Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles .223 Rem, 75 ELDM, Benchmark?

Anyone using this combo, especially from a 24” barrel?





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yup, that and H 322 also...

not necessarily the Fastest MV, but both sure are accurate, in one in 9 and 1 in 8 Twists.

80 grain ELD is MORE accurate tho...at least in my rifles.

I have a bunch of them, they’ve shot very well in other rifles.

My rifle is a stainless Tikka Varmint with a 24” barrel. Hodgdon lists 23.5 grains of Benchmark as the max. I made 3 cartridges and shot them over a chrono. I got an average of 2895 fps with an ES of 18. That’s a little faster than the website suggests (2829) but they’re shooting out of a 1-12” and mine is 1-8” so that might make a difference.





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Not a big fan of Benchmark and 75's, rl15 and Varget get the accuracy and velocity that works best in my gun.....

I’ve tried Varget, okay at best.



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RL 15 is NEVER a bad powder choice....

neither is IMR 4895, 4064 or 3031., if you're looking for accuracy...

Mostly I use Benchmark behind 55 gr Vmax,
H4895 and 53 gr vmax has been a good combination,
Varget and Rl 15 with 75,grainers

Just started playing with Leverlution in an AR15 with 77 gr matchings with pretty good results!

Pretty much my mainstay with the 223 rem

I use Benchmark with 50 gr BT, very fast and accurate.




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With the lighter bullets it's easily my favorite, except the 53 gr vmax, H4895 I haven't need to look for something better!

I really like the profile of the 75 ELDM. Waaaay less wind drift, which is my weakness.




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For the 223 with 75-80gr bullets easily my favorite powder is VVN140........
For years people shied away from VihtaVuori powders because they were more expensive, no longer the case. Hodgdon powders made in Australia such as Benchmark and Varget are now more expensive

Hit the range today with a seating depth test, 75 gr ELDM, 23.5 gr Benchmark, CCI400 primers, 2x R-P brass.

I was happy with 1.920”




Until I tried 1.940” (a couple thou off the lands)




Four shots per seating depth only but I’m pretty pleased, 0.325”. A warm day, too, 77 F but I wasn’t in the direct sun.






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Very nice!

Looks like a keeper, have you ever tried cci br4’s?

BR series CCI primers are way overrated. I quit buying em when they went almost 30 bucks more than standard. There wasn’t 30 bucks worth of greatness in them, or at least that what my groups and Oehler says.

I dropped the BR versions a while back for the same reason. My standard LR primer used to be the BR-2 when they were $13.50 a brick, instead of $11.50 a brick for the 200.

Could not agree more !!!!!

like the 75 Sierra and Hornadys. Mostly shoot 80 eld, 88, and 90s to 1000 yds. H335, 2230, Tac are outstanding. Ruger PrecisionxRifle , small rifle mag primers, 1x7 twist, Burris XTR III. Got a good deal on 88EDLs- bought 2 boxes. - of the 3500 boxes. 18cents a bullet.

They are pricey, but one of my rifles turns out some very tight groups using them,and load workup is alot easier than any other primer, there is a difference not just price!

Nope. Started with CCI400 when I began reloading and haven’t tried anything else in small rifle.




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