CFE223 And 90 gr Bullets

[otnot]

This week I started load development with CFE223 and it’s giving some very positive results. I’m using Lapua brass, Remington 7.5 primers and 90 gr SMK at 2.545 OAL. I went from 24-26 grains and got 2700-2900 fps with only slight primer cratering for pressure signs. I stopped at 26 because the groups started to open up. The sweet spot was 25.1 to 25.5. The next test will be to see if it holds together at 1000. I was just curious what others have found with this combination.

 

[CharlieNC]

Works great for me too, very close to the same charge. And that's in the second barrel as well.

 

[otnot]

I was using Varget prior but when I got close to 2800 FPS I started to blow primers. Ball powders seem to operate at lower pressures due to lower case fill which is kind of important with the .223 case. And CFE is a little slower than Varget which should help with the heavier 90 gr. bullet.

 

[CharlieNC]

I've been shooting this combo for several years with consistent results from early Spring thru Summer heat into cool Fall again. No signs of temperature sensitivity, which interestingly NRA Rifleman magazine reported as well in the 223 via their comparisons vs "stable" powder. Maybe in larger cartridges, but CFE gets a bad rap in this regard. With a new higher twist barrel for the 90's I tried Varget too, but not as accurate as CFE for me.

 

[otnot]

That’s good to hear since it’s already starting to freeze up here in Alaska.

 

[jlorenzo]

Ive heard good things about Leverevolution and heavy 223 bullets also. Here are my initial findings just shooting one round per charge to see how the brass looks and check speed with 88gr ELDs in a 26" barrell. Loaded around 2.54 COAL. All the brass and primers looked good no issues. Could go higher but probably won't. I have heard CFE 223 and Lever are similar but not the same. I have also heard they settle down at higher charges as far as SDs and ES go. Not sure how much that matters. There is a user on the AsRealAsitGets forum Bigstick who is very familiar with this stuff.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Ive heard good things about Leverevolution and heavy 223 bullets also. Here are my initial findings just shooting one round per charge to see how the brass looks and check speed with 88gr ELDs in a 26" barrell. Loaded around 2.54 COAL. All the brass and primers looked good no issues. Could go higher but probably won't. I have heard CFE 223 and Lever are similar but not the same. I have also heard they settle down at higher charges as far as SDs and ES go. Not sure how much that matters. There is a user on the AsRealAsitGets forum Bigstick who is very familiar with this stuff.

I've often wondered about Leverevolution powder. It seems as though no matter how few powders are actually available at retailers, you can always find some Leverevolution or 50 BMG powder in stock somewhere LOL. My only concern would be with the temperature sensitivity. During the current reloading component crunch, I tried a different single base powder outside my usual go-to Varget/H4895 loads, only to discover velocity with that particular powder would change in the neighborhood of 2-3 fps per degree F, which is much too high IMO. In theory, one could simply work up loads at several different temperature ranges in such a situation, but that seems to be more work than it's worth. I'll be curious to hear how the Leverevolution works out for you.

 

[White Eagle]

CFE - 223 is my go to powder in the 224 Valkyrie
I use a lot of that and Superformance