Powder for heavier .223 bullets

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KCRaider21

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I have the opportunity to buy some powder and bullets for loading .223. I have not loaded any .223 before and most of my factory rounds have been 55gr or 62gr. My options for bullets are 69gr, 77gr and 80gr and several different powders to choose from. Mostly IMR powders. See picture. Does anyone have experience with any of these bullet weight? If so, what powders would be good fits for those bullets?
 

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Its a really good series. I have watched it through twice last year. He got some really good results, both with velocity and accuracy. I was hoping to dial a load this spring, but I'm expecting supplies to be scarce this year.
 
TAC and 4895 from that picture are the ones I would grab. 4198 won't cycle in a mini because it's too fast and best for light bullets in bolt guns. 4064 might work as it is a good powder in 308 for match loads but 4895 is one I've used in 223 and it worked well. TAC is of similar burn rate and I've tried it too. Works good. Varget is another people like. No experience. AA 2230 is great with 65 grain bullets and my favorite in 223/5.56. If you load other rifle calibers 4895 is very versatile into 308 and 3006 class cases. It's military equivalent spec for 308 and I believe TAC is also. 4895 is crunchy stick and I think TAC is spherical ball if I remember correctly. Ball tends to meter well and I think that's one reason many people love TAC. It's really neck and neck with 2230 in 5.56.
 
I shoot a lot of 69 and 77 grain bullets in my .223s.

I find that the slightly slower powders (those recommended for .308s) perform better with bullets from 60 to 77 grains.
With the 50 to 55 grain bullets, the traditional faster .223 powders (H335, N130, N133, H322, CFE223) work best.
I can't speak to 80 grain bullets (I don't have a fast enough twist to stabilize them).

My best performing powders with 77 grain bullets (not necessarily in this order) are:
H4895
IMR4166 Enduron
VV N140
Varget
RL15
IMR4895
CFE223 (shoots well with both weight sets)
 
For me it's Ramshot TAC or N140 for the heavier bullets in .223 Rem.

I like TAC for how it meters and also lots of Data from Ramshot themselves
 
I use TAC for everything in 5.56. H335 & BLC-2 also work well, but I found TAC a bit more versatile with different bullet weights. Plus, I was able to pick up 8# cheap a few years ago. [emoji846]

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk
 
I've used TAC and IMR8208XBR with 77gr TMK - I like both powders with the edge going to 8208.
My worst powder, because of temperature sensitivity, is CFE223 - stuff is pure garbage IMHO.
 
I like Varget a lot, but I haven't tried that many different powders, and all I load is 55 and 62 grain bullets.
 
totaldla said:
I've used TAC and IMR8208XBR with 77gr TMK - I like both powders with the edge going to 8208.
My worst powder, because of temperature sensitivity, is CFE223 - stuff is pure garbage IMHO.
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Im just starting with CFE223 and I am rather hoping it works out as I bought 10lb of it.

Base on my research, for my area, I should have a 114fps difference between hi and low temps I can live with that.

Been reading up on the temperature sensitivity. From what I read CFE223 has a 1.7 FPS per 1 degree temperature change rate. Where I live the average hi is 85.3, and average low of 18.5 giving me an ES of 66.8f. Multiply the ES by 1.7FPS change and that gives me the 114fps swing

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Varget is my go-to powder for 69 gr bullets RE-15 for 75 gr bullets

There are other powders that perform well
 
Shadow9mm said:
Im just starting with CFE223 and I am rather hoping it works out as I bought 10lb of it.

Base on my research, for my area, I should have a 114fps difference between hi and low temps I can live with that.

Been reading up on the temperature sensitivity. From what I read CFE223 has a 1.7 FPS per 1 degree temperature change rate. Where I live the average hi is 85.3, and average low of 18.5 giving me an ES of 66.8f. Multiply the ES by 1.7FPS change and that gives me the 114fps swing

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I wonder how the velocity changes as the cartridge sits in a warm chamber? How can I get consistent combustion with a powder that swings like CFE223?

I'm not interested in messing with poor powder formulations when there are better powders available. Actually, any powder is better than CFE223 with regards to temp sensitivity.

CFE223 is a mediocre plinking powder at best, IMO.
 
In Virginia, over a year's time temperature can range from 20 degrees to 110 degrees so you can't disregard temperature completely.
I understand your concern over temperature.

It depends on how long you let a cartridge sit in the chamber and how warm the chamber is.
I only feed a bullet into the chamber when I am ready to shoot it.
A couple of degrees of warming won't effect the speed much.
I also have a strip thermometer on each of my target barrels so I know when the barrel is heating up - I let the barrel cool when the barrel gets around 120 degrees F. That minimizes the heat transfer.

CFE223 and most of the non-extreme powders change somewhere between 100 and 155 fps over the span of 0 to 125 degrees F. depending upon the powder. That is from 0.8 to 1.24 fps per degree F.
The extreme powders change from 4 to 20 degrees F over the same range - that is 0.032 to 0.16 degree F.
If you research your powder you can figure out the impact of temperature and adjust for it.

Or if you are calculation averse, buy QuickLOAD and it will let you adjust your loads for temperature with temperature sensitive powders. A tenth of a grain of powder generally changes the muzzle velocity by 5 to 6 fps depending upon the powder and caliber.

I actually check temperature forecasts and adjust the load my rounds based upon the temperature that I expect during the shooting session.
Somewhere around 1908 to 1914, the US changed to 59 degrees F as their default temperature norm for reloads.
Apparently, Europe still uses 70 degrees F as their default for reloads.
 
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