Just FYI VarmintGuy,
I shot W748 powder for years in the 223 with similar great results in alot of rifles.
Usually somewhere between 27-28 grs 748 under a 40gr H-Vmax or a 40gr N-BT will drive tacks in most decent 223 rifles.
I have good luck with just Std. Win. primers which seem to do better in cold weather with the ball powder.
If shooting in hot weather the 748 can show some tendency for high pressure, but it just requires some common sense.
Another powder that you seldom see mentioned that works great with the light 40gr bullets is AA2460.
It will provide very similar accuracy as the W748, but will get more velocity with the light pills.
I have clocked over 3800fps out of a couple (but not all)of 26" bbls with the 40gr Vmaxes with that powder, moly coated bullets and stiff loads (which I won't get specific about), but the almost same charge weights for 2460 as with the 748 - between 27-28grs with no pressure issues.
I start at 27grs and work up in .2gr increments until I hit a sweet spot with both powders.
These days I've found some of the newer powders do great things as well, and have gotten great results with Benchmark, Varget, TAC and some others.
Between 25-26grs of TAC under a 50gr H-Vmax or 50gr N-BT has shot well in every 223 I've shot it in.
Ted
