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Greetings,
Need to pick your brain for the best powder for reloading .223 AR-15, 55 gr. bullets.
I've heard that 748 has had some issues with pressure spikes.
Extruded powders don't measure / meter well.

Thanks for your help,
Blue Skies!
 
I have loaded 1000's with accurate 2230, and accurate 2200, and x-terminator by western powders(Ramshot) Western Powders bought out Accurate. All seem to shoot the same. Meters great in Dillons too..
 
I use H380 for the .223 bolt actions (27.7) and change the load to 27.0 grns for the AR loads due to case capacity difference. It flows well and makes the cases easy to check visually.
The loads run well and I haven't had any malfunctions with that load. I was told that many AR shooters don't get real good accuracy with the jacketed 55 grn, but that is all I shoot. The shooter didn't really say why. The 2230 is supposed to be accurate but I was told by a gunmaker that it is a dirty powder for the AR's.
 
I like the Varget. It can be used in almost every rifle I reload. It is also nice because Varget is not temperature sensitive like others you can use your loads from winter to summer without any worries of pressure.
 
Their all good you just have to play with powder and loads to find out what works best in your rifle, not all rifles shoot the same. i have one Mini that like 24.5 grains imr 3031 with cci primers and another that like 23.7 imr 4064 with rem primers.
 
I have been using H335 for .223. Works fine in the AR's. I ran out at the end of my last reloading session and if I can't find any more, I may try some W748.

My recipe for .223 rem:

55grn FMJBT
25.5 grns. H335
2.23 - 2.24 COL
CCI or REM or WIN primers
3000fps give or take

I haven't really experimented much with the primers (regular or magnum) but CCI seems to have gotten a reputation for being the hardest of the three.

I also picked up some 52 grn JHPBT at Bi-Mart and got some nice groups out of my fat 16" barrel using 26 grns of H335. (These are my special rounds so I try to use only once fired brass.)
 
Ramshot TAC and X-Terminator work pretty good and meter well, Accurate 2230 is also a good pick for metering (ball). BL-C(2) meters well also, but I find that the velocity is not as good with this powder in this cartridge (223) as some others.

I get the best accuracy with H4895 and Varget, they are extruded powders, but still meter pretty good and give excellent velocity with the 55 grain bullets.
 

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