223/556 powders

Over the years I’ve had a 223, I’ve used Varget, IMR3031, IMR4064, H335, AA2230, and BL-C(2). Varget shot real well with 55 gr Noslers, but I got tired of the hassle of dealing with full cases. AA2230 worked great with 65 gr Sierra GK. But these days, I just use H335. Very accurate under 40 gr Noslers, 55 gr Sierra and Nosler, 60 gr Partitions, and 65 gr Gamekings. Quite a muzzle flash when I shoot the 40’s in my 20 inch barrel.
 
I haven't tried H335 yet. From the responses it seems to be the favorite in 556/223 cartage. Varget seems to be a close second. I also load .308 as you might guess, I have also heard varget is a good powder for that cal. One powder for two cartage's would be nice.


Thanks again for the responses, I appreciate the input.
 
I haven't tried H335 yet. From the responses it seems to be the favorite in 556/223 cartage. Varget seems to be a close second. I also load .308 as you might guess, I have also heard varget is a good powder for that cal. One powder for two cartage's would be nice.
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Be careful with trying to make it too simple. I used to do that... but found some performance and accuracy differences with different rifles of the same cartridge (namely, .308.) As it turns out, I use H335 for 5.56mm... and 3 different powders for my 3 different .308's, mostly because I use 3 different bullets between the 3 rifles. Not saying one powder wouldn't work, but you might be leaving something on the table.
 
748, TAC, x-terminator, varget are what I use most often, the first 3 meter great out of most measures.

As your longest range is 200 meters a fantastic ES/SD won’t show up in your groups the same way they would at longer ranges.
 
For 55 grain and lighter I prefer H335.

For the 68 to 75 grain bullets I like Reloader 15.

A powder I used that made a decent alternative powder for .223 was IMR 4166. While it did not give me the best of any groups for any bullet weight. It did give consistent groups across the bullet weight range. It also filled cases well, and metered well out of a volumetric measure.
 
Thank you Charlie, I have settled on 1 powder and a few bullet weights for my 308 loads for two rifles. IMR 4064 seems to do quite well with my 168's to 180's in .308, not saying something else couldn't do better, just works well for me. In the 556/223 these are just the powders I have on hand (4064-4895-blc2-cfe223), not closed minded to others. I will need to burn through a # of some before the wife lets me buy another :) (we are very budget driven). Might fertilize the lawn with one...
 
Just picked up TAC after a very helpful and informative conversation with a respected Reloader resaler Bruce from Cedarhillarms.com
I for some silly reason associated TAC with being more of a AR powder and being a snob against ARs being able to provide accuracy I desire ( I know ARs are accurate...I just like to hang on to my delusions since they are not legal in my area of retirement lol) and with my 69g BMBs it is really beginning to grow on me as my heavy pill go to powder. I still enjoy BLC2 and H335 for the lighter stuff ( CFE223 is all over the place for me...good velocities but not as consistent ) I am going to try 75, 77 and 80 grain pills I have and see if the performance translates equally.
So many options...so much free time :)
 
Yes, I use IMR4064 in my 24" bolt Savage with 168grn bullets, it just works well, even better than IMR4895.

It's funny... I settled on IMR4895 at the beginning of my .30 cal reloading career... it's the Unique of rifle powders, I can, literally, load every rifle cartridge I load for with it. But after all was said and done, the only thing I still use IMR4895 for is what I originally bought it for... my M1 Garand. The Savage 10T gets IMR4064, the Socom16 gets IMR3031, the Savage 99 gets IMR4198. Thankfully, I have other cartridges that use those powders, too, so not all is lost, but after years of trying to pare down my rifle powder selection... here I am with twice as many as I used to have. Oh, well.
 
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