Im finally going to get some 223 dies and reload for it. I Had a big stash of black hills ammo

Think I will get the Redding 3 die set

What powder for a bolt varmint rifle(not a auto loader). What powder do you guys like ?

Any tips on who has good deals on bullets right now? Ahh... 55 grainers...?? I usually buy bullets from Midsout since they have the best prices plus I will get my dies from them.

There are several powders that do very well in the .223. And which one is best, depends on who you're talking to.
My powder of choice is H335. You can't beat Sierra MK bullets, 52 or 53grs. If you're more interested in varminting rather than little, bitty groups, buy the cheapest bulk bullets you can get in 55grs. (avoid FMJs) Hornady and Remington make a good bullet that can be had cheap in lots of 500 or more (you may think 500 is a lot of bullets but it ain't. Once you find out if your rifle likes a flat based bullet or a BT, you'd need to buy your MKs in bulk too) I've heard some good stuff about the Midsouth dog town bullets but haven't used any.

I was thinking of a Ball powder for that small case .223 since ive Never used ballpowder for my large rifle reloading and it would meter beter for loading a bunch of 223s. Looked at the manuals and looks like several of the long stick powders show a significant higher velocities than the ball powders listed.

I like RL-7 with 40 grain NBT for a wonderful varmint setup.

My 2 223 rifles both shoot 50 gr Nosler BT with H335 quite well

The Savage 110V 223 will shoot the cheap 55 gr sp bulk Midway sells almost as well

John

I prefer Ramshot TAC over the usual ball powders like H-335 or W-748. It seems to burn cleaner and foul the barrel a lot less than other powders. Good accuracy and velocity, too. Haven't tried it with the heavy bullets, mostly use 40 and 50 gr bullets, never go heavier than 55 gr in my 1 in 12" twist bolt guns.

Benchmark is a great powder for the 223 and it meters beautifully.In all my rifles it has produced sub minute groups
robz

JD,

From previous answers above you've already received some great advice, since there's certainly many options for a .223 Remington.

I would select a bullet in the 50-55 grain arena, 50's, 52's, 53's or 55's initially since that's pretty much "standard" fare for a .223 Remington.

The ultra-lite <50 gr. & >55 gr. heavies are kinda specialized stuff IMO but there's still no dearth of great loads with these bullets either. As a gag I can get 33 gr. Speer's & 35 gr. Hornady's to shoot Bug-Hole groups at way-y-y +3700fps out of both .222 & .223 Remingtons but those are pretty specilaized loads, not for starters.

Net, a 100 box of 55 gr. Sierra HPBT's or SPBT's, Hornady 50-55 gr. A or V-Max's, same for Noslers or the Speer 50 gr. TNT's are probably a good place to start.

I wouldn't jump on the bulk bullet band-wagon just yet, as they're for "bulk" loading after you've found the sweet spot. Having said that; Midsouth's, Remington & Winchester bulk bullets have all delivered fine, accurate loads at one time or another for me, too.

quote:

you may think 500 is a lot of bullets but it ain't

wasbeeman's statement above pretty much sums it up after your load has been established - many .224" bullets (all calibers for that matter) are a good place to be.

Here in Europe I use VVN-130 & VVN-133 because it's always available. I tend to powders that can be used with both .222 & .223 Remingtons but that's most of these powders anyway. VVN-133 is the One-Shop-Stop for the .223 Remington IMO. Right now I've a hoard of Speer 50 gr. TNT's and haven't found a rifle yet that won't digest them very well. So currently this combination is what's getting the nod at my bench.

For Stateside there's so many good .223 Rem. powders available it's hard to list them all. Favorites when I can obtain them here are the good old standby IMR or H-4198, H-335 (some including me find it burns a little dirty - to each his own but the performance is spectacular), H-322, AA-2230, BLC(2), RL-7, H-4895, etc.

I agree 100% percent with ball powders for easy measuring but the smaller grained tubular powders for .223 Remington can measure just as easily after a little techiques is developed.

I guess I ought to really answer the mail ..... if I was gonna start loading for a .223 Remington today and looking for quick success at a good, solid load (you can experiment 'til the Cows come Home, later) I'd reccommend purchasing a can of H-335 or H-332 and a couple of different 100 count boxes of brand-name (one boattail and one flat based) 50-55 grain bullets and go from there.

Have fun with your .223 Reminton loading project.

+1 for TAC

I swithced from H-335 which was very accurate. TAC burns cleaner, is not as temperature sensitive, and is also very accurate.

I use 55 gr. Sierra #1365 SBT's.

Good Hunting,

Bob

BLC-2 Varget Benchmark 4895 H335 IMR4064 all work really well .

About .010" off the lands one of my favorites is BLC-2 25.5 gr. with a 52-55 grain bullet , their not

exceptionally speedy !. JUST ACCURATE out of one of my rifles @ 100 meters # 15 inside a dime from a

sandbag . Rifles shooters powders projectiles all vary ,so will the results .

quote:

What powder for a bolt varmint rifle(

BL(C)-2

my 223 really likes the berger 52 grain match bullets pushed by 22.0 grains of IMR 4198 also shot really well with 21.0 and 21.5 grains of same powder. the rockchucks that i have shot withem never even twitched. i use RCBS Dies the two die set works well for me

Thanks for the tips guys, Ordered some 55 gr hornadays for $10.70 and some Sierra 55 gr Varminters $13, cheap to start with. I have some 3031, 4895, think Ill buy some H335, BL C2, maybe ww748 depending what the gun shop has in stock, I saw some cci small rifle primers in stock. I can try those ball powders in my 9.3x57 too

Is WW748 a spherical ball powder?

quote:

Is WW748 a spherical ball powder?

Yup.

quote:

Originally posted by JD Miller:


Is WW748 a spherical ball powder?

Not to be anal or nitpick, but...

"Ball" powder is a Winchester/Olin trademarked name.

Hodgdon uses the term "spherical" to denote the same thing as "Ball," which they cannot use since it is a copyrighted name. Ironic as they now distribute all Winchester powders.

Saying spherical ball is redundant. Kinda like saying cycles hertz.

I get good accuracy from lots of different powders loading for the 223.
TAC
748
H-322
BL (C)-2
H-335
IMR-4198
RL-7
H-4895

I've used all of these powders for 223 loads, and quite honestly, all deliver 3 shot, less than 1/2" accuracy at 100 yards. Your rifle will tell you what it likes. All loads were with 50-52 gn bullets, and there are so many good bullets in that weight range, I get dizzy thinking about which one is best. All are best.

For me, cheapish and accurate bullets in .224 cal are either Hornady 50 grs V-Max or Sierra 53 (52) grs HP(BT) Match. Best accuracy/price relationship I have yet to find.

Bulk bullets *may* shoot in your rifle, but then again, they may not. It is rare I find rifles that won't shoot the bullets above.

- mike

When you start loading up 1K of cartridges for a Pdog shoot, what is a minor difference when buying bullets 100 at a time, can add up to quite a bit of gas money for the trip.
One of the most accurate .224 bullets I have ever shot was a 500 load of Hornadys (with a channelure, believe it or not ). I really thought I was onto something but when I ordered the second lot, they did fine but not like the first batch.

If the new release of Acc 2200 is priced right that will be a wise buy. The stuf is just dandy in the .223. If you want load data for the .223 I'll be glad to E-Mail it to you. Will need your E-Mail address. roger