According to a couple of my loading books H335 gives top speed in the .223 with 40 gr. bullets... I want to load for gophers and some p. dogs.. I have used it years ago, but not in the last 20 years.. I would like something easy to load and easy to purchase.. Some of the other powders come close, but they are not available in my area.. Next trip to Montana, I want to stock up on powder.. Right now H335 looks like the best deal .. What do you think of it??? It was accurate according to my notes, but a bit dirty...

I keep some 335 around for giggles, don’t like it much but does work. 4895, 8208XBR, Benchmark and 322 will all hang right with 335 or beat it and are better powders. Benchmark is my most used in the 223 out of a 24” tube 26.5 grains and a 52 easily hit 3500. 40’s leave about 3650-3700 with about a grain to go.

I've found it a bit variable pressure-wise, based upon temperature. "A bit" is ridiculously understated. A lot of guys used to swear by it for varmint shooting out of 223's. It should work fine. I think it's mediocre, per your question in your post, for accuracy in every gun I've tried it in from 223 to 444, and the pressure variability spooks me.

My most accurate loads with 40 gr bullets have been with Accurate powders, namely 2230 and 2460, with 2460 being the tops in both a target gun and a sporter. But if you have it and it shoots well for you, for it.

Seafire once posted that he'd had a couple guns let go on him over the years, and every time, 335 was the powder being used.

I have used it before but now use H- 322 or TAC.

The 335 will make the sky light up after the sun goes down.

It’s my favorite powder behind 40 gr Nosler BTs. Near max load was most accurate in first and second barrels. If I had to pick another powder, I think I’d go with Benchmark. The best use I’ve had with AA2230 was under 65 gr Sierra GKs, where it shot tiny groups.

I love how much H335 gets bashed by people that don't shoot it much. I have spilled more H335 on the floor than most of those guys have loaded. I have no less than 40 pounds of H335 I use it in all my 223 sized cases, even the 224 WBY Mag. It works great and I never see the problems that the detractors keep bringing up. We shoot prairie dogs all year round and that includes winter when temperatures do get a tad cold.

Funny how something that doesn't work, works...

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it very much...

For me H335 is one of my least favorite powders........while accurate in many 223 loads it is finiky. can be very temp sensitive and has a very high flame temp.

Has been many years ago so I don't have my original notes, but several years ago one of my friends had a thermal imaging camera. H335 heated the barrel up on a 223 much faster than using other powders like RL10x, N133, Varget or Benchmark. I used the last of mine this spring, glad it is gone and will never buy any more.

My wife loves H 335.. she uses some of my left over batches, in her Rose Garden and also on bare patches on the lawn....

it has great pyrotechnics when fired at night...

it served me well disassembling a couple of Ruger 77s in 223...

and did a good job turning a pair of stocks into expensive toothpicks...and kindling...

for some reason, even tho 25 grains of H 335 and a 55 grain bullet are bread and butter loads in a 223
the Ruger had an issue twice digesting it twice...

one a Factory load and one a handload, but both times 25 grains of H 335 was the powder charge.

since everything else under the sun works well in a 223, I tend to use anything else...

YMMV...

That would make me decide to use something else...

WyoCoyoteHunter: I currently own and use 15 (fifteen) long heavy barreled Varmint Rifles in caliber 223 Remington - 6 (six) of them prefer and use H-335 powder.
I have been using H-335 powder for MANY decades now and have as yet to notice problem one!
I have used this powder in temperatures from 20+ degrees below zero to 100+ degrees above - that's a temperature (sensitive?) range of 120+ degrees!
Still no problems, to date.
I say give it a try and if the accuracy is there use it with no trepidation.
Speaking of accuracy as I was counting up my Rifles in caliber 223 Remington and checking their powders in my loading log when I came across the page for my XR-100 Rifle in 223 Remington.
Back a few years I was "load developing" with it.
It happened that I shot a five shot group at 100 yards using LaPua brass, Federal 205 Match primers, Berger 52 grain H/P's and a "perky" load of H-335 powder (I have used this perky load safely in several other 223's) to shoot the smallest group I have ever shot with a factory (non-40-X) Rifle!
That group measured .121"!
That powder, that day, even outshot V.V. N-133 powder.
According to my loading log that was January 1st of 2,006 - and the temperature at my friends private range (6,005' elevation) was 6 degrees.
No wind at all and I was using a Leupold 8.5x25 variable scope on that all factory Rifle.
I of course have used that loading in that Rifle ever since and have done so on days shooting Prairie Dogs that hit 100 degrees!
IF... H-335 is temperature sensitive IT has never shown that to me in any detrimental way!
Best of luck with your 223!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: While perusing the 223 section of my loading log book I found out I mis-counted my 223 Rifles - inadvertently I counted my two pistols in caliber 223 Remington as being Rifles - they are not Rifles, so I currently own 13 (thirteen) Rifles in 223 Remington and 6 (six) of them prefer H-335.
Neither of my pistol 223's prefer H-335 powder.

Have seen problems with H335 ranging from varied zero and accuracy at longer range due to wildly different velocities from the initial zero temp, on up to a rifle that needed “rodded” to remove the case after every shot, when the temperature rose. This was due to high pressure causing the cases to stick in the chamber, and the rifle’s relatively weak extractor couldn’t do the job.

H335 is garbage. This isn’t 1982 - there are significantly better powders available.

And here i thought i was a hoarder.

Humbled.

Have used h335 in 223,220 swift,22 250,204r,243,17rem.,222. In heat and in cold. For over 40 years. Have not had any bad experience yet.

If you look around you can still find kegs of 844 Mil Surp pull-down powder, which is the same as H335 for less than 1/2 the price.

I use h335 in my .223, 6x45, 6x6.8, 224 Valkyrie, 20P, 204R, in every type of weather in 6 states without a hiccup in the last 40 someodd years of reloading.

WOW you must be running a really light load or are really lucky........or really don't shoot that combo much in hot weather.

I had good results with H335 for a long time, until once I didn't. Twice in one day. I pulled the rest, all the charges were a-ok so I became instantly paranoid. Shrapnel, however, is exempt from all the afflictions of mere peasants.

Twere me, tho, with 40s I'd look more toward an H322 burn rate. But that's why we handload, stuff works different for everyone.

The grandkids (and I) shoot the 223 year round here in central Texas. Temps run from freezing to 105 degrees. The standard load is H335 under 40 gr Nosler BTs. Not a max load, but it is ‘warm’. Been doing that for years. No problems. And I use that powder under 55 gr BTs, 60 gr Partitions, and 65 gr Sierra GKs. The 65 gr GKs did however, shoot the best over AA2230.

I shot many pounds of 335 in 223s with 40 and 50 grain bullets. It worked great.
I switched to Benchmark only to reduce the number of powders I was using. BM. Shot better in some my other rifles/cartridges and did well in my 223s, so I dropped 335.

I've got an 8 pound jug of 844, and about 10 pounds of 846, which is pretty much BLC-2. I prefer the 846 and have gotten excellent accuracy with it. Nothing wrong with H335 either.

I have used 335 in all my 223's for years. From below zero on coyotes to high 90's on p-dogs. I've heard all the bad press but I've never had a problem. Max loads 50 blitzkings and 40 nosler ballistic tips. Never had a problem. with my Cooper with close to 10,000 rds. thru it it will still put 5 in a slightly out of round hole @ 100 yds. that load does great things to p-dogs and sends them higher than anything else I have used. I've had doubles go 8 to twelve feet each.

H335 is the only powder I use for my .223s these days. When I couldn't find any a few years back, I tried some other powders like TAC and BL-C(2). Nothing else gives me the accuracy and velocity. I load it for three .223 rifles, a Ruger #1V, an AR-15 (20" heavy FN barrel), and a Tikka T3. My economy load is a max load of H335 and a 50 gr. Dogtown hollow point. This is sub-moa in all three. I use LC brass for the tikka and AR (full-length sized) and Winchester neck sized brass in the Ruger.

When I want to shoot ground squirrels at long distance, I switch to a 50 gr. Vmax in the Ruger and it is instant death on ground squirrels out to 300 yards as long as the wind isn't crazy. I've used this load in 100+ degree heat for ground squirrels, and in -10 for coyotes. No problems whatsoever.

I tend not to load to max in most cartridges but usually close.When shooting in hot weather it may not bethe charge weight as much as letting the rounds get too hot in sunshine before Being chambered. This is only aggravated by then shooting them thru a hot chamber. Aberdeen proving grounds define a proof load as a standard load heated to 140 degrees.

off topic for the powder....

but for the bullet.... 40 grainer plastic tips...

28 grains of Benchmark or 27.5 grains of H 322.....

Temp insensitive.....

H 335 may have not had issues in your rifles, but blew an action apart and messed up the stock
twice in 8 weeks... Ruger 77 Mk 2, 25 grains H 335 55 gr SP....90 degree heat.

I'll run about any powder in a 223, before I'll touch H 335, even on a cold day ( in hell, no less)

Been using H335 for years in my 223. No problems or indications of problems. And that rifle gets more work than the rest of mine combined. No bullets are loaded at max. Great accuracy.

I used H335 for 223 and it shot very well. I shot mostly 55 gr bullets. When compared to Accurate 2230 it seemed to be a dirty powder.

I changed to 2230.

I have 35 lbs. and have never noticed a problem. Never shot in cold weather, but shot in 107 deg. temp. in MT with no pressure problems. Four different rifles.

I've never had issues with H335 either. I've used it with three cartridges - the 222, 223 and a 6x45mm.

Try Benchmark or one of the 4198’s. Better with temp insensitivity

You might look at CFE223 it gets higher velocity burns clean also meters very well and seems to be available everywhere. I've never had a problem finding an accurate load with it in my 223's. Benchmark and CFE223 is about all I use anymore with light bullets in the 223 and it works equally well in the 22-250.

One of the WORST powders with a hot gun on a hot day I've ever noted on a chronograph was a "temp insensitive" powder; of course loading to the gills and noting such is what I went to the range for to find out.

A lot of issues get blamed on the powder flowing from the spout, not the one filling the case, when the issues can be avoided in the first place.

I keep reading that H335 is dirty. How does this dirtiness manifest itselt? Barrel get clogged and require frequent cleaning?

I know a guy who carries his ammo in his lunchbox rather than let it sit in the sun while in a pasture poodle town.
So 335 does have a reputation. However it is cheaper. faster to drop powder and higher velocity than Benchmark.
Measured by my chronograph. Benchmark is just as accurate but not as fast. Same with Varget.
Nothing is perfect but with 40 gr bullets in a .223 H335 is awful close
whelennut

Even after the extreme powders came along, it was quite common for varmint and competitive shooters to carry their ammunition in coolers. How much of an effect temperature has on groups, has always been a subject of heated arguments. No pun intended.

Over my 35P 335 has been consistently solid 100-250 fps slower than Benchmark. 55’s being the 100 and 40’s being the high. My favorite 50-52 load of 25.8 grains BM whomps 335 by 200 fps consistently. Might need to fix your chrono as my results match real close to Nosler.

I shoot 40's at 3950fps in a 20" 223AI,with '335.

You can hear it and see it.

Hint................