WC-846 is a great powder for 308 and 223

M

Machineguntony

New member
I’ve been shooting a lot of WC-846 (similar for BL-C2) through my guns lately. It’s a great powder for 308 and 223.

Last weekend, loaded up 1000 rounds of 308. Buddy and I walked in rounds at the 700 yard targets at Holley Gun Range in Gatesville, Texas. They go out to 1200 yards, but he asks that machine guns stay at 700. Bolt actions and deliberate semi auto can go to 1200 (backstop issue). It’s a really awesome range and the owner is a genuinely good guy. $20 to shoot all day.

The load is 44 grains of WC-846, 150 grain ball, LC brass on its third firing. I use this load in all my 308 plinking rounds.

The WC-846 is mil surplus powder from a gov contract. If it’s good enough for the gov, it’s good enough for us.

I hope everyone is staying safe in this epidemic. Hopefully this BS is over soon, and we can get back to normal.

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Am fond of ball powder for 223 and 308, and use a lot of 748. Yes it is susceptible to temp extremes, but not as susceptible as i am. And you don't have to weigh every charge, just check how it's throwing occasionally.
 
BL-(C)2 is canister grade WC846. The powder was originally developed during WWII for contract loading of .303 British ammunition for export to allies using that round and later was found to be appropriate as a standard ball powder for M80 for the M14. The only difference is that BL-(C)2, being canister grade, is held to tighter burn rate tolerances for the purpose of keeping published load data valid. Surplus WC846 can be faster or slower and fail to work with some published recipes.

A simple practice is to work up your WC846 to see if you can safely match a BL-(C)2 starting load with it. Compare it to the same load of a purchased sample of Hodgdon BL-(C)2 to see how its velocity compares to get some idea of its relative burn rate. If the velocity from the surplus powder is higher, you won't be able to load it as fast as the BL-(C)2 data without getting higher pressure. If its velocity is lower, you will need a larger charge of the surplus powder to match BL-(C)2 pressure.
 
When I first started loading about 30 years ago I used Blc2 for both .223 and 7.62x39 and it worked excellent. Now for .223 I like H335 for lighter bullets and H4895 for heavier bullets.
 
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