Best Powders for the .223 Rem.?

[Rocky Raab]

Yup, H414/W760 (same powder) is WAY too slow for the 223. Even H380 is past the line.

H335 is a standard powder for the 223, but I don't use it for two reasons. I have "blown" only two cartridges in my entire 50+ years of reloading, and one of them was a below-maximum load of H335 in a 223. The gun was hot, and the first round from a fresh batch of reloads locked the bolt and blew debris out of the action. Had to beat the bolt open, then had to beat the fired case out of the bolt. Primer was completely gone, and there was now a BELT swaged into the brass. That takes an enormous amount of pressure, folks - likely over 80,000 psi.

I also discovered that H335 leaves an almost ceramic-hard fouling deep in the rifling grooves. You can NOT see it without a borescope, but it is in there. I got it all out, finally, and no other powder I tried left anything like it - except H-335.

Two strikes is all it took for me. No more H335 in use around here.