.223 with 8208 XBR, what's the 'right' thing to do next wi

[co-exprs]

8208, H4895, Benchmark, H335 and 4064 are all powders I commonly use. 8208 and H4895 are my favorites for both 223 and 308. They meter alright, have a complimentary burn rate for shorter semi auto barrels, produce accurate loads, burn clean and are very temp stable. I found that 8208 has a really wide power band, meaning I get sub MOA accuracy from a wide range of charge weight and a wide range of bullet weights and in a wide temp range. This makes the powder very easy to work with. I honestly don't even bother with ladder loads any more. I load for a target velocity and then I go have fun. Most of the time I just scoop up a bucket of my 8208 pet load and grab a rifle from the safe. Granted I only have quality rifles, but the load works great in all my kits.

[fastshooter03]

Dude save that 8208 for decent long range loads.

We run 25.0 grains up to 75 grain bullets(don't do it) in match barrel rifling profiles.

60vmax we running 25.5 grains.

Find a ball powder like AA2230 or H335 for 55 junk ammo.

Nick

[mgrs]

Dude save that 8208 for decent long range loads.

We run 25.0 grains up to 75 grain bullets(don't do it) in match barrel rifling profiles.

60vmax we running 25.5 grains.

Find a ball powder like AA2230 or H335 for 55 junk ammo.

Nick

I also like R10x for junk blasting ammo. Still meters OK and burns clean.

[Trekkie]

8208 XBR is what I can find. Since I'm a bit of a newbie what are the full names of those powders so I can go look for them?

[Steve RA]

Personally, I use Hodgdon H335 - 25.0 grains with 53/60 grain Hornady bullets and have good accuracy. Haven't bothered to chrono any as they shoot the way I think they should and pretty much match the range marks in my scope. (yes, I have two different chronographs)

[fastshooter03]

Accurate arms 2230

Ramshot TAC, and Exterminator

Hodgdon H335, H322, and BLC(2), and CFE223

Alliant AR-Comp, Power Pro 2000

Winchester 748

Prob a bunch more....

Nick

[chrishoesel]

I have not tried 8208XBR but bought 56 pounds of it on a whim after reading some good reviews on it so I had gunbot notify me whenever it came in stock someplace. I am now glad I did. Was running varget only before and hated how it metered so only used it for 77gr HPBT and weighed every charge. I understand that 8208XBR meters very well in a progressive. Can someone confirm? (I haven't looked at my stash yet)

I go home in 10 days from Afghanistan and can't wait to put it to the test.

[rtp]

I have not tried 8208XBR but bought 56 pounds of it on a whim after reading some good reviews on it so I had gunbot notify me whenever it came in stock someplace. I am now glad I did. Was running varget only before and hated how it metered so only used it for 77gr HPBT and weighed every charge. I understand that 8208XBR meters very well in a progressive. Can someone confirm? (I haven't looked at my stash yet)

I go home in 10 days from Afghanistan and can't wait to put it to the test.

Welcome home!

8208XBR meters well enough to be used in a progressive powder measure - not quite as nicely as various ball powders, but well enough, and as someone mentioned, tends to have fairly wide accuracy nodes, so where you may be slightly off on exact powder measure drops, it has little to no impact on accuracy, once a decent node/recipe is found. I actually like it better than TAC in .223 - haven't loaded any for 75-80gr 5.56/.223, but it's done well on 55-69gr loads for me, loading progressively.

[mgrs]

The above mirrors my experience exactly. I have been very happy with 77gr OTMs right at published max loads. I do not have my chrono data in front of me, but I remember SD being very low also.

I am now using TAC because I could find it. TAC is better for velocity as WA actually publishes 5.56 chamber data, but I have not found the node I had with 8208. Might have been a bad day, too.

[chrishoesel]

I've loaded up about 4000 rounds last week of 5.56 using 8208XBR and Armscor 55 grain FMJBT-C bullets. I'm happy with this powder, and I am touching 2950-3000 fps at 25.5 grains with no flattening of the primers. Performance is 1 MOA on average for these plinking loads and they perform as well or better than expected. All loaded using a S1050 and lightly crimped using the lee FCD. It meters just fine on the Dillon measure, and I account for the slight powder spillage upon indexing by increasing by .1 grain at 25.6.

I'm glad I jumped on this powder last December, and got it simply because it was available and has good amount of data for 5.56 and .308.

[MC1]

I have been reading .223 reloading threads for a while. My eyes are crossed. Lot of info. I have reloaded a ton of 9, 40, 45. This is a new animal. Thanks to all for the info.