What would you say are the top 2 powders for 223

[Michael Wilson]

Looking at 55 grain fmj boat tail bullets mainly but would also be interested in a powder that could handle a heaver bullet too.
Also is there a powder that would work well with a 90 grain 223 and handle a 308 and 30-06 up to 180 grain? Thanks

 

[jt526]

Reloader 15 should do for 90gr .223, and I use it in my .308 175gr SMK reloads. I use it for 62gr in .223.

Varget is a pretty popular powder for .223, and in .308 ~44.5gr varget with 168gr and ~43.5 with 175gr works well.

 

[oldguy]

I use H322 actually for a number of years however it seems less popular now, but i get excellent groups and see no need to change..

 

[Texasjack]

Win. 748 and IMR-3031 have been good powders for .223.

Usually, you want to use a slower burning powder with heavy (180) bullets in .30-06, like IMR-4350. According to my Lyman handbook, IMR-4895 should work for the 90 gr. .223 and the 180 gr. .30-06 and .308.

Using one powder doesn't mean that you get the best possible performance for both (or either) calibers.

 

[armadillo]

For 52-55 gr. bulletsin .223 I use H-335 or Benchmark. For the other loads, I would recommend slower powders.

 

[TSU45]

ramshot TAC

 

[phatcyclist]

I've reloaded .223 with Varget before, they were sight-in loads for a friend's gun. I reload .308 with Varget and I've gotten really good results.

 

[Posit]

Varget and Reloader 15

 

[PopsXD9sc]

Ram Shot X-Terminator for 55gr and 60 gr and H335 for 69 gr. Think the XT will work on the 69 as well after talking to the Ram Shot lab but haven't tried it yet.

 

[robocop10mm]

If you are looking for a versitile powder that gives good results from .223 to .30-06 look at BLC-2 or W-748. I use them for everything from .223 to .243 to 7X57 to .308 to 7.62X39 to the good ol' 06.

 

[TexMex247]

AA2230 works well for me with 55-63gr bullets. Varget seems cleaner and slightly more accurate for me. I have heard great things about H335 and Tac but never used either.

 

[Dawico]

H/ IMR 4895 loads almost anything under the sun.

 

[Bullseye Shooter]

H335 and IMR 4895

 

[Major Woody]

RL-15, Varget, and BLC[2]. 25 grs /69gr. My Bushy loves these loads.

 

[JesseCJC]

H335 and BLC-2 for me

 

[Charlie]

Varget and RL12 (if you can find it!). In my AR, with a 55 FMJBT and a load of 26.1 grains of Varget got my groups to less than 1/2" at 100 yds.

 

[AusTex]

Ive used h335, h332, varget, 4895 and benchmark. h335 meters awesome... the h332 is similar just a little hotter.. I love to reload for .223 and the cheaper the better. Ive found great prices on prvi 50-55grn soft points... I like to keep things cheap... Anyone have a good recommendation on a cheap powder for .223 plinking? If anyone knows of any deals going on put up some links!

I load light for my suppressor all the time and I load varget and 4895 for my bull barrel 24" ... I can tell you that in the summer the Varget is the way to go as the pressure will stay safe in 100+ degree weather..

I have shot some .35-.5 groups with varget and 52grn SMKS and .5 groups with the 69's @ 100. I have taken the 69's out to 600 yards without much trouble also.

 

[medalguy]

H-335 is essentially the original powder the military used in the AR15 and M16 rifles. IMR4895 is the absolute powder of choice for 30-06 and is the powder developed for use in the M1 Garand. It should certainly be used in the M1 because other powders have different pressure curves and may damage the op rod on the M1.

 

[Michael Wilson]

Thanks everyone I got a lot of recomendations. I had this question on a couple of other sites and Varget had the most recomendations with H 335 a very close second and tac was a distance third.