at 100 yds.

I'm going to clean everything really good and give it another try. If it doesn't work out, I'm going to try TAC next since I keep it on the shelf. If that doesn't work, I'm going to go back to noslers. 1 MOA just won't cut it on PDs at 400 yds.

 

[Longtrain]

Accuracy was my first concern, but being able to load from a powder measure was desired also. I loaded 52 SMK’s behind LT-32 and CCI400 primers. At a 100 meter prone fun match, my first 6 shots of a ten shot string was one hole. The remainders were tight too. Everyone was right with that being an accurate powder. Thanks.

 

[Paddyd]

Just put on a new Hart 223 1:12 twist barrel. This is the first 1:12 I’ve had as I mostly shot heavy bullets in other 223 1:8’s. I plan to use 52-55 grain bullets.

I picked up a pound of LT-32, what about N133, AA2015 or RE7, etc? Looking for easy and accurate metering from a powder measure. Any powder rise above the others in terms of accuracy, performance and barrel life?

10x or H322 shoots bugholes in mySavage LRPV with Sierra or Hornady 52 gn hpbt . N135 works great with Sierra 60 gn TMKs

 

[seagate]

H335 with 50 & 55 V-Max as well as the 55 Nosler Varmageddon. I've tried other powders but keep going back to 335.

h335 always been the accurate for me have tried many others n133, n135, tac, cfe223, varget but have always gone back to h335 although can be finicky in the N.C summers I lower the load a little to keep it in tune

 

[dusterdave173]

N133 is clean burning--with 53 Vmax my rifle shoots very well... I get the lowest ES and really great accuracy.
getting single digit ES in a 223 is not easy or common but with this combo and careful loading I get it all the time
This photo is my bragging photo but it shows what n133 is capable of if you are careful

 

[jpjulian]

h335 always been the accurate for me have tried many others n133, n135, tac, cfe223, varget but have always gone back to h335 although can be finicky in the N.C summers I lower the load a little to keep it in tune

I have 2 8# jugs of H335 for 50-55 bullets. For the heavier ones though, I've probably used 200 lbs. or more of RL15 which you just can't get these days, so, the other powders I mentioned.

 

[Lefty2506]

I run N133 under a 53gr vmax. It meters okay, but I do trickle the last few tenths of a grain most of the time. I don't have my data handy, but I think I'm right at the max book load of 24.7gr and it shoots well for me out of a factory 26" Savage 12FV. Somewhere in the 1/2 moa range.

I also have 26lb of TAC on hand. I bought it as a cheap general purpose 223 powder a few years ago. That was just before powder prices went nuts and I gave around $27/lb for it. Things have changes since then. The last keg of N133 I bought was around $37/lb and it was noticeably cheaper than TAC was at the time. That has since changes also... I have found that TAC meters extremely well. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had anything that metered better than TAC. I keep thinking I'll see how it does under those 53gr vmax, or out of my 6.5 Grendel, but I never end up getting around to it...

 

[padom]

I run N133 under a 53gr vmax. It meters okay, but I do trickle the last few tenths of a grain most of the time. I don't have my data handy, but I think I'm right at the max book load of 24.7gr and it shoots well for me out of a factory 26" Savage 12FV. Somewhere in the 1/2 moa range.

I also have 26lb of TAC on hand. I bought it as a cheap general purpose 223 powder a few years ago. That was just before powder prices went nuts and I gave around $27/lb for it. Things have changes since then. The last keg of N133 I bought was around $37/lb and it was noticeably cheaper than TAC was at the time. That has since changes also... I have found that TAC meters extremely well. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had anything that metered better than TAC. I keep thinking I'll see how it does under those 53gr vmax, or out of my 6.5 Grendel, but I never end up getting around to it...

While I dont have 53 Vmax/Tac data for you, I ran off a few thousand rounds of 77smk on my automated Dillon 1050 with Tac and a few thousand rounds of 77smk with PP2000MR

They both meter like water on my Dillon and rounds are super accurate.

I did full load development on my A&D Fx120i throwing and trickling charges for testing and to find my load. Once I found my load i set ny Dillon powder measure and ran it.

 

[atfdlocal4020]

CFE223 is my go to, but Benchmark and Varget also shoot well for me.

 

[Lefty2506]

While I dont have 53 Vmax/Tac data for you, I ran off a few thousand rounds of 77smk on my automated Dillon 1050 with Tac and a few thousand rounds of 77smk with PP2000MR

They both meter like water on my Dillon and rounds are super accurate.

I did full load development on my A&D Fx120i throwing and trickling charges for testing and to find my load. Once I found my load i set ny Dillon powder measure and ran it.

I'm not in a hurry to switch anything to TAC. I use the 53gr vmax for prairie dogs, and I really like the way it shoots with N133. Even though N133 has increased in price, I'll probably continue to buy and load with it because of its performance on the prairie.

Before Covid, I jumped in on a group buy for some primers. I picked up what I thought was going to be a lifetime supply (40k) for around $27/k. Since then I've added a few cartridges to my selection, my wife has started shooting a little more, and I've started trying to take trips out west for prairie dogs. I should have doubled that order, but if I had I would have probably purchased the wrong stuff because I was shooting more large stuff then small stuff back then. Either way, when Covid hit, I was REALLY glad I had bought all those primers. Factory ammo has been hard to get several times in the past, but that was the first time I'd seen it where I couldn't even find components. Thankfully, I had what I needed sitting on the shelf, but not in significant quantities. When powder started coming available an the prices were still at pre-covid levels, I decided to pick a few powders that I could standardize on if I needed to and stock up on them. TAC was one of those powders because it can work in pretty much any 223/556 load and at the time it was noticeably cheaper than BLC-2 ($27 vs $32). I had found that all of my BLC-2 load data transferred directly over to TAC, so I ordered 3 kegs of TAC to add to the few single canisters I already had. On the same order, I added a few canisters of H110 to feed my 44mag and 300bo hunting loads, and a keg of N133 for PDs. When powder started going nuts, but the prices hadn't filtered down on VV yet, I added 2 more kegs of N133 to my shelf. The only thing I didn't end up getting was powder for my 9mm and 40 loads, and that was because N340 was still hard to find. While it was nice to be able to get everything for a great price compared to today's costs, my goal was really to make sure I always have what I need sitting on the shelf.

 

[jelenko]

my goal was really to make sure I always have what I need sitting on the shelf.

!!

 

[jelenko]

BLC-2 load data transferred directly over to TAC

Interesting. When I was loading 69 gr SMK with these powders, it seemed like a lot more of BLC2 could be packed in without pressure signs. Like 26.9 grs. - that would be some load with TAC!

While there's a little over 8lbs of Shooters World Match left, I'm planning to move to N135 going forward.

 

[Lefty2506]

I didn't have any load data for 69gr projectiles. In 223, I had it for 40gr, 50gr, and 62gr. Powder charge weights and velocities for both powders were close enough to be considered identical (at least for me).

I've always had a thing for VV powders. They always seem to be at the top of the list regardless of how I choose to evaluate them (unless I'm going by cost lol).

 

[5spd]

H335
Then X terminater, benchmark, varmit pro, 10x, w748, n133, tac, blc2.