Your opinions on best .223 powders

6GUNSONLY

New member
Hi all,
Have read some but haven't posted anything in a while. I'm running low on powder for loading .223 in an AR carbine and a 20" Remington 700 tactical. I've been pretty old-school on powders, and have relied in the past on H-335. More recently I've shot through several pounds of Varget and AA-2230. Going to need to restock soon, and just wondering if I'm missing anything new that's better than what I've been using. There are so many choices out there now it takes a lot of time, expense, and experimentation to try them all, or even most of them. I'd like to hear what's working well for some of you. Sure, I've got loading manuals, but that doesn't always tell the whole story. So let me hear from you...
Thanks for your suggestions.
Ken
 
Thanks EM. I didn't specify anything about bullet weights, but I tend to shoot slightly heavier in the AR (63 gr Sierra semi-pointed is a favorite) and lighter in the 700 tactical (55 gr. Sierra BTHP is heaviest, sometimes all the the way down to 40 grainers).
 
H4895 and W748 for 55's for me. For supreme accuracy i go with W748. For top velocities with excellent accuracy, i use H4895.

IMR XBR 8208 is wonderful for 55's through 77's also.

If your bullets won't shoot with one of those powders, use a different bullet. I believe it is barrel and bullet combo first, then powder and primer combo second.

It is that simple.

All that being said.... There are many, many, many more powders that work fine. It all depends on if you are catching that accuracy node at the velocity you need to get the job done.

Keep going up on your charge weight until you find pressure, abnormally high velocities, or groups that are clearly deteriorating.
 
I load on a Dillon press, so ball powders are my primary go to. All those mentioned work well, I would add CFE 223 and Tac to those. I am loading these in .223/5.56, .308, and .22-250. Varget is awesome stuff and is my first choice for my .308 precision loads and winter coyote loads in .22-250. There are so many good powders available to hand loaders, I think there must be a sampling of most of them in the man cave.
 
No warts on H335 and it measures like water.

34931632143_fb7e289976_n.jpg


Regards,
hm
 
IMR XBR 8208 works for well anything from 55-80 gr. It's also the cleanest powder I have ever used. On the lighter side, it won't quite provide the velocity that Benchmark will.

Benchmark is probably the easiest powder to find a load with between the two. I've shot lots of it in prairie dog towns in a .223.

Both of these powders are not temp sensitive which is the appeal for me. If I was to use one powder for everything in .223, it would be Benchmark followed by 8208.
 
8208 XBR shoots exceptionally well with just about any bullet weight including 35gr and 40gr.

Load development 35gr NTX, Savage 223.
31401461428_755b7dc3ae_c.jpg


40gr Vmax shoots the best as shown (groups A1, A2, B, D). Savage 223. Not sure what was going on with the 35 NTX groups below (group C), I think I was messing with the rear rest and got some vertical.
45494261664_fde2472bd6_c.jpg


COAL testing 40gr Vmax:
48514072056_ae09f56393_c.jpg
 
Long barrel life:

50g & 55g
Win 748
H335

Highest Speed with extremes in accuracy

50g N133
55g N135
50 & 55g- AA2015

Medium speed with extreme accuracy

Rem sps with 12T, there is a hot load of Benchmark with a cci 450 with the 53-55g that is 3475 fps and bullets touch at 100.

Benchmark

Biggest holes in coyotes with 12-14T:

N135 with 55g Sierra lead tip blitz, thick cup primers

I have not shot 8208, Tac, aa2230 in a 223 of any kind
 
Lots of great info guys, thanks for the input. I'll consider all of that before I stock up again. Loaded the last of the AA-2330 Monday, but I did find a couple of pounds of IMR 4895 I didn't know I had. But I will want some more ball powder of some variety for running through a measure. I always use my Chargemaster scale for stick powders and sometimes I want to run a little faster than that.
 
Benchmark, N133, Varget, H4895, H322, IMR8208XBR. These are all powders ive had great success with. Out of the ones mentioned, if i was only allowed 1 choice it would be Benchmark.
 
Last edited:
For ball powders I've used Win 748, H335, TAC and AA2460. All have worked as well as any others. 223 isn't a picky round so grab the cheapest ball powder available or stick with what's been working for you
 
Back
Top