Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Most Accurate Powders for 223W / 5.56

In today's environment, getting specific powders at any given time is almost impossible.

So what have proven to be your most accurate powders at reasonably good velocities with various bullet weights? Great accuracy with really low velocity is not very interesting, at least to me.

For me, with bullets of 50-60 gr, VV-133 is King.

For 62-69, IMR 8208-XBR has been really good over time

For 69-77, IMR 8208=XBR again, is really good & so is VV-140, but VV-540 is better than either, especially with 75-77 grainers. Alliant 2000-MR has also shown to be very good in limited use, but it takes a lot of powder / round.

Others that work well, & that I have, & will use as needed, but not necessarily as good as the above & some don't flow so well or don't give quite the groupings or velocity as the ones above:

RL-15, Varget, H4895, CFE-223, TAC & AR Comp

MM

Benchmark is very nice with 52-53 grain match bullets, very accurate. Haven't chronoed it though. H 322 and RL-10x are also nice with lighter bullets.

The best groups I've shot were with WC846, aka BL(c)2 and 50 to 55 gr pills.

IMR-4895's my goto stick powder for hunting bullets like the 60gr NPT and 64gr BSB.

W748 has given me some of my best groups with lighter bullets like 52s.

TAC has been my go to powder for several years now. I started out using it in a Sako 223 with 50 grain bullets and it works just fine with 77's as well.

The other powder is Leverevolution, I used it in my 223AI and got great velocity as well as great accuracy.

Ditto on the WC-846. I use it with a 50 grain VMax in one of my 223's, and the accuracy is outstanding. I've also had good luck with both W748 and H335.

Anyone using Accurate 2520?

MM

Never tried it, but considering the luck I seem to be having with Shooters World powders, made by Accurate, and how close it is to BL(c)2 I have exactly zero hesitation if reasonably priced.

Just a few benchrest matched won with that combination in the old .222 Rem.

AR Comp kicks some pretty good azz. Even in my 22-250's lately. My ar10 308 likes it too.

I have burned up 1,000 75gr hpbt match hornadies and its unpredictable. You get good velocities though. A buddy swears by it in his spr. He runs a mock up of the mk 262 mod1. 9 shot groups that are right around moa.

The reason that I asked about 2520 is that is seems to come available pretty regularly as well as TAC.

AR Comp, 8208 & any of the VV powders that I mentioned are pretty much unobtanium.

LGS says he hasn't gotten any Alliant powders in a year & I very rarely see any of the Alliant ones I might use in an AR available either.

I haven't see any W-748 in a long time either & I have a pretty good robot searching constantly.

Overall, just looking for what works for others as they may some up from time to time.

MM

Got my notes in front of me and my 77 grain SMK TAC load of 24.5 grains runs 2677 fps in my 16” barrel and 2761 fps in my 18” barrel.

Accuracy is pretty good.

To keep things in perspective.

SWP and Lovex powders are out of the Czech Republic. Accurate powders are made in Canada and United States now.

Accurate 2495, Accurate 2200 are good ones. I have a very good load using 2495 with 75hr hornady bthp. Have a good load using accurate 2200. I’m getting 2705 with the 75gr bthp out 18 inch barrel. I haven’t chronographed the 69gr load. Right now 2200 is readily available. Far as 2520 the jug I have it was made in Israel so I had it for a long time and I shot the worse groups with it. Like BSA said the velocities are phenomenal.

I do have an 8lb jug of AR comp I should open one of these days.

I've said this for decades....I think it is harder to find a powder that doesn't work well in the 223, than it is to find one that works better than all the rest...

I’ve used several powders through the years, but nowadays I use H-4895 for all my .223 loads.

I've had very good luck with everything from 40 gr nosler bt to 65 grain Sierra gamekings with benchmark. It seems like any bullet in that weight range combined with a near max load produces moa or better results for me.

What is your 2495 load with 75 bthp? I have three or four pounds of it.