When I reloaded .223 back in the stone age, I used either H-335 or Hodgdon's Ball-C(2). The latter was powder that was reclaimed from condemned lots of military 5.56 by Hodgdon and repackaged for the retail trade. It's probably not available any more, I imagine.

 

Alliant's Reloder 15.

When I shot Highpower across the course, I reloaded LOTS of 223 with a 75 gr Hornady and 24.7 grains of Reloder 15. All my ammo meant for the 200 and 300 yard lines was dropped with a RCBS Uniflow measure and the consistency was good enough to net me cleans if I held hard.

For 600 yard ammo, I throw short and trickle to exact weight.

 

For the past 35 years i have used IMR 3031 in my .223 with 40 and 45 grain bullets. All my loads using IMR 3031are very accurate and very consistent. Killed hundreds of coyotes with IMR 3031 and Winchester, Remington and Sierra 45 grain bullets.

 

h-335 here see pic at left

 

WC844- Cheap and get good results with 55gr and 62gr bullets.

N140
N540
AA2230


The only one I'm still looking to buy is Varget.

 

Hmmm - may have to try some H-335 perhaps - but gonna have to use the Varget anyways.

For the past 35 years i have used IMR 3031 in my .223

Hmmm - well have some of that but had used it for hot 45-70 loads in the Ruger #1 ..... in fact wasn't over impressed with it for metering IIRC. I only have 1# remaining so may not start on using it for .223 - well yet.

Thx tho guys for the input - always useful.

 

I've loaded thousands of rounds with most of the above powders with good results.
This is what I've decided on.
Ramshot TAC for my standard loads. 62 grain Golden West bullet driven by 26 grains of TAC and a Winchester primer.

Match load. 25.5 grains of Varget driving the Berger 73 grain pill, with Bench Rest primers.

 

Match load. 25.5 grains of Varget driving the Berger 73 grain pill, with Bench Rest primers.

Thx for info - so I assume you liked Varget. I am just finishing a 100 rounds with just 55's over 26.4 of it .... see how they run but, still finding when throwing the charge that sometimes it is getting ''chopped'' and not overly consistent.

I am going with that for now as haven't the time or patience to weigh each charge and trickle - just not that critical. Still - good to know what others have found. Thx again.

 

I use Win. 748 in my .223. My load consist od 28.0 grs 748, Hornady 50 gr V-max, CCI 400 primer with Federal cases. From my Remington 700 VLS I get 3400 fps.

 

Thx Dodge and welcome!

Haven't used many Win powders yet, in fact haven't yet gotten to trying 296 for some mag loads.

N-133 has always been a fave but gotta change cos of cost. Using up some 3031 in last batch and we'll see how they run.

 

Roll your own

I had a mini mauser mark X,that I set up for varmits and target shooting in .223.I tried all kinds of powders,bullets,primers,etc..Even got a micrometer bullet seating die.The most accurate and consistant load I found was with AA2230 powder and 55 gr. flat base Winchester soft points.:danceban::danceban:

 

I second the Win 748 for .223. A very easy metering, spherical powder. A very good performer for accuracy loads in my 14" T/C.

You'll find the same ease of use with Win 296 - I use that for .44mag loads and Win 231 for 9mm loads.

edited to add:
I use Varget for the accuracy load in a .308. The extruded powders are a little tougher to meter. With the volume of power you are using in the larger cartridges (42gr in the case of the .308), the typical variation in powder weights from your thrower won't be that critical. Uniforming the flash hole in your cases will make more of an improvement in keeping the velocities consistant than keeping the powder charge weights within a half grain (or even more) of the desired charge weight.

Randy

 

Most spherical powders are far too temperature sensitive for accuracy applications.

Ramshot TAC seems to be the exception.

On the contrary, extruded powders like Alliant Reloder 15, Hodgdon Varget, and IMR 4895 exhibit almost no temperature induced changes in burn rate and meter well enough to clean any NRA target with ease and high X counts.

 

Had good luck with AA2230 & 55grain pills.:tumbleweed: