Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Looking for a good load for 16 inch barreled AR 15. Powder ?

I love the performance of the 50 grain blitz king.
What can I expect for velocity?
And what powder works best in the shorter barrels ?
TIA

Barrel length doesn't matter for choosing a powder. I like H-335 for 50's and 55's

I like Ramshot X-Terminator or A2230.

8208 XBR, H4895.

However much your gun likes or can take with 50, 55, 60 grainers.

MM

Yes ^^^^ Add RL 10x and 3031 as well.

kwg

Trying to get it all burned in 16 inches.

H-335 has been my favorite with 50-55 grain bullets since I first started loading for AR's. Recently I've been switching over to CFE223 because I can get 100-150 fps more than with the H335. The CFE leaves less powder fouling and less copper fouling.

748 is temp sensitive in the heat, I"ve seen it blow mags out of guns... Isn't 335 the same powder?

FWIW the stable one at the time was Varget, and i believe I had enough mileage on TAC to think it aobut the same.

Not familiar with any of teh new ones.

2230 and 2520 AA stuff was ok, but a bit sensitive.

Mind you my location and having to deal with extreme, IMHO, heat...

I have heard H-335 is sensitive to heat, but for me 80F is a heatwave so results will vary with location.

For that weight bullet, Reloader 10x.

If it was a 7.5" barrel, you might have a point, but I think your concerns are unfounded in a 16" barrel.

X-Terminator is the top performer for 50gr bullets in both accuracy and velocity in every 223 I've loaded for. None of the stick powders come close to matching it, and more traditional powders like 748 and 335 are closer but still lag behind. I haven't tested CFE223 with light bullets enough to compare it well enough yet though; it may also be a top performer.

We don't get real temperature extremes here though, YMMV.

I've had good luck with TAC and CFE-223.

So many good powders for 50-somethings, but I'll mention 1 more - Benchmark.

A long time load for me that I got out of this book:

Black Magic: The Ultra Accurate AR-15.

is 25 grains of H335 and a 52 grain Sierra Match King. I have put a fairly decent amount of this load down range (in the many thousands) .

It seems to be the "one" load, that no matter the rifle, it just seems to shoot well. When someone brings an AR or bolt gun and says it is not accurate, that is the load I run first (and most often last).

Plus it is hell on coyotes. Many dozens of coyotes have met their demise with this load.

That said, Rost495 has a substantial amount of experience surrounding ARs, competition ,and related handloading, so he is a person who's advice I would pay attention to.

Cheers!

It also leaves black soot in the barrel and chamber, other than that it is a great powder.

[quote=Mackay_Sagebrush]A long time load for me that I got out of this book:

Black Magic: The Ultra Accurate AR-15.

is 25 grains of H335 and a 52 grain Sierra Match King. I have put a fairly decent amount of this load down range (in the many thousands) .

It seems to be the "one" load, that no matter the rifle, it just seems to shoot well. When someone brings an AR or bolt gun and says it is not accurate, that is the load I run first (and most often last).

Plus it is hell on coyotes. Many dozens of coyotes have met their demise with this load.

That said, Rost495 has a substantial amount of experience surrounding ARs, competition ,and related handloading, so he is a person who's advice I would pay attention to.

Cheers! [quote]
I have shot a couple of groups that measured under two inches at 400 yards using Benchmark and the 52 gr Serra match king.

I've burned a fair bit of H-335 in two bolt guns and four different AR's. 26.0 gr under 50 gr v-max, and 25.0 gr under several different 55's. It simply works. I haven't found any fouling to cause accuracy or function issues and typically clean the bore at 200-500 rounds out of habit than necessity.

+1 on Benchmark with 50 gr bullets

H335 and it meters very well.

It is dirty and whatever but still works great!