Recommended Powders for 223 Remington

[22vartarg]

I ordered a 223 Rem 1:14 twist barrel to shoot the 52 and 53 grain flat base Berger and Sierra bullets. Will be shooting at 100-200 yards What powders would you recommend to try first? I have the following powders on hand.
10X, H355, Tac, H4895, CFE-223, IMR 4198, Varget and VV 140
Thanks

 

[Dale264]

My 12twist 700 loves H335 with 50s and 52s. Accurate, cheap, fast, measures well. Varget has produced small groups as well but doesn't meter as well. If you're looking for benchrest levels of accuracy I'd look at the VV you have on hand or n133.

 

[Shifty6br]

Xp same as above..switched over to h335 never looked back.

I'd start with H335 or 4895. N130-133 is also great for that gr weight..mmmm 10x could be promising as well.

Quite a buffet of ingredients ya have there..should be a good recipe in there somewhere.

 

[Gary in MD]

TAC has worked well but Benchmark has even been better for me with those bullet weights.

 

[DGP4]

Out of the powder you list, I'd use either H335 or Ramshot TAC. My preference for 52 grain bullets is TAC.

 

[Mcrider55]

I've shot AR1200, CFE223, AR-Comp, H335, and most recently Varget in my 223. All shot well, with 55's but now I've started shooting 69s and the Varget excels with this combo. No real complaints with any of them

 

[603Country]

I use H335 behind all my 223 bullets (40 gr to 65 gr). And I use it in the Grendel. Meters real well and usually available.

 

[K22]

H335, H4895, and Varget are ones I have used extensively with excellent results with 50 to 60 grain bullets in 12" to 8" twist 223's. My favorite is H4895 with Varget next. H335 can be a little finicking but also very accurate if large temperature variations are not an issue.

 

[Dfish1247]

H335, AA2520, LT-32 work real darn well in the panda. It’s a 1:12 twist. 10x was awful, I mean ~1” at 100yd awful, you may have better luck. These powders work with the 52 or 55gr Berger varmint or target.

Now, the best groups the panda will give, under .200” at 100yd sadly involves H322 which is unavailable right now. The others hover around the .250”-.350” area.

 

[Longtrain]

I’m using LT-32, meters great, shoots bug holes with 50,52,53,55 & 60 grainers out of my 1:12 Hart in 223 Remington.

 

[LVLAaron]

Benchmark is my favorite for the light bullets

 

[LiveFire]

H335, AA2230/Ramshot xterminator have all been good for me in the 50-62gr range with 9, 8, 7 twist barrels. I would even throw W748 in there too. For the heavier bullets I like AA2520, IMR8208XBR, varget and just recently been playing with AA2495 with good accuracy but slow.

Id say that just about any 223 loading youre gonna do with the powders on hand with that twist H335 and IMR4198 will probably cover you. CFE223 might as well but I cannot get that to shoot well for ne and I dont know why.

 

[LiveFire]

Benchmark is my favorite for the light bullets

I really need to try that. A lot of people say its really good.

 

[LVLAaron]

I really need to try that. A lot of people say its really good.

Benchmark and 42g nosler ballistic tips are my favorite... They shoot tiny groups at 200 yards with any rifle I put them in.

 

[urbanrifleman]

H322
Lt32
Aa2015
R10x
H335

 

[BradY]

8208XBR hands down has been the best powder I have used for 53gr vmax.

 

[K22]

I forgot to mention Benchmark in my post. I did use that for a while also, and it was also excellent.

In my rifles however, pressure peaked quite quickly with small changes in powder charges with 55 grain Nosler BT's. The top end of their powder charges in their Manual produced high pressure signs in some of my rifles. I would start with the starting loads in the bullet mfg.'s loading manual and work up slowly.

In my experience in shooting over 10 different 223 Rem bolt rifles of various brands with various twists and bullets, this caliber tolerates a wide range of powders quite well. It's the bullet that I found makes the most significant difference regarding accuracy. If you are shooting just out to 200 yards as you stated, I would start with a flat base bullet. For 14" twist, I would start with a 50 or 52 grain bullet.

 

[urbanrifleman]

8208XBR hands down has been the best powder I have used for 53gr vmax.

Yes. Forgot that one. AR comp is also hard to beat.

 

[K9TXS]

If you go to loaddata.com, you can see lots of good loading information on the powders you mentioned.

 

[dusterdave173]

N133 is Clean stuff--At $289 for 8 lbs at Bluecollar it is now the value option--It has been like Pixie Dust with 53 Vmax for me--low low ES--excellent speed--clean as can be Others work great--that is an easy combo to nail down but for me it is N133. Especially with the way prices are now--it used to be the expensive stuff--not any more