Looking for thoughts on reloading some .223.
I have the following powders on hand:
223 CFE 1#
BL-C(2) 1#
Hodgdon H335 9#

Just want to know if any pros/cons of these.
I am going to use these sooner or later.
These are for plain ole 55gr Berry's plated bullets to shoot in a plain-jane AR and maybe out of my H&R Handi rifle. I also have 200 Winchester 55gr bullets.
I have 2, 1/12 and a 1/9 barrels. Handi is 1/12.


I am open to other powders for future recommendations, after I have tried what I have.

I haven't tried any of those on .223 loads, but I've loaded lots of AA2230 in my 55gr practice loads for my AR and AUG. No complaints on that one. It metered very well in my Dillon and was fairly clean burning.

I have used H335 and 223 CFE. No problems.
Varget works, too.
Have some but never tried BL-C(2).
Have used TAC with mixed results.

PC

I use BLC2 for all of my 5.56 fmj's. It goes through the measure on my Dillon consistently and shoots clean. I have loaded thousands of rounds with it.

I load 27.4 gns with a 55 grn fmj-bt. This load is .1 grain under max in a Hornady manual and over max in a Speer manual I looked in.

I shoot that round out of a 7 inch, 10.5 inch, 11.5 inch and 16 inch barrels and it runs great in all of my rifles. I bought a ton of it when it was cheap.

I ran thru an 8lb can of BLC2 with 5.56. Works fine.

Any of those can work well.

H322 for my SMK 69's work very well for me.

H335 is my go-to for .223, and has served me well in the past under a wide variety of bullets, although I'm currently working through some issues with a specific 55gr bullet which I think are more of an issue with the projectile than the powder.

Ive used the CFE223 and it meters wonderfully and works well with some bullets I use. However it's just horrible with the 60 grain Nosler Ballistic tip. Do not understand why but groups go from under 1/2 MOA to nearly 5 inches with this combination. Most likely a stability issue but it's a 1:8 rifled barrel that loves this bullet when loaded with Varget. BTW the Copper Fouling Eliminator actually does work. With the Hornady 68 grain BTHP I'll get 0.38-0.42 inch groups at 100 yards so it's a pretty good throw and go powder with excellent accuracy with the correct bullet.

For my most accurate loads I've found Varget can't be beat. Downside is that it meters miserably so every single powder charge has to be tweaked to weight. Upside is that in my Shilen barreled precision AR it will shoot under 3/10 at 100 yards with a 68 grain Hornady. I also use Varget in my 308 loads but my only 308 is a Ruger Scout Rifle and not the most accurate rifle, MOA is roughly 1 7/8. Because it strings vertically I suspect that the mount for the Scout scope is pulling the barrel up as it gets warmed up.

For future consideration and purchase, look at Accurate 2230. I've used it in limited loads for .223, but those loads were accurate (no pun intended) and shot REALLY smoothly. I haven't loaded a lot of .223....yet.

Another good powder to keep in mind is IMR-8208. It has many uses, medium rate, near the 4895s for burn rate.

For 77gn SMK I use either Varget of RL15.

I find BLC-2 the best in 5.56. After that is AR Comp.

I’m loading a big batch of plinkers now, 55gr FMJ over 25gr of H335.

My usual go-to is TAC but I traded into this H335 so I’m burning through it for range ammo.

Keep an eye out for American Reloading adds for their Midwest Powders such as WC844 bulk powder (some say it’s milserp and other sources say it’s a takedown powder of H335…but I bought 16# for $245 shipped with zero Hazmat back in early 2020 …it’s was delivered to my front door as a perfect powder for .223/5.56…I’ve also bought their Midwest Powders MP350 (AA1680…my .300BO loves it) as well their MP35=RedDot equivalent for Cowboy Action .45 Colt loads…I guess I’m following Para’s sage advice from yesteryear (I’m ‘Para phrasing’ here ) “when we see thing’s getting better for us, we should stock up on what we need” … my next post just might include some “Truck Cheese” references …I love me some SigForum…HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR YALL!!!

.223 and 335 are the two powders I’m stacked the most deep with and I’m super happy with both.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
For future consideration and purchase, look at Accurate 2230. I've used it in limited loads for .223, but those loads were accurate (no pun intended) and shot REALLY smoothly. I haven't loaded a lot of .223....yet.

Years ago I stopped in Gretna, IA at Brownells just to check things out. They were closing out there Belgium made AA2230 because the new stuff was going to come out of Florida. They had AA2230 on for $12/pound in eight pound canisters. I said “Bring me all your AA2230.” Like Ron ordering bacon, I had to clarify. “You may have heard ‘Bring me a shit-ton of powder,’ but what I said was ‘bring me all your powder.’” I think I bought seventy pounds or so that day. It was everything, and I split it up among my friends. I kept 48 pounds or so. Works well in 30-30 too. Nice powder, especially at $12/pound. Note: AA2230 and X-Terminator are the exact same powder. Not similar, but exactly the same, as in the milk out of a single utter in different jugs.

I also bought a M77 chambered on .204 Ruger that day. Don’t stop in Gretna unless you want to clear out your savings account.

If you are building plinkers then CFE223 is the way to go. Because it meters extremely well so you'll see a big reduction in charge weight variation without resorting to electronic metering devices or trickling each charge to weight. I will also note that it really does reduce copper fouling in the barrels.

Note I have a 20 inch precision AR that will shoot under 3/10 MOA with a 68 grain Hornady BTHP and at 4/10 with a 60 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, both with hand adjusted loads of Varget. With 68 grain bullet using CFE223 the accuracy is horrible, roughly about 5-6 inches but the Nosler 60 grain works very well with groups at 4/10 MOA. You can guess what I use for Plinking loads. Actually I don't use the precision AR for plinking at all, barrels this accurate to not last forever. However I do have an iron sighted 16 inch AR that is lots of fun for plinking with and from a rest with the iron sights I've managed 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards with it.

H335 is my favorite for 55/62's and TAC for 68/77's.