Powder for .223

R

RileyMartin

New member
Hi,

I am going to start reloading .223 for my AR and wanted to find out if there is a ‘standard’ powder that most AR shooters use.

Thanks
 
Standard? Not anymore- SOOOOO many choices. I burn H322, H335, IMR4064 and CFE223 in mine, depending upon the bullet used.
 
What I would do is decide on a bullet, for me it is just range fun ammo, so cheap 55gr fmj. Start looking at powders listed in the manual that are listed under that bullet weight. You are looking for a powder that is "happiest" with that weight. Sounds weird maybe, but if you see a powder that is listed in weights of 40, 45, 50, 55, and not 60gr, you know that powder might be at the faster range for 55 and it will work, but not might give great results.

There are so many to choose from, that it usually comes down to what is on sale/available to you, and if you like an easy auto-metering ball powder, or are a one at a time loader and don't mind stick powder. (some stick powders don't do as well in press operated auto powder measures. but if you are a weigh it and dump it into a funnel guy then it doesn't matter)
 
Benchmark, Win 748, IMR 3031, H355 are pretty common and all produce sub MOA loads for most rifles.
Win 748 is temp sensitive, ammo in the sun or a seriously hot day and it gets unstable and groups open up.

I haven't found a good load for CFE, but some say they do.
 
For 55 gr. fmj i've been using Win 748, and Alliant Power Pro Varmint.
For 69gr. Sierra MK i've been using Alliant Power Pro 2000.
 
I figured I’d start out with a more inexpensive bullet so I planned on using 55gr FMJBT rather than a heavier bullet. My barrel is a 1 in 8 twist barrel which I understand is supposed to be more accurate with a heavier bullet but the max distance I can shoot where I am is 200 yards so maybe it will not matter. If I find it does I’ll go with a heavier bullet.
 
Using 55 gr. Hornady soft points I've had good success with CFE223. For heavier bullets I've been using IMR 8208 XBR with great results. Of course that's relative, but I feel that 0.5 inch 5-shot groups at 200 yards out of a 16-inch barrel AR-15 is better than average. YMMV of course.

Between the two powders I like how 8208 XBR meters better (more consistent) than CFE223, but again your powder measure may disagree with mine. And from my rifle, XBR seems to perform better on targets than CFE223 with 60+ grain projectiles.
 
A lot of shooters use Ramshot TAC, while many heavy bullet shooters like Varget. My first choice is TAC, but I also use IMR-8208XBR. There are lots of powders that work well in the .223/5.56:. H-335, H-322, H-4895, Accurate 2015, 2200, 2230, 2460, Ramshot Exterminator, Alliant Reloder 7, 10 and 15, etc.
 
H-335 is the "standard" Why , because it's the canister grade powder used in the M-193 military cartridge . You can't get any more standard then that :)

That said I agree that there are many that work well to include all that have been mentioned except one CFE-223 .

I haven't found a good load for CFE
Click to expand...

Me either but that could be that I've not given it my full effort . If a powder does not produce at least MOA accuracy relatively quickly I tend to drop it as a choice . That's what I've run into with CFE-223 and there are enough other powders that work just as good as CFE ever will . So why work my but off finding a load using it while at the same time wasting components , I'd rather just move on . Also the rumor is that CFE-223 is NOT very temperature stable . So I'll keep the 1.25lbs I have left for the zombies :p
 
IMR-4198 (generally the most economical choice since you max out under 20 grains)
IMR-3031
Winchester 748
Benchmark
IMR-4064

And then there's all the suitable powders I haven't tried; CFE-223, TAC, Varget, H-332, H-355, plus a plethora from Accurate and Alliant.
 
I really like Varget with 55 and 62 grain bullets. You almost don't need to measure the powder, just fill the case and seat the bullet. Almost -- so don't do that.

I have a jug of WC844 that I haven't tried yet. (I haven't reloaded anything in about a year) It's like H335 with a flash inhibitor.
 
I've played with about everything suitable at one time or another. For 35-55 grains and in not-too-extreme temperatures, Reloader 10X is actually pretty good. For 50-55 grains and not shooting at over 200 yards, H4198 gives good accuracy and temperature stability. The only drawback to those choices is the failure to produce maximum velocity. For 62 grains and up, the slower powders start to show their stuff better, including H335. By the time you get to the 69-grain match bullets, then Varget and 748 and other powders in their burn rate range become more efficient and do their best work.
 
I just bought 8# of H335 for my 5.56mm loads.... it's been working for me for 20-odd years, why change now? That's not to say there isn't a better powder for a specific bullet and/or barrel, but I've found H335 pretty versatile.
 
I have used Win 748, IMR-4895, Varget, Tac, H335 but now mostly Tac and H335. I have got good accuracy with all of them after working up a load the gun likes. Mainly depends on the bullet weight and what velocity you are looking for.
 
I haven't tried a lot of different powders yet, but AR-Comp has given me good results with various 55gr bullets.

FWIW
 
I have 3 AR15's chambered in either 5.56 NATO, or .223 Wylde, and one bolt gun chambered in .223 Remington. Each of them shoots most accurately with different combinations of bullet and powder. However, they all seem to shoot acceptably (I consider 1 to 1 1/2 M.O.A. acceptable.) with H-335 and anything between 52 and 69 grain bullets.

If I were just starting to reload for .223 Remington/5.56 NATO, H-335 would be the powder that I would start with.
 
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