Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles powders suited to ARs

I do not know if this is the right forum ! Reloading ? I have reloaded for years (bolt rifles ) .I now have an AR .A friend who is a good reloader and bench rest shooter .He said the powder burn rate is very important (duh ,)because of the port that operates the rifle and the peak burn contributes to a harsh slam of the bolt or not enough soup to operate the system.I have 3 reloading manuals (2 with specific AR data) As long as I follow the recipe in the AR data what else could there be ?

"As long as I follow the recipe in the AR data what else could there be ?"

Myths and rumors...

How old are your manuals?

What powders do they list?

Is you objective to just get decent workable loads or something more precision?

What weight bullets do you want to shoot?

How much time do you want to spend on this project?

MM

just use Benchmark for the small pills and Varget for the bigger ones, keeps it simple and it works

That's where I differ. I wont' waste my time with varget in the little 223 case. Use a powder that has AR in its name. Hint...

vARget has AR in it's name...

Damn, you got me on that one.. I'll be honest, the reason I don't like Varget, or the like, powders in the 223 is because it doesn't meter worth a chit in my uni-flo. The 223 case is so small that it becomes a nuisance to weigh out every charge and slow going through my funnel even. It's just time consuming, where the AR comp isn't. I loaded up 100 rounds last night with that powder and just dropped it in the case right from the powder measure. It's only about 40 times faster that way. Generally I can load up about 300 rounds per hour on a single stage press, without even breaking a sweat. For me, that's the true beauty in using a ball powder or a small grain powder like AR comp. It's also extremely accurate and clean burning. Really hard to go wrong with that powder in any kind of rifle action: Bolt or AR, doesn't matter, it one of my "go to" powders now, even in my AR10 308.....

for 50 and 55 grain bullets Benchmark is also the best in accuracy and speed. LOVE benchmark for 50 grain bullets. I don't shoot heavies do I don't know about that. just read the post by BSA, the load I run in 223 with benchmark has a 3 grain window I can be in that has not change in POI. So if you are a couple tenths off, its Meh, fire up the harrells power measure and let it rip. I like tac pretty good in 6mm DTI, now that stuff meters.

I was a fan of Benchmark until TAC beat it in both velocity and accuracy in my old Sako. Now I use it with lights and heavies.

I can't get along with varget either.

Using an 8# jug of Thunderbird 8208 right now that I got a $1.00 a lb in and it's shooting nice. Next up will be CFE 223, then maybe back to TAC. I like whatever I can get a deal on but it has to work well. MB

There's really no need to weigh Varget charges for an AR. Even at 600 yards, 99.9% of shooters can't shoot the difference.
If you're careful about bridges and don't spill any powder, it shoots great. When it bridges, I dump out the previous charge & the current charge.

I have Sierra 5 th, Hornady 8th &Lyman49th Editions . I have a bunch of #1355 Sierra 55 Gr HPBT and some Benchmark .The Sierra bk has 23.6 to startup to 25.2 I used cci primers Wolf cases and got flat primers from 23.6 to 24 Gr of BM .The BM does meter well and it is here + the bullets and cases,I suppose it leaves me with changing primers or go buy different powder.Thanks for the help.

AA2230, AA2460 H335 and Benchmark. All meter well and are all have a similar burn rate.

kwg

IMR 8208 is the powder that works for my AR-15. I have only shot 55 grain Sierra Blitzkings and 69 grain Sierra Matchkings and 8208 shoots those bullets in nice tight groups.

Dan

CCI400s flatten easily.
Check your velocity. If it isn't approx to the book vels given barrel length, your pressure isn't the same either.

I use Benchmark. 748, 335, BLC2 and CFE223. It is going to depend on the best price of an 8 lb. jug. My preference is CFE223 or 748.

If you're using CCI 400 primers, I'd surely change...........they are soft & flatten easily & there is a distinct chance of slam fires moreso than with other primers in an AR.

Adding to the flattening, IIRC, Wolf brass is thicker than Win or Rem which is used for more reloading data development, so that would directionally add to higher pressure (ie flattening of primers), IMO.

If you are not into putting in some time & trying / changing components, then I'd back away from reloading for an AR & shoot factory ammo, hence my questions earlier.

There's nothing wrong with BM as a powder, & it may be fine as you have loaded it, or if the flat primers bother you then back the load down a little or get some different brass and surely a different primer.

As to primers for an AR, Rem 7 1/2's work just fine, & are about as cheap a good primer as you'll find.

CCI-BR4, CCI-450 Mag, Wolf SRM, CCI-41 all work & I will only use those in an AR; Win, Fed, & CCI-400 all get reserved to bolt guns.

Hope this gives you some info & direction..................AR's are not quite as straightforward as loading for bolt guns & have some caveats involved to keep an eye on.

If you decide to change powders, & there's nothing wrong with Benchmark, IMO, then there are lots of powders than work well: TAC, 8208, AR-Comp, RL-15, Varget, V V- N133, 135, 140, 540, CFE-223 are all very widely used powders & easily obtainable.

I just priced TAC, & it can be had in 8 lb jugs for less than $20 a pound & under $22 by the single lb.

MM

Thanks folks.MM if I shot factory ammo I think I might shoot half as much !I am going to tinker with this "handy man jack " until I get all the juice out of it that it deserves .I do really like powder that meters well .

Lever

There are numerous powders that work well in ARs. Follow modern reloading manuals and you will be fine.i use Benchmark, but have used H322, H335, and several others.

I do not have a chronograph so it is possible that my experimental loads are doing way better than I am aware of .If our blizzards would leave for a spell maybe I can continue .I shot the last one into the dirt out the back door.I only do a few at a time as like most why pull bullets.

TAC, 8208, AR-Comp, CFE223 & the V V powders all meter very well.

MM

This, and Benchmark right along 8208 since they're very similar. If the OP is having trouble metering Benchmark, there's something not right. It should meter pretty consistently.

BM meters good for me !Thanks a bunch !

Sorry, I got that mixed up with another thread, someone was complaining about Benchmark not metering well. It or 8208 are both great choices for the AR, up to 75/77gr bullets at least.

For plinking I use h335 with the Hornady 55 gr fmjbt, for long range loads A2520 and Alliant power pro 2000 work well, for competition I use Benchmark with the Sierra 52 gr hpbt match bullet, most accurate bullet powder combination that. I have.