Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Your go to powder..........

8208xbr I used to use benchmark because I loaded a lot of 50-55g but I've moved to more 75g bullets and found 8208xbr to be like a bit slower benchmark. Everything I like about benchmark but 8208xbr works a bit better with heavier bullets. The tiny extruded kernels meter almost as good as ball. It's clean burning, consistent, and temp stable.

Bb

I agree CFE223 sucks...........but never really found it temp sensitive, just not very accurate.

RL-15 and Varget, only load 50 and 55 gr bullets.

This ... exactly

MM, thanks for the link, but there's more video there than I could watch in 2 weekends,

What are you trying to say, whats your go to load?

This. I've got a lot of RE15 because it works well in several calibers I reload for.

AA2230 and AA2460 are my 2 favorites but both are hard to come by.

kwg

What weight of bullet are you using with 2460? Load data?

Okay. I shoot bullets from 55-77 gr. exclusively in my guns.

After testing & working with a lot of different powders, I have settled on 2 primary powders that do very well across that bullet range, giving very good accuracy with all & as much velocity as can safely be wrung out of a 5.56 (223 Wylde) with an 18 or 16" barrel.

Those 2 are IMR-8208XBR & Alliant AR-Comp. They are both very small grained extruded powders that feed & meter very, very consistently.

With AR-Comp & the 77 gr. SMK, Nosler CC or Nosler RDF I am loading 23.0 gr.

With 8208 & those same bullets, I am loading 23.5 gr.

In all cases, I am loading to 5.56 pressure level, as best as I can determine & comparable to factory MK 262 & IMI Razorcore, both are loaded with 77 gr SMK.

Both powders provide a smooth recoil impulse as compared to say, H4895, which to me is significantly sharper & quicker, which I do not like.............but I will use H4895 in a bolt gun, not in an AR if I have a choice.

If I were only going to load 77g. bullets, Alliant 2000-MR would probably be my single choice; it feeds even better than AR-Comp or 8208, it's very accurate & will give just a little more velocity, especially in an 18 or 20" barrel than the others. But it also takes more if it to get there.

If I were only loading bullets of 60 gr or lighter, then I would choose VV-133............it's the darling of BR shooters with light bullets, & for a very good reason. Meters well, provides very low SD's & is more accurate than virtually anything else with light bullets. I also use it in bolt guns.

As to the old standbys of RL-15 & Varget, I can't think of a good reason to use them as the others are about as accurate, meter much better & give higher velocities..............Varget probably get's the nod as being THE absolute most accurate of the bunch with heavy bullets, if you want to accept 75-100 FPS lower velocities, & poor powder feeding with corresponding more variability round to round, & except under bench shooting conditions, the accuracy difference isn't enough to talk about, IMO.

As for CFE-223, which has come up here several times, it feeds well but I have not found it to consistently equal the accuracy of any of the powders mentioned above, nor is it really any better velocity wise, plus it takes over 25 gr to get to top velocity. I have not tested it for tempt stability.

Everyone has their own reasons for what they pick & these are just mine.

Given today's supply situation any of a dozen good powders will all work acceptably, some just do some things a little better than others.

YMMV

MM

Lots of info there, Thanks.

Dang mm. I wish I would have known that about mr2000 last weekend. I was at a gunshop that had it for$29.99/pound and my buddy asked what its good for. I never tried it, so I told him I didnt know.

Yeah, I feel your pain........................LOL

MM

PP MR2000 is also very good in a 308. I get great speed and accuracy with it running 175g or 178g bthp bullets in my 16" ar10. It also meters well enough that I've loaded 308 on my progressive.

Bb

It actually sounds very similar to AR Comp (which is my favorite). I also run AR Comp in my 308 win loads with 168-178gr matchgrade bullets. It makes sense that PP MR2000 would also work in the 308. Now that I know its good powder, I'll likely not see it again for a while. Good informative thread..

2000-MR is quite a bit slower than AR-Comp; slower than Varget & RL-15 too.

AR-Comp & 8208 are very close in burn rate & performance.

MM

Burn Rate Chart

I use LVR in my 5.56 ARs with 77 TMKs. I have messed with others a little but 25/25.5 grains has been pretty accurate and fairly quick in all of my rifles.

Scotty, how does LVR meter through a powder measure?

Like water. It’s a ball powder. I run it on my Dillon mainly. It’s so consistent it’s hardly ever checked.

LVR, Leverevolution I'm assuming?

to be honest, the name freaks me out, makes no sense.

There’s no Lever data that I’m aware of for 223. But it’s about all I use in mine and my 222mag. Good accuracy and speed, meters like water, and until recently it was usually available when everything else was gone. I primarily shoot 77s in the 223 and 55s in the 222 Mag.