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Powder for 55gr and 77gr bullets


gregshin

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I'm looking to just load one powder for my 55gr blasting ammo and 77gr ammo.

Anyone load just 1 powder for both weights and are happy with the results or do i have to get 2 different powders?

My barrels will be

11.5, 14.5, and 18inches long if that makes a difference?

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For 55gr blaster ammo Id suggest CFE 223 or H335. Ive had alot of luck with H335 with Hornady 55gr FMJBTs.

For anything above 65gr, Id suggest something like 8208 XBR. Ive used this with 68s and 75s, and its good to go.

You could load all 223 with 8208 XBR, but I prefer to go cheap on blaster ammo, more expensive on accuracy ammo.

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I cringe every time I fill a case for a 55gr load with my precious 8208XBR.

While it does work OK for 55gr, I much prefer to save it for my 68 through 77gr loads.

TAC or 335 are mo go to powders for 55gr and they are usually fairly easy to find.

All of the above meter well too.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I haven't loaded any 55 grain bullets with N140, but for the 60 - 77 grain Seirra, Hornady, and Nolsers it has been the best for me. I tried, and had high hopes for, 8208 XBR - but my gun did not like it. Benchmark has also worked well for my gun (20", 1:10", bull barrel).

Edited by cwall64
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None of my guns shoot 55s with TAC worth a squirrel fart. 8208 has been fantastic with anything I put in front of it. It's never made me sad to use 8208 on a 55, since the Hornadys are consistent enough to really reach out there anyway (especially when you get to practice in the morning).

Edited by thermobollocks
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For 55gr blaster ammo Id suggest CFE 223 or H335. Ive had alot of luck with H335 with Hornady 55gr FMJBTs.

For anything above 65gr, Id suggest something like 8208 XBR. Ive used this with 68s and 75s, and its good to go.

You could load all 223 with 8208 XBR, but I prefer to go cheap on blaster ammo, more expensive on accuracy ammo.

Good question OP.

I'm looking at the 8202 and TAC for the 75gr Privi's. Curious what load with 8208 you're using. AS it;s right in between TAC and 223 i use for the 55's.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's not so much the powder that causes the difficulty, it's trying to throw two bullet weights designed for very different twist rates down the same barrel. Other calibers don't suffer "wrong powder for the bullet weight" issues nearly as badly as many claim the 223 does. Because it doesn't. The issue is that 223 spins so dang fast that if you mismatch the bullet to the twist rate you get problems - these problems are sometimes misinterpreted as a powder issue. If you can get one of those lucky barrels that shoot great no matter what bullet weight you use, you'll find it doesn't much care which powder you use either.

Many in this thread have listed powders that give very good performance for any bullet weight between 55 and 77gr (and here's the important part) as long as the barrel likes those weights to begin with. It's possible to get good accuracy with both weights, I wish luck to all who try, but don't be surprised if you run into problems that make you want to run screaming and gibbering about the evils of internal ballistics and the witchcraft that causes two barrels that came off the assembly line at the same time to shoot very differently.

As with anything else, every rifle is different and will need lots of experimentation to achieve best accuracy. But since person who started the thread is looking for an "all around" powder for very different bullet weights and three different barrel lengths, I doubt shooting bugholes at 1,000 yards is his goal and he'll be quite happy with almost any of the powders suggested above.

And if you lose all hope with a troublesome firearm, do what I do and take it to a pro:

aeOLqym.jpg?1

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It's not so much the powder that causes the difficulty, it's trying to throw two bullet weights designed for very different twist rates down the same barrel. Other calibers don't suffer "wrong powder for the bullet weight" issues nearly as badly as many claim the 223 does. Because it doesn't. The issue is that 223 spins so dang fast that if you mismatch the bullet to the twist rate you get problems - these problems are sometimes misinterpreted as a powder issue. If you can get one of those lucky barrels that shoot great no matter what bullet weight you use, you'll find it doesn't much care which powder you use either.

Many in this thread have listed powders that give very good performance for any bullet weight between 55 and 77gr (and here's the important part) as long as the barrel likes those weights to begin with. It's possible to get good accuracy with both weights, I wish luck to all who try, but don't be surprised if you run into problems that make you want to run screaming and gibbering about the evils of internal ballistics and the witchcraft that causes two barrels that came off the assembly line at the same time to shoot very differently.

As with anything else, every rifle is different and will need lots of experimentation to achieve best accuracy. But since person who started the thread is looking for an "all around" powder for very different bullet weights and three different barrel lengths, I doubt shooting bugholes at 1,000 yards is his goal and he'll be quite happy with almost any of the powders suggested above.

And if you lose all hope with a troublesome firearm, do what I do and take it to a pro:

aeOLqym.jpg?1

I can't agree. The overstabalization myth seems to be strong with some. You are not going to see that unless you get a really light varmit pill made for the 22 hornet and then launch it in a 1/7 twist gun. A 1/7 or 1/8 is just fine with loads as light as 52 grains in my experience to as heavy as 77 and I have had good accuracy results with both.

pat

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Well, I'm not an expert but I've fired almost 800 of them. Worked up loads for nearly a hundred of those. I was a .308 guy before I went over to the dark side and started trying to make a wimpy varmint cartridge work for long range accuracy. I figured it would be a cinch. Just more wind problems, right? Ha! This silly little thing can be so finicky it's just nuts. Three different twists, wildly varying barrel and gas lengths, bullet weights from 33gr to 90gr. Frankenstein's monster indeed. But there are few jobs that this cartridge can't do well when the rifle and load are built for the intended job.

My current king of the safe is an 18" Wilson stainless barrel, rifle length gas, air gauged, lead lapped, 1/8 twist, bead blasted, modified profile. Since it's a 1/8 twist you'd expect it to work well with most bullets. Nope, not even close. It absolutely adores 77gr bullets but groups open up farther and farther as you move the weight either up or down. With 77gr SMK's it will shoot 4.5" groups at 1,000 yards. 69's and 80's shoot 6-7". 62's and 90's go into 11". It throws 55's like a shotgun no matter how they're loaded and I've tried dozens of combinations. Borescope and micrometers show the barrel is perfectly in spec. And it's not even that weird, I've seen plenty of barrels like this for 223, it just doesn't behave as expected. Couple years ago I had a 1/7 barrel that loved tiny little bullets but rolled over and played dead with anything heavier than 62gr. A buddy has a 1/9 barrel that's a unicorn and shoots MOA or better with anything 40-77gr. Go figure.

Shooting message boards are glutted with poor souls lamenting their 223 problems but I've come to the conclusion that with this cartridge you treat it like a bullseye barrel. You set up for what you want and hope it works out. If it doesn't, no big deal, just try again if it's not good enough. Barrels are cheap and beating your head against one that's not acting right will make you crazy.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying you have to have a voodoo priest on standby to build a 223. Most of the time they work just fine. But oddballs are common enough that I don't even raise an eyebrow anymore.

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Well, I'm not an expert but I've fired almost 800 of them. Worked up loads for nearly a hundred of those. I was a .308 guy before I went over to the dark side and started trying to make a wimpy varmint cartridge work for long range accuracy. I figured it would be a cinch. Just more wind problems, right? Ha! This silly little thing can be so finicky it's just nuts. Three different twists, wildly varying barrel and gas lengths, bullet weights from 33gr to 90gr. Frankenstein's monster indeed. But there are few jobs that this cartridge can't do well when the rifle and load are built for the intended job.

My current king of the safe is an 18" Wilson stainless barrel, rifle length gas, air gauged, lead lapped, 1/8 twist, bead blasted, modified profile. Since it's a 1/8 twist you'd expect it to work well with most bullets. Nope, not even close. It absolutely adores 77gr bullets but groups open up farther and farther as you move the weight either up or down. With 77gr SMK's it will shoot 4.5" groups at 1,000 yards. 69's and 80's shoot 6-7". 62's and 90's go into 11". It throws 55's like a shotgun no matter how they're loaded and I've tried dozens of combinations. Borescope and micrometers show the barrel is perfectly in spec. And it's not even that weird, I've seen plenty of barrels like this for 223, it just doesn't behave as expected. Couple years ago I had a 1/7 barrel that loved tiny little bullets but rolled over and played dead with anything heavier than 62gr. A buddy has a 1/9 barrel that's a unicorn and shoots MOA or better with anything 40-77gr. Go figure.

Shooting message boards are glutted with poor souls lamenting their 223 problems but I've come to the conclusion that with this cartridge you treat it like a bullseye barrel. You set up for what you want and hope it works out. If it doesn't, no big deal, just try again if it's not good enough. Barrels are cheap and beating your head against one that's not acting right will make you crazy.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying you have to have a voodoo priest on standby to build a 223. Most of the time they work just fine. But oddballs are common enough that I don't even raise an eyebrow anymore.

That is probably more of an individual barrel preference issue than a twist issue. Like I have said I have tried lots of different barrels mostly in 1/7 and 1/8 and all have grouped well with 52-77 grain bullets. I have found you just need to find out what powders work with the bullet you want to use.

Pat

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