53gr Vmax with CFE223

R

Rock Knocker

Active member
I just got my first pound of CFE223 and a fresh box of 53 Vmaxs.

What kind of loads have you guys tried out with this combo? It will be send through a 1-8 twist 16" Black hole weaponry barrel.
 
I found a magic load in my 20" 8 twist ARP barrel.

28gr CFE223 (Warm load- start at 26 and work up)
New LC brass
CCI 400
53 gr vmax

200 yards

 
My semi custom 223ai bolt gun with it's 1-9tw Hart barrel loves those 53Vmax w/Benchmark, but I've run the numbers through my QL program and CFE223 looks as though it would give it a nice little boost in velocity over Benchmark and I've got some CFE223 that I've wanted to try but I've got so d*mn much Benchmark I'm afraid if I do try the other powder I'll like it better and then what the heck will I do with all this Benchmark. lol
 
Originally Posted By: B23My semi custom 223ai bolt gun with it's 1-9tw Hart barrel loves those 53Vmax w/Benchmark, but I've run the numbers through my QL program and CFE223 looks as though it would give it a nice little boost in velocity over Benchmark and I've got some CFE223 that I've wanted to try but I've got so d*mn much Benchmark I'm afraid if I do try the other powder I'll like it better and then what the heck will I do with all this Benchmark. lol

I will PM you my addy so you can get rid of that benchmark
wink.gif
 
I've heard a lot of good things about benchmark but I dont remember ever seeing any for sale around here and I'm a fan of most hodgdon powders I've used. I've been eyeballing CFE223 for over a year but I still have 7lbs of H335 laying around that kept me from trying the CFE.

Considering I developed a hunting load at around 35 degrees this fall and now that I'm hunting in up to 50 degree colder weather I've had some inconsistencies while hunting with this temp sensitive 335, the first round out of my -15 to -25 degree barrel flies like a bat out of he!!.

Thanks for the tip Nonnieselman, those are the groups I am looking for.
 
Originally Posted By: reddog964Originally Posted By: B23My semi custom 223ai bolt gun with it's 1-9tw Hart barrel loves those 53Vmax w/Benchmark, but I've run the numbers through my QL program and CFE223 looks as though it would give it a nice little boost in velocity over Benchmark and I've got some CFE223 that I've wanted to try but I've got so d*mn much Benchmark I'm afraid if I do try the other powder I'll like it better and then what the heck will I do with all this Benchmark. lol

I will PM you my addy so you can get rid of that benchmark
wink.gif


Ha ha, you funny. Yeah, a few years ago when things were tight and you couldn't hardly find diddly squat, I found some on the shelf at this little obscure shop for $19 a pound and I went a little crazy and bought every pound of Benchmark they had. It's probably safe to say I have 4 or 5 lifetimes supply of Benchmark and when you're only loading a little over 26.5 grains, a pound of powder seems like it lasts a really long time.
rolleyes.gif
 
Originally Posted By: B23Originally Posted By: reddog964Originally Posted By: B23My semi custom 223ai bolt gun with it's 1-9tw Hart barrel loves those 53Vmax w/Benchmark, but I've run the numbers through my QL program and CFE223 looks as though it would give it a nice little boost in velocity over Benchmark and I've got some CFE223 that I've wanted to try but I've got so d*mn much Benchmark I'm afraid if I do try the other powder I'll like it better and then what the heck will I do with all this Benchmark. lol

I will PM you my addy so you can get rid of that benchmark
wink.gif


Ha ha, you funny. Yeah, a few years ago when things were tight and you couldn't hardly find diddly squat, I found some on the shelf at this little obscure shop for $19 a pound and I went a little crazy and bought every pound of Benchmark they had. It's probably safe to say I have 4 or 5 lifetimes supply of Benchmark and when you're only loading a little over 26.5 grains, a pound of powder seems like it lasts a really long time.
rolleyes.gif


Smart guy... I'll PM you my addy as a backup
smile.gif
 
from my data - i've found i get a nice ES/SD note right around a max charge of CFE223.

this is in a white oak varmint barrel with their chamber so YMMV of course.

i've seen a very similar data point with with 55gr vmax, 68gr HPBT and 75gr HPBT so far.

hth
 
I just tried Benchmark for the first time and played with a few different loads and 24.3g @ 2.26 through my RRA Coyote Carbine 16" hammers! I've got a boatload of 8208XBR and Varget but it shoots the Benchmark and 53Vmax so good I didn't bother to try! Didn't set up my chrono so I'm not sure what my speed is. This is for a nighttime calling rifle so long shots is not happening.
 
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I have a competition AR that doesn't seem to like the 53 Hornady with CFE 223, but loves 8028-XBR. Kind of disappointing because the CFE223 gives better velocities.
 
varget may be a little slow, burn rate wise, for projo's in the 50gr class. you'll notice in hornady's 9th that the 52/53gr bullets are the lightest projo's that they even list varget as a powder for in 223. for their 5.56 nato data, the lightest bullet they list it with is their 68gr HPBT.

it seems to shine more with heavier bullets.



only one way to find out if it works well for you though - test, test, test! the data will give you all the answers you need
smile.gif


good luck with your testing, and i'm sure i'm not the only one who would love to see your results when you're done.


also - do you have a chrono?
 
With a 53gr pill, 26.9gr of CFE223 shoots excellent. I have no idea what the MV is, I haven't had the V3 on it yet.


Here Kitty Kitty
 
Started off a little disappointing, I had 5 rounds loaded up of each from 27.25 to 28.5 in quarter grain increments. I shot at 200 yards and ended up with a total shotgun pattern, quite bad, worse I have ever seen my hand loads shoot, I had H335 shooting about 3" at 200 with little to no development.

It was a very foggy day, I didn't even get all my test shots off, only 3 of each different load instead of all 5. In the middle of shooting the fog rolled in enough that I really couldn't see much of what I was shooting. May have been the fog and my little 4x scope that totally threw me off...

I fell through the ice last month and my scope got banged on the ice quite hard, I've shot a little since then and didn't notice a scope issue. But I am going to make sure my scope isn't loose then load up some more test rounds and redo this little test.
 
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