Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles H322 good for 223 ?

I have a can of H322 but I’ve never used that powder before. Looks like it may be good for 50 grain bullets in the 223. Pros and cons of that powder for that load? Not sure if it matters but will be loading these for use in an AR.

If not good for 223, what round does H322 excel in?

Thanks,
Mike

H322 was a dominant powder in the .222 Rem back in the day. Now I use it in the .45-70 and similar. It falls between 4198 and 3031 on most burn charts.

Should work fine in the .223 with 50gr, though the slower powders seem more in favor now as they get better speeds. If you throw charges you'll enjoy pretty good uniformity with it.

Back in the day it set many benchrest records in the .222

I've played with it a bit in the .223 at the initial testing level. It looked promising, just never completed my full work ups with it.
I suspect that with the right combination it would be a real performer.

Great. Given the shortage in powder supply I’d like to give this powder a shot before using some of the other powders I have available. If the H322 doesn’t work for this application, I’ll try TAC.

I get 3450 consistently in a pair of 223’s using LT32 and 52’s and it’s faster than 322

I can't speak to your application of it in an AR, but I burned a ton of it in a .223 Ruger #1 back in the era of slow twists and 50-55grain bullets. (God, how did we ever manage to kill stuff with a .223 back then?) 50 grain Sierra Blitz's pushed by H322 accounted for an embarrassing number of Pennsylvania groundhogs for me.

I've shot many pounds of H322 in both the 222 Rem and 223 Rem with 50 grain, poly-tipped bullets, and it works great! Most of those reloads were in bolt guns but I've also used it in AR-15s and Mini-14s will good results. It also works fine with 40 and 55 grain bullets in those rounds. It meters very well, plus it burns clean and very uniformly. The only CON might be that it won't CONSISTENTLY produce the absolute highest velocity for 50 grain bullets but I never missed that extra 100 fps given how accurate my H322 loads were.

I've also shot even more pounds of H322 in handgun silhouette rounds like the 7TCU over the last 40 years and it works superbly in those cartridges, too. Another round where I used it with good results is the 45-70. I always try to have H322 on hand for my reloading tasks.

I'm running two different loads in my AR with H-322, one with 55 BT's, the other with bulk Hornady 55's.

Works just fine, go for it.....

H322 is superb in 222,223,222mag family. As previously mentioned it’s accounted for many BR records. I’ve shot enough 8# jugs of it through my old 223 pdog rifle that I eventually rebarrelled it. Currently using it in a16” 223 contender on pdogs as well as a 6br. H322 is good stuff.

actually it's not except on that POS burn rate chart that Hodgdon came out with a year or so ago, they show LT32 being faster than IMR4198
, what a joke !!!!!!!!!!
It was designed to compete with VVN133, but was actually slower so quite a few blended it with LT30 to speed it up a bit.
probably closer to IMR8208XBR.
HODGDON really missed the mark on several powders on their new list

Aalf,
If you don't mind my asking, what's your load with the 55gr NBT's?

Real close to the burn rates of RL10x and AA2015. I have used those in .223 for bolt guns and semi autos. I get consistently good accuracy from both the RL10 and AA2105. I don't have a chrono but I'm guessing the velocity is less than AA2460, 3031 or Benchmark but you would load more powder with 2460, 3031 and Benchmark. I load 23.2 for bolt guns and 23.4 for gas guns under a 55 grain bullet. Those are close to max loads if not just slightly over as per the loading manuals. I'm betting 322 will be close to the same and you will get equivalent accuracy.

kwg

I'd rather not say, 1st due to me shooting moly plated bullets, and 2nd my lot of powder dates back from a long time ago, and is not like the current extreme version.

I pretty much buy H 322 in 8 pound containers....

I can also tell you, the stiffer the load, with 60 grains and under, the stiffer the load the more accurate it is..

that is in bolt actions, agreed with about 20 plus 223 bolt actions I've loaded for over the years....

does zippity do'da in the 6.5 Grendal also.... and 22.250...amd 243 with light wt bullets.

I normally load it with 25 grains in the 223....if I want a little more zip, I'll bounce that up to 26.5 grains...

Never had pressure issues, popped primers etc...even with the 26.5 grain load..

I use Small Rifle Primers... no magnum, don't see the needs..

I also use a lot of Benchmark, and AA2015....I use reloader 7, so never saw a need to play with RL 10... but I have burned 4 or 5 lbs of it..
I just saw better results with RL 7... I buy that in 5 pound containers... and Benchmark and 2015, I usually buy that in 8 pounders...

H-322 is what I use for 50-55gr. bullets in .223. I'm down to just 1 lb. right now. Could use two more 8# jugs but I can't find any. Would settle for X-Terminator, Benchmark, TAC, AA 2230 or just about anything in that general burn range at this point.

probably within the last 8 weeks or so, I picked up two 8 lb'ers of 2015 from Powder Valley and 2 8 lb'ers of W 748....

I’m supposedly on some notify lists but so far- nothing. I will check out Powder Valley. Thanks. Have a suspicion that you were lucky enough to get in under the wire so to speak.

H322 is the powder I use for the 6.8 SPC, and what I used in the 204. I've used in the 223, and it worked about as well as any other powder did. I have about 10-12 pounds of it, so I guess I should use it more than I do.

H322 gives me the best accuracy with 77 grain SMKs out of all the powders I have tried. Only problem, is that load is slow at 2550 fps.

Fair enough.

I gave up on moly some time ago, and I'm also using the new extreme version of the powder.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

You are putting 25 grains of AA2015 into a .223 case and you have no pressure signs ?? I must be doing something wrong. I would live to find an 8 lbs'er in 2015. I would prefer AA2230 in an 8 pounder or AA2460 but I'd settle for AA2015.

kwg

H322 is a favorite of mine when paired with a Beartooth Bullets PileDriver jr. in my Guide gun.

I use it with 55 FMJs in a 5.56 rifle, I have a metric schidt-ton of it.

I was referring to H 322 with 25 grains and adding up to 26.5 grains when desired...

But from Steve's Reloading Pages, http://stevespages.com/224_8_50.html

it lists max charge at 26.6

OK. If we ever get powder back I'll give it a try.
kwg

H322 is my go to powder for the 223.

I've only used H322 under 40 grainers in my 223 bolters, with excellent results. The nice part is it all burns and is quieter than slower powders, I've been thinking about trying it to make a gas gun load with it, see if the pressure curve makes the gas system run better.


H 322 should be fine in 223, so work up your best (and probably stiff) load with that, then work up another with TAC. TAC seems to really like being under 50 through 60 grains.

scope adjustments can take care of that...what distances are you wanting to shoot with it...

a slower 77 grain SMK, is still flatter shooting than a faster lighter bullet in a 223...

or the other option... a fast twist 22.250... I've got one with a one in 7 twist.... she will reach out there...