What do you guys think is the best all around powder or powders. I got bullets in 40 grain thru 69 grain.

H4895 will work well with all weights.

I like IMR4895, with match bullets in my AR 15, 69 thru 80 grain, and I like IMR3031 for my bolt 223's with 50-53 grain bullets.

Jerry

It's hard to beat W844 or W846 surplus ball powders for the price, especially 844 for your use. Both were intended for military use in the .223 (and can be used in the .308 also).

I use W-748 but in the Nosler Manual show Benchmark as the highest velocity and accuracy.

I use W-748 with 50gr V Max and Benchmark with 63gr Sierra's and 55gr TBBC's.

For varmint hunting I use 25.4 grains H338 with 55 grain Hornady V-Max bullets. This upper has 1:9 twist rifling.

For National Match Course competitions, I use 24.0 grains RL-15 with 77 grain Sierra MatchKings for 200 and 300 yards, and the same 24 grains of RL-15 with 80 grain Sierra Matchkings for 600 yards. This upper has 1:7 twist rifling.

Regards,
Bill.

Good results with 2230-C, WCC844, WCC846, DP 2200, DP 73, Dp74, T1680, ac 2015. They all shoot good in my 12BVss-s.Some are a little bit dirtier than others, however. roger

Varget works.

Up to 54 grains V V 133. Anything heavier, Varget.

I've had excellent results with Ramshot X-Terminator with bullets from 40 to 55gr. 26.0gr with a 40gr Hornady V-Max, 25.5gr with a 50 grainer give nice tight groups and the ball powder meters very nicely!

Everyone offered up an opinion without asking for what type of Rifle !.

What powder for which Rifle ?. H332 H 335 BLC-2 RL-15 IMR 4895 H4895 Varget Bench Rest IMR 4064 ON AND ON !.

There's a CRAP LOAD OF POWDERS ! The Best one ??? Surly you jest my good man !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

In my experience: Benchmark will get you slightly better velocity in all weights up to 65 but Varget will give better accuracy 60 and over.

I like 24.5gr 3031 with 55gr.

Ive tried H4895 & Varget in the 55Vmax, they plain didnt work for me, Benchmark & RE10X worked very well for me, RE10X would probably work best for the 40s, its made for lighter bullets, Varget may work great for 69s but I havent tried it in my 700VS since it doesnt have a fast twist.

There are more than a dozen powders, perhaps even two dozen if you count suplus powders and a few from the more obscure manufacturers, which will work quite nicely in a .223. Sometimes, one or another of them seems to do the best with a particular bullet in a particular gun.

WC 844, which is the same spec as H335, is the powder that was originally developed for the .223 and it is hard to beat with conventional bullet weights. Many others do similarly well.

quote:

Everyone offered up an opinion without asking for what type of Rifle !.

Now Doc: In my response, I not only gave the powder, but the platform and the bullet weight, since he didn't ask, I could not have been any clearer. ???????????????????????

The powder choice I added was to address the wide range of bullet weight that he listed. H4895 will work well in ANY rifle. A .223 is not really what I would call a "hard to find a load", type round. I would lean to Benchmark or VV 133 for the 40-50 grain, but that is not what he asked.

Use a small grain extruded powder.
H322 comes to mind

No one has mentioned it, but I have had really good results using Accurate 2230.

wc844 or its civilian brother, h335 .. from 222 through 550 magnum, for me ...

BLC-2 for me.

RIGHT ON DOC!!!!! ...I have/had a couple dozen 17 to 6mm cals, rifle and swap barrels and I hardly use the same powder for more than about two at any one time...

There AIN'T no such thing as one powder/one bullet does all in ANY caliber. I use the powder and bullet that shoots the BEST in any single shooter, doesn't make any difference what type of action...I used a lot of ball powders in my H-Bar when I was hosing down the world and was more interested in volume loading than quality...and I also use more ball and small grained powders for my BR/long rangers IF they provide equal to or better than log powder as far as accuracy is concerned...but every rifle, every bullet weight, every 223 cartridge no matter what caliber it ends up decides what it likes...besides...it wouldn't be much fun and I wouldn't get a lot of shooting done if there was only one powder and one bullet to play with, now would there.

Luck

Ramshot Tac hands down. Burns clean, meters great, and accurate in most rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by Glen:
Ramshot Tac hands down. Burns clean, meters great, and accurate in most rifles.

which is very close with wc844/h335

foobar -- you are right, theres no one powder that does the MAX in ALL carts...

but i have found the one powder i keep on hand, at all times, that can delivery book vels in every cart i use it in.. and to date thats been 222 through 550magnum .. its too fast for big rimmed/NE carts..

I concur that one powder won't cut it with that spectrum of bullet weights in the .223. Too much compromise at both ends. My extensive velocity, pressure and accuracy tests show that with 40 & 45 gr bullets H4198SC is the best powder while H322 works ok. AA2230 and H335 are too slow for the lighter bullets but excell with 50 & 55 gr bullets. AA2460 is excellent to duplicate M855 with using 62 - 64 gr bullets and Varget is THE powder for 69 gr Match bullets. This applies to bolt actions and gas guns alike.

Probably some other powders that do as well in those burning rates but with 144 different powders available today you have to make some choices. The powders mentioned are always readily available where I live.

Larry Gibson

As I have said a zillion times.. it is easier to find a powder that DOESN'T work well in the 223 than it is find one that is better than all the rest...

its a very unfinicky cartridge..

H4895n and/or Varget.

RedC,
Are you owner of the Red Coleman liquor Store chain?
Butch

quote:

223 powder question, which one.

BL-C(2)

When loading heavier bullets and for accuracy, my rifle loves Varget. For those rounds I weigh every round, so the fact that Varget sucks in my powder thrower doesnt bother me, I just trickle the last 1/10th or so of a grain.

For plinking rounds I usually roll with 748, BL-C2 or H335.

I recently did a check of several powders with 55 gr NBTs, 62 gr Nosler partitions, 69 and 77 gr SMKs in a 1:8 Tikka and a 20" 1:8 BHW poly-3 AR 15.

Group size in both rifles went something like BLC(2) > H335 > DP2200 > RL-15.

In other words, RL-15 worked best for me if I was looking for smallest groups. Is obviously less convenient to load on a progressive than DP2200.