Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Reloading powders for .223

Same with H335 at my house also... better choices when you have a hot day or hot rifle chamber....does weird things...

I have about 14 lbs or more of H 322... haven't had issues with that powder when it got hot... and also get pretty darn good velocity out of it...although my load data used is out of some older manuals...so I am sure that they are obsolete or considered hot by today's standards... but the brass doesn't seem to mind, nor does the rifles...

I've had trouble with hangfires using H335 in the 223 and 222 magnum UNTIL I used Win SR primers, and ONLY Win SR primers. I'm experimenting with CFE-223 now. I like BL-C{2} in my 223.

John,

H322 is one of the Hodgdon Extremes, so shouldn't be very heat sensitive. It is really good in the .223, and so is Benchmark, another Extreme.

Dang, 335 just don't get no love.

Actually, I use more Benchmark in the 223 than I do 335. But I still have a few pounds of 335 lurking somewhere around here.
I have had "issues" as Ingwe posted, some of it induced by playing around max or so on a hot day.
But despite its bad parts 335 is still the 1 powder that any 223 worth its salt will shoot well. I still play with 335 from time to time just for chits and giggles.

Seafire,
I've been playing around a lot w/ H-380 lately in a variety of calibers gleaned from old manuals.
Some work pretty damn well, others suck. But 380 was around while all other powders were scarce. And did find some decent alternatives. I still use my old manuals all the time.
Keep em by the bench for reference.
Almost forgot, found some old 335 loads for the Swift.

I got 3400 ft/sec and half-inch groups with 50 grain V Max and Benchmark.


P

Thanks JB!

I was over at the range today, and running some 53 V Maxes thru a Model 700 in 223, with a charge of H 322... and it was giving me about a 6mm hole for 3 shots at 100 yds....

This spring there will be some varmints flying apart with a 'bolt out of the clear blue' in the guise of a 53 V Max...fueled by 25 grains of H 322...

Both of those powders load great in the 223.
H322 has won a lot of bench rest matches ; very stable, consistant powder.

The best use for H335 is burning ice off the sidewalk.

I still keep a pound of H335 around, so I can include it in handloading articles, but basically abandoned it for H322, Benchmark, and TAC years ago, at least for lighter-bullet loads. Have found Varget and, sometimes, RL-15 sometimes better with heavier bullets.

Have used 26 grains of TAC and a good 50-grain bullet as my "test load" for .223's for years, as that combo has shot well in at least 8 rifles I can remember--and also discovered along the way that Nosler was using it as their load to accuracy-test batches of 50-grain Ballistic Tips as they came off the line.

When did they change H-322 to an Extreme powder?

In most of my rifles I have done load development and stick with one powder for the life of the barrel, for some reason I am always tinkering with a 223 load in several of my rifles.
I gave up on powders like H335 and BL-C(2) years ago, either too dirty or temp sensitive. the last quite a few years I have been using Benchmark ,RL10x some leftover VVN133 and Varget for the heavies. but..........about a year ago I started using IMR8208XBR and love the stuff. It has great accuracy,velocity and is the cleanest burning powder I have ever used!!!

I made the request, and they sent me an email and said, "Okay".... the rest is history...

Swifty,

I don't know when H322 became an Extreme, but it's been a little while now. The Extremes are all made by Australian Defense Industries, and my supply of H322 says "made in Australia" and is at least a couple years old.

As boatanchor notes, IMR XBR8208 is also a powder well worth trying in the .223, and is also made by ADI. Even though it's not listed as a Hodgdon Extreme (instead it's sold under the IMR label) I am sure it's made with the same technology.

Just bought a pound of XBR8208 for my 223 where does it sit in a burn rate chart.....is it better suited for heavies?

On Hodgdon's chart it's right next to TAC and H4895, a little slower than H335 and H322. In other words, right in there with a pile of other powders that work well in the .223.

Thanks...looking forward to working up some loads!

Was just wondering why they would take and make 322 an extreme version , then leave 335 alone. Instead they come out with Benchmark as an extreme 335 which it does mimic very well. 322 & 335 were both widely used in the deuce and 223 back in the 70's and early 80's. Could it be that 335 is still the powder of choice for the military in the AR, and they would not except the change?

JB:

Isn't XBR 8208 supposed to be a competitor for Alliant's AR Comp?

I used a bunch of AR Comp when it was available... and if & When it is available again, I plan on it replacing my use of RL 15... it is supposed to be the stable version of RL 15... or as some gun writer did that article calling it the Swedish version of Varget...

8208 is remake, although not an exact remake, of the old original 8208 which was a popular bench rest powder years ago that had a bit of a cult following back in the day.
The new version seems to be spreading it's wings into a lot of other areas & cartridges as well.
It's a great powder. I've used myself it with excellent results in 223, 22-250, 6.8 SPC and 308 win.
-Ted

Swifty,

Like a lot of Hodgdon powders, H335 originated as a mil-surp powder. Essentially it and BL-C(2) were different lots of the same powder. When Hodgdon ran out of the original mil-surp stuff in the early 1990's they started having a new version produced.

It's also a ball powder, and from what I've seen ADI only makes extruded powders. or at least all the Extremes are extruded powders. There aren't very many temp-resistant ball powders--the best I've seen are Ramshot TAC and Big Game. If you want a temp-resistant ball powder of about the same burn rate as H335, I'd look for some TAC. It's why I quit using H335 a dozen years ago.