Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles New to the .223 Rem

I have a bunch of 55 grain Bear Claws, they work well too.

Ramshot TAC
Accurate 2015
Accurate 2230/Ramshot Exterminator
The first 3 powders I would try with a 50 gr bullet in a .223.

I use H335 behind 40 gr Nosler BTs, 55gr Nosler BTs, and Nosler 60 gr Partitions. It’s probably just my rifle, but it shoots the Partition and the 40 grainer extremely well and into the same POI.

2230 worked good behind Sierra 65 gr GKs. Varget worked well with heavier bullets.

H335 & Benchmark are what I run with 40 to 52 grain pills in a 223.

26 grains of 3031 and a 53 grain Varmaggedon Nosler are turning in some impressive 100 yd one big hole group at 100 yds..
out of a Rem VLS in 223...

I have had the best results in velocity and accuracy using CFE223, but there are lots of great powders in burn rate from Blue Dot to Lever that have done very well for me with jacketed bullets from 40 to 75 gr in a 1:8, and bullets 40-63 in a 1:12. In the slower twists, I like the 53 Vmax. It has a very high BC for its weight. In faster twists, I like the Hornady 68 bthp the best. There are many excellent bullets though.

Second the motion on CFE223...just started using it last year and get best velocities out of it, plus its accurate where some other ball powders haven't been.

ingwe, did you try it in a .222??? I am about due to resupply for my ,222 and ,223.. H4198 has been good in both, but I would like something that meters better!!!!

I'll second the suggestion of CFE-223. I've used it now in several rifles and am liking its performance, metering ability, and definitely better ease of cleaning copper bore fouling afterwards.

In all my .223's, for 50gr bullets, they prefer, in descending order of accuracy;

H-4895
Varget
TAC
CFE-223

For my rifles (all 1:8" twist) CFE223 is the most accurate for anything over 55gr with TAC coming in a close second

Welcome the wide, wide world of .223's.

I'll second the motion of "don't overthink it".

Ed

RE 10x for 55 and lighter and RE 15 for heavier than 55 has worked great

any powder works well in the 223.. but for those that like to keep things simple...

this is a pretty good game plan right here...

only modification I'd add is to substitute RL 7 for 15.... but then again
RL 7 has always worked so well for decades.. I didn't see the need to play with
RL 10....

other than that.. if you want velocity with 40 and 35 grainers ( Lead free)... then
RL 7 and old load data will give you the most velocity and best accuracy...

4000 fps all day long...

CFE 223 isn't listed as one of Hodgdon's extreme (temp. resistant) powders. Those of you who have used it extensively, how has it performed in that regard? Does it still do pretty good with wide fluctuations in temperature?

Yes, but my standards may not be as high as yours. I never measured velocities at bitter cold temps because, well, I have better things to do than freeze my nuts off just to conduct that experiment. I honestly don't notice any change in elevation POI between hot days and (relatively) cold days of 40º or so, at least not enough to cause a miss on a coyote out to around 2-250 yards with a rifle (AR) sighted in during the summer.

Just got done at the bench loading .223 so here's my thoughts,

Benchmark meters through powder funnels like water, as consistent thrown charges as I've ever seen,

Today was load development with each round thrown and then verified on the balance beam set at 24.6 grains,

Never touched the trickler once.

24 grains of BM for 50 grainers and 24.6 for 60 grainers.

Using the RCBS competition die (loading window) and things are golden.

50 gr NBT - Tac works great in Rem ADL and RAR

For 50-grain bullets, the best I've used were Benchmark and TAC. If I wasn't so loaded up with powder already I'd try CFE223.

Started with 748 years ago, used RL10 and 4895. Currently it's AA 2200 with 40 grainers at 3700 FPS.

Gives the range rats flying lessons.

HM

With 55gr in a 12-twist I've looked no further than W748. Meters well and the case will hold enough to get good velocity. Accuracy has also been excellent in several rifles. Today's data on w748 is conservative....search for some older data and you can make 748 sing! I've tried Varget with both 50 and 55 with no complaints but it is a pain to load vs 748.
Good Luck,
Rick

you can't get enough W 748 in a 223 case and seat a bullet, regardless of how compressed
to exceed 223 SAAMI specs...

30 grains of W 748.. with any bullet weight from 63 on down has never been an issue in any 223
I have owned or played with....

and its ALWAYS accurate as hell...