If you were going to buy a large quanity what would you choose for bullet weights 50grs to 63 grs?

Varget or H335

4895

TAC for 50's or less. Varget for 60's.

DF

AR Comp, IMR or H 4198, RL 7...
H 322, Benchmark...

or as Ingwe said, you can never go wrong with IMR 4895...in about any cartridge...

Benchmark shows some of the higher velocities, do you guys prefer ball over extruded in the 223? I realise sperical meters better, I have lots of Varget and RL15 for the 75's, this would be more of an all around use!

H335. I only shoot .223s in a bolt gun but some folks say it is dirty. So if you're using it in a "platform", it may not be too compatible with your gas system.

Winchester 748, Ramshot Xterminator, AA 2230.

If only using 40-50 grain bullets, the speed king is VV N-133.

H 4895. Extruded, but meters fine if you aren't sloppy.
TAC is also nice in that range, I like it better than the usual fall-back for 223, H335.

I have had great results with Varget with everything from 55-75gn bullets.

I have 8 lbs of Varget and 9 lbs of TAC on hand. I may need to pick up 8 lbs of IMR-8208XBR, if it turns out to be the "go to" powder for my son's new .338 Federal. I hear it also performs very well in the .223, too. My current SOP is TAC for 50 gr and under, Varget for 55 gr and up and occasionally Accurate 2200 or 2015 for the 40 gr lightweights.

+1 on W748; 26 gr w/55 gg V-max

H4895, with Benchmark a close 2nd.
Varget works well with the heavier bullets, but my rifles seem to prefer 4895 within the wt range posted.

Try TAC, H4895, Benchmark, Varget etc., and let the rifle decide. The more powders you try, the more shooting you get to do and that's where the fun is. That said, Benchmark works for me, but I don't shoot anything heavier than 55 gr. in the .223. Just me.

Depends on bullet weight. I shoot mostly 50's and 55's and hence bought an 8# jug of H-335. If I was shooting heavier pills I'd probably go with a different fuel.

H or IMR?

Either...but if I was re-starting today I'd use H...

H335 or 748

Ed

TAC or BLC2. Use both for a wide range of weights.

Same vote.

Benchmark, then H335, then varget.

Swifty

Good info guys, Tac,Benchmark and H4895 seem to be favorites, H335 seems like another favorite but have read that some have had pressure issues in hot weather has anyone here had any issues?

Yeah, 335 can definitely get touchy in hot weather, especially when shooting prairie dogs or other small rodents. I used to run it all the time, but also found it dirty-burning, though it may have improved since then. When TAC appeared I switched over, as it's very clean-burning and about as temp-resistant as any powder made, at least in my tests. Benchmark is also great, as it's about the fastest powder for bullets in the 40-55 grain range, and also clean-burning. It's extruded, but has very small granules so meters fine.

Do you find that TAC keeps the copper away better than Benchmark, over long strings of fire?

And even 50gr and 75gr+ bullets. With 50, 52, 53 & 55gr, just load the case up even with the mouth and seat the bullet.

Varget is the no-brainer for .223.

I have...same scenario every time...sustained firing creates a hot gun/barrel/chamber. A fresh round is chambered and a shot opportunity doesnt show up for 2-3 minutes....allowed to sit in a hot chamber, pressures go through the roof... soooooooo H335 is out for PDs and Gophs...but in for deer in my .223AI

H 335 is the only powder I've ever had trouble with, and that was in a 223.. and that problem showed its head twice...

and since I have the philosophy that it is harder to find a powder that doesn't work well in a 223, than it is to find one that works 'the best'...I have a million other choices over H 335...

DakotaDeer,

I haven't done any direct comparisons between TAC and Benchmark over a long string of shooting, but have used TAC considerably in a number of varmint rifles over the last decade or so, including the .17 Fireball, .204 Ruger along with the .223. It does seem to result in less copper fouling than other powders, and the benefit is even greater when used in a barrel that's been treated with Dyna Bore-Coat.

The routine at prairie dog/gopher shoots when I first started burning a lot of ammo on rodents in the 1980's was for everybody to get back to the motel or camp and start cleaning barrels immediately. Often we'd even have to clean 'em during the day, if the shooting was furious enough.

But I don't usually bother cleaning my rodent rifles even on a 2-3 day shoot anymore, since sticking to cleaner-burning powders and using DBC, since they shoot just as accurately after hundreds of rounds as they did at the start. There are exceptions, such as my .221 Fireball, which shoots best with Li'l Gun, not the cleanest-burning powder in the world. But That rifle's been DBC'd now, and the most "cleaning" I do during is run a few Hoppe's soaked patches through it to knock out the powder fouling--which also comes out easier once the bore's been treated with DBC.

Alot of good info thanks guys!

MD,
I dont notice alot of fouling using Benchmark, carbon or copper. Very clean burning powder, unlike 335. I get as good of velocity, and groups from it as I did with H335, but have found that it is a little more predictable in hot weather.
Most of my shooting is in 50 round sessions per rifle with 25 shots being fired for group in 30 minutes, which pretty much mirrors what I would do in a match. I have not tryed TAC yet as BM works really well in my Varmint rifles including my 22.250 & Swift. But I wouldnt suggest it in the Swift on a hot day if you are faint of heart.
Dont know about DBC, but did play with moly (PIA) was a bad idea.
BM in your weight ranges is excellent. Meters very well indeed.


Swifty

Yeah, Benchmark is very clean-burning--which also helps with copper-fouling. It's a little fast for the Swift, though, which is prrobably why you're getting some higher pressures on hot days. Even the most temp-resistant powders get a little wonky when taken out of their ideal applications.

I've had great luck in the Swift with Ramshot Hunter and 55's.

Moly is VERY different than DBC. For one thing, it reduces fouling of all kinds, rather than producing it's own. Plus, you only apply it once to the bore, and it lasts the life of the bore.

Found the same thing with TAC; it pays to work up loads in the hottest weather, the hottest you'd get the gun to be safe, with ANY powder!

But you already knew that...

H4895 or Benchmark

Their are no best all around powders only compromises.

My AR likes H335 quite a lot, but TAC is well worth a try there...

Why is there a need to inject political biases into an abstract discussion of which powder is better in a .223? I'm a gun nut, however the NRA doesn't dictate my common sense. What has our current president done to curtail current gun laws? Please, don't spout talking point, yet point to real facts. This type of stupidity is exactly why I question the real underlying motives. The NRA thrives under President Obama because of mis-informed, gun-loving bigots!

Uhhhhhhhh.......

What happened....

Hey, don't bring race into this..... (just kidding, ?????)

8208xbr. It is awesome out of my heavy barrel 223 hows.

W748, H335, H4895.

Ive tried quite a few different powders in my sons ARs, anywhere from RE7 to varget and if I had to choose the best all around it'd be RE7.

LOL Earl that's real rich.

Looks like you guy's absolutely nailed the question...with a shotgun blast of powder choices

Fortunately the .223 is one of those middle-of-the-road rounds that works well with a LOT of different powders.

That disappointMINTS thing is part of a signature. Not related to any thread. You're the one injecting political bias.

Win 748 and Varget works great for me.

I like A2230 with 40's, Benchmark with 50's, and H4895 with 60-69's. Reckon some folks have never heard of Fast and Furious.

I had temperature issues with H-335, though it gave great accuracy and velocity. I switched to H-322 for lack of temperature sensitivity and it is also very accurate. Now I have run out of it and have an 8-pound jug of TAC to go through. X-Terminator also worked very well with 40-50 gr bullets.

win 748

Was just out again, so if this is a repeat that is why...

AR Comp makes my most accurate 223s, even more accurate, with even smaller groups...

and as far as clean, I don't know.. usually after 40 rounds or so in bolt actions, I run a bore snake thru it and keep on going..

with about any powder..

I'd like to try that AR Comp. What's the heaviest bullets you've run with it, Seafire?

Another one I want to try is Alliant 2000 MR.

Benchmark. From 50s to 75s.

I ended up with a bunch of Win 748, so that's what I use. Works great in my heavy barrel 223s shooting 50 and 55 gr spitzers.

I shoot TAC in my Bushy .223 but I have read a couple of recent articles and found the borescope results from their testing of CFE-223 so interesting that I will get some to try. They clearly showed that the powder prevented copper fowling and even reversed it in the barrels that had it. Refer to your Guns and Ammo from like 2 months ago.

Benchmark, I run more of it than anything. It's temp stable but still meters well. I run it in my 20" RRA predator pursuit with 50 and 53g vmaxes with great accuracy. I even run it under 75 amaxes from my 223 AI.

It's awesome in a 17 rem and in my 22-250 with 40g NBTs it drives them 4200 fps and 1/4" average groups at 100 yards. My old 6mm even loves it under 55g NBT's at 4000fps.

If I had to narrow my rifle powders down to 3 or 4 Benchmark would stay.

Bb

Then CFE must have a good amount of Tin Dioxide or Tin dust in it.
IIRC in Hatchers notebook, Whelen or Manns writings, it was mentioned that Dupont patented the addition of tin to thier powders in 1915 due to some people, (probably Hatcher) in the military years before grinding up tin foil and adding it on top of the powder in test loads for the new 06 round to reduce copper fouling which was prevelent, and causing alot of problems at the time. Your comment just got me thinking, and thought it might be interesting.

Swifty

Do you shoot any 55's with that powder? I got 2 lbs of it and was thinking of trying it.

I really like and favor 8208xbr and Benchmark in my .223