Suggested .223 powders

[Cameramonkey]

So after fighting the reliability of the well used Pro 1000 I was gifted by a generous INGOer, I decided to suck it up and buy a new carrier assembly. Ive been struggling with various issues like the case detector not resetting properly, misfed primers, cases popcorning as they are stripped from the tube, unreliable resets to zero, etc. Ive tried cleaning, lubing, replacing parts, etc. and its still nowhere near reliable to get any decent speeds out of it. If I go slow and do things like encourage the case detector to reset on each round, it works. But its tedious. It makes me feel like an octopus in a strip club I'm touching the thing so much. (pull the lever, guide the case, nudge the detector, nudge a case, tap the powder hopper, etc) Its far from the intended "pull the lever and place a bullet on the filled case" situation.

So with the carrier I went ahead and bought a 223 shell plate to start loading up some heavier rifle rounds to save on shipping. What is INGO's suggestion for a powder that measures well, and will push the 77gr projectiles?

And on a side note, I thought 77s were the largest out there for the 223 Remington. I'm seeing as large as 90s? really? Is there room in the case? That seems like a lot of bullet for that case.

 

[x10]

Varget

 

[Family man]

My 223 go to is 8208xbr. Its extruded but meters like a ball. I dont shoot over 60gr bullets so you may want to check on the 77's
Yes you can go up in weight but will have to single load you ar/bolt gun unless your bolt gun is built on a long action.

 

[1911ly]

I like IMR4064 and IMR3031 because I can use them on most all my rifle rounds. 223 threw 300wm. If you load multiple calibers you might want to keep that in mind when picking a powder.

I haven't used Varget yet. But I believe it is another powder good for a lot of calibers.

 

[Cameramonkey]

My 223 go to is 8208xbr. Its extruded but meters like a ball. I dont shoot over 60gr bullets so you may want to check on the 77's
Yes you can go up in weight but will have to single load you ar/bolt gun unless your bolt gun is built on a long action.

The cutoff appears to be 77s. Reports they feed fine in an AR. (but no reports of anything bigger in my casual research... not that I plan on that myself since I dont own a bolt/long action.)

 

[Family man]

The cutoff appears to be 77s. Reports they feed fine in an AR. (but no reports of anything bigger in my casual research... not that I plan on that myself since I dont own a bolt/long action.)

I have done the research and played around with it at one time but thats been at least 12years ago and the memory is foggy on it. Ultimately I decided if I was going to push a 223 with heavies I would be better to shoot a gun built for it in a larger cal. Like my 260. So I keep the 223 to under 500. Mostly 300 and under. At least when i used to shoot often. Now that dose not happen often.

 

[natdscott]

RE15 is the preferred powder for 300-600 yard magazine length loads with 75-class bullets (all of em).

Varget is only slightly behind, but she is one dirty DIRTY bit#@.

If you are at 2.250" COAL with 23.5-24.5 grains of RE-15 behind a 77 SMK, and you CAN'T get groups...then son, you have a serious problem with either shooter or rifle. Most likely the former.

That's truly all the more complex is to get MOA to 5/600 yards. The rest is the barrel...

There are literally millions of rounds of virtually that exact spec fired in target competition every year, and it's performance for us was THE driving factor behind the decision to develop the Mk 262 rounds with that bullet, etc. for Crane. That's not nearly the same as saying at least a couple guys at Crane already knew how the whole thing would go.

Ask away though. I may not know everything about heavy .223, but I know "some".

-Nate

 

[ckcollins2003]

I had good luck with H4895 and 75gr Amax's, but I also loaded them on a single stage so I don't know how well it meters through a powder measure on a progressive. Everything I read when researching was RE-15, but I couldn't find any and had 4895 laying around. I also only shot them out to 100 yards so I can't say how well it does at longer ranges, but H4895 does just fine in a .308 at 715 yards, so I can only assume it would do fine in the .223 as well, but as we all know, that can change.

 

[BE Mike]

I've had good luck with Varget and Reloder 15. Any .223 bullet in excess of 77 grains has to be single loaded because they are too long for the magazine, if you are shooting an AR. The heavier bullets seem to work best with a 1:7" or 1:8" twist barrel.

 

[Leo]

If you are progressive loading on a Lee, ball powder is your friend.

I agree with Varget, REloader 15 and 8208xbr for great accuracy with heavy AR bullets. They may not work the best on that press/powder measure system. AA2460 has great performance and meters perfectly in anything because it is shaped like tiny ball bearings. Hodgdon BLC-2 works pretty well also, a little dirty, but reliable and accurate. WW748 meters good on a progressive press, but can get temperature unstable if you are near max load levels.

Good Luck

 

[Hosted]

I use a single stage so can't help on the powder but here is a 55gr fmj next to a 90gr vld for your viewing pleasure. I need to take a picture with a better backdrop but you get the idea.

 

[Slapstick]

On the heavier projectiles, (69 & 77) I use TAC, a ball powder that meters like water. For the lighter projectiles (62 or lighter) I use H335, a fine flake powder that also meters well. Both powders using the right projectile in my rifles give good accuracy once a load is worked up for that particle rifle.

 

[ol' poke]

RE15.



'nuff said

 

[Hillbilly]

IMR 8208XBR is my go to powder for 77g SMK's. Varget is close behind it, but 8208 made slightly tighter groups for me.

 

[jstory]

I use H322 in my 223. Not sure how it would meter since I use a chargemaster. I did look on Hodgens site and they do show a load for 77 grain bullets.

 

[hemicharger]

IMR 8208XBR is my go to powder for 77g SMK's. Varget is close behind it, but 8208 made slightly tighter groups for me.

Im an 8208 fan myself. It's the only powder I use for 55-77gr bullets