Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Best Powder For 223 With 40 Grain Bullets

For some reason or another, I've never reloaded 40 grain bullets in a 223. 50 grain bullets are the lightest I've used. I'm curious what powders those of y'all who use the 40's have found to work the best.

Benchmark would be a pretty good place

H322, CFE223, Benchmark, H335, Winchester 748. I have shot all of those in my 700, Savage Axis and Ruger American ranch with a 40grn Vmax with good results.

I've got all those powders, so I should be able to come up with something.

I have shot 40 grainers quite a bit out of a 223......H322 works good, benchmark is good, H335 is fertilizer, CFE223 works much better with heavier bullets. my favorite is N133 for 40gr to 50gr bullets

Ramshot X-Terminator/A2230 works well with lighter bullets and meters like water.

H335 / Ramshot X-Terminator / VV-133 are my favorites for 223 with 40's. In my experience the best accuracy is with VV-133 and both H-335 and X-Terminator being a close seconds. If shooting paper use the VV-133, if shooting varmints you can use either of the others.

drover

I've hade good results with IMR 8208 & Benchmark. Trying VV N133 next.

Outside the box, but works fine...

In Federal Brass, 26 grains of RL 7.. 40 grain V Max or Ballistic tip.

Lake City, Remington, Winchester.... 28 grains of RL 7...

out of a 22 inch barrel... 4000 fps MV.

accuracy is excellent.

Benchmark and H335 works for me. Benchmark really shot good with NBT Lead-free bullets in both my Model 700 and my son's AR.

What I use in high volume varmint season?

14 grains of Blue Dot, 40 gr V Max.... 3350 fps MV.

More than once have shot 500 to 600 rounds in an afternoon, in 90 to 100 degree temps, without ever having to clean the barrel due to lost accuracy, or having to let the barrel set and cool for 30 minutes, just averaging 3 shots or so every 2 minutes, even with a Rem ADL sporter weight barrel...

Barrel life? got 4 or 5 barrels on varmint rifles in 223, bolt actions., with well over 30,000 rounds down the barrel and still will consistently hit a target the height of 12 oz popcan, with a 90% consistency at 200 yds and under, and about 1/2 the size in diameter as said popcan. a target that moves at what looks like 90mph, and stops on a dime....

bolt action 223, not ARs

and for economy? how about 500 rounds out of a pound of powder?

How does that fit your profile for best powder for a 223?

My current.223 is a Browning/Miroku Low Wall single shot, an older one with 1-12" twist. No prairie dog towns around here, not many groundhogs anymore either. So for occasional range sessions I use 40 grain Bergers and CFE223 at 3700fps. The 1/2" groups it delivers make me smile on the drive home. I do load 50gr. TSX's for possible deer hunting which shoot almost as well as the Bergers, with CFE223 also.

Makes me scratch my head.....(bald of course !!!!!), CFE223 was one of the worst powders I tested with several 223's using 40 grainers, in my rifles it seemed to work better with 60gr+ bullets. in my rifles, AR and bolt N133 was the hands down winner with 40-50grain bullets

My bolts and ARs both do exceptionally well with H335 in my 223s. Very good accuracy and velocities and it meters so well I set the powder thrower and check it about every 20 rounds and it is usually right on .... Gave a few of the same reloads to a buddy for his 223s and they shot just as well in his rifles.... tried a few others but nothing came close to the consistency of the H335.

Once I start loading the 53/55 grain Vmax and Btips for my ARs I will experiment with different powders - if I can get any- and see what works for them....

Don't know what to tell you. It works for me, gave it a whirl in the Low Wall after ridding myself of the AR and finding myself with several pounds of it. Works pretty good in .250-3000 and .30-30 too. Haven't used it for anything else.

Could it be the extra length of the 40 Bergers compared to traditional 40's?

Hi gnoahh,

What primers are you using for your CFE 223 loads? Thanks

Scott

I don't shoot a ton of 40gr bullets in my 223 rifles, but I have done some testing and I tend to like powders on the faster end of the 223 spectrum like Benchmark, H322, 2015, and my favorite powder for bullets up to 55gr...RL7.

CCI 400 SR

Tried some H335 and 40 grain bullets today in a 223, a Model 7 Predator. Very good group. Then I tried some X-Terminator powder, and five shots were in a dime sized group. I think I'll quit right there. This particular rifle is very accurate, and will shoot good with almost everything you feed it.

This has given me the best results with 40gr bullets.