.223 / 5.56 powder

I have been very happy with N140, trying some Benchmark this weekend. I recently grabbed some CFE223, but haven't had a chance to try it yet. I would also add how you are going to charge each case as the extruded powders might not meter that well compared to the ball powders like BL-C(2).

I'll add that N140 for Hornady 55 and 60 grain V-MAX bullets I was able to get 5 shot groups touching at 100 yards and a dime will cover them up. Sierra manual claims for the 77 grain SMK that 24.1 grains of N140 was the most accurate load (testing a workup on them this weekend). Hornady 75 grain match was close to the 55 and 60 grains, but my workup had some large steps in it, so trying the range between my best two groups this weekend. (this was out of a Rock River Arms Varmint configuration with a 20" 1-8" heavy barrel)

I still need to chronograph them...
 
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Tons of excellent "gas gun" powders out there. My fav is Win 748. I also have excellent results with H335 , Benchmark , and RL15 . My 16" Bushmaster likes velocities at about 2950 for the most consistent accuracy.
 
"I use Accurate Arms 2230. Works fine for me."

I've loaded a lot of .223 with that powder. Another good one is X-terminator. H335, 748, WCC 844 all work fine. I stay away from the slower powders since I don't load heavy bullets and don't like muzzle flash/fireball.
 
H335 is pretty much the standard for 50-60gr bullets. No reason not to use it. More data than you could imagine. If you have a good twist rate, like your 1:8, I recommend using bullets in the 60-70 range for best ranged accuracy, then you start opening up the benefits of othe powders like CFE, Varget, H322, BL-C(2) and 4064. CFE is good in those weights, but really shines in the 70+ gr. But for your 55isg grains, just go with the tried and true 335 and work up a good load. When tour done with those bullets, get yourself dome 69gr Sierra Match Kings and a pound of Varget ans find out what's really possible of your rifle. And most of all, have fun and be safe.
 
I have used IMR 4895, BL(C)-2, and Currently using H335. Had to powder jump a little bit when it was hard to find. Have also heard glowing reports of Benchmark from a friend but haven't tried it. I will probably stick with the H335 or other small granule powder just because it meters so much better.
 
I have not loaded for 223 yet, in fact I just got my first AR. So take this all with a grain of salt, I am just posting for discussion purposes.

I am planning on starting my load trials with BLC-2 simply because I have a good plinking load for it in 308 and it meters well for me. It seems to have a decent reputation in 223. I will try H335 simply because it seems to be so popular in this cartridge. CFE sounds really nice and seems to yield good velocities while metering well.

I also want to try varget and 4064 as they are great powders for both 223 and 308, however they are stick powders and don't meter well so you may need to weight every charge. This may not be an issue to you, but I will be doing higher volume of shooting with 223 and would like to be able to load without measuring 100%. I will probably use these powders for high accuracy loads if they group well and the better metering powders for plinkers.

Again, take the recommendations from other members as I have no experience loading this caliber yet, I'm only posting on what I plan on doing which may be all wrong. ;)
 
H-335 for 55-62 grain bullets and I've had very good results with IMR4064 in the heavier bullets. I also have some Reloader 15 and some Benchmark that I've yet to try.
 
Overkill77,

BL-C(2) and H335 are actually the same powder with different levels of deterrent coating. The bulk parent powders are Western Cannon 846 and Western Cannon 844 mad by St. Marks Powders in Florida. WC846 was developed for 7.62 NATO. When the AR was under development it was tried, but found too slow for best performance in 5.56 NATO, until they tried a lot that had been set aside because it happened to be a little too fast burning for 7.62, but which worked very well in 5.56 with 50 and 55 grain bullets. So they asked Olin (then owner of the St. Marks plant; now owned by General Dynamics) to make the fast version on purpose for loading 5.56. They did, but they also created the separate designation of WC844 for it to prevent confusing the two. H335 is a canister grade version of WC844.

From the above history, I think you'll find loads of H335 better for your light bullets. The military loads not only to a peak pressure, but also to a gas port pressure range and a muzzle velocity window. Any powder that cannot maintain those parameters simultaneously is rejected for use in the particular load being tested. So you could run your BL-C(2) and not meet specs with the lighter bullets, and at full velocity it will be running the gas system a bit hard. With heavier bullets like the 69 grain match bullets, it should do fine, though. Just more muzzle flash in a short tube.

Note that the above powders were developed in the 1960's. The deterrent coating chemistry is harder to ignite than some of the modern coatings as you get in the Ramshot line, and for that reason they often are most consistent and as clean burning as they will get using magnum primers. Indeed, in 1989, CCI reformulated their magnum primers to better ignite these older spherical propellant formulations. Today, with the exception of Wolf and Tula, most magnum primers seem to have similar hot spark additives, so you can experiment to see what primer works best for you. A chronograph is your friend, here. You look for the primer that gives you the lowest velocity standard deviation, which is evidence of consistent ignition.
 
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