Powder for 223 with 52 gr Bergers??

T

tiny68

Member
I have never loaded a 223 with anything smaller than a 69 SMK. I am building a 223 sporter for my 10 yr old. 1:9 twist with a 19" barrel. I want to start with the 52s to minimize recoil. After he is comfortable shooting it we will switch back to the 69 SMK and the 75 AMax or some Berger VLDs.

These are the powders I have on hand. Any suggestions and approximate charge window? LC brass with Fed 205s, CCIs, or Wolf SRM primers.

Varget, Benchmark, VV N133, VV N135, IMR 4064, IMR 4381, IMR 4350, RE-15, IMR 4007SSC, H380 and ???? (that is all I can remember that think would work but feel free to mention others I didn't).

Suggestions to where to start?

Thanks, Tim
 
Benchmark, N133, and N135 should all work well with a 52 gr bullet. I presume that you don't want fire-breathing hot loads to get the lad started out, but with Benchmark or N135 you could start at around 22 gr and go up to whatever produces acceptable accuracy if the starting load doesn't produce it. Go up to ~25 gr maximum with either. With N133 start a grain or so lower and go up to ~23.5 gr.

Good luck and I hope the lad enjoys learning to shoot.
 
Tiny, in a Savage 12 BVSS with 1:9 twist, my best loads with 52-gr. Bergers or A-max's have been 26.0 of Benchmark and 27.5 of Varget. I'm a Varget lover and so is the .223!
 
In my .223 my best accuracy with a 52 gr SMK came from Benchmark 25.5 gr. until I tried 8208 XBR and consistently cut my groups in half. Also 25.5 gr.
 
Lou Murdica said:
Try the lt32 accurate you won't believe the velocity you will get
Click to expand...

Lou, I have to claim my lack of powder knowledge here. What is It32? Thanks for the other suggestions. I will start with the Benchmark. I have a can that have never opened. Tim
 
6-7 223's I load for seem to love a healthy charge of vith N-133, I have one Custom 223 with a Shilen Varmint taper 1:10 twist & it loves Fowler/Scheider 52gr FB Match bullets over a large dose of vith N-130, I load a tikka t-3 1:9 twist with 55gr Game Kings to hunt and it shoots great on H335,,,,Lapua Brass for best results,,,,,,

the wind is my friend,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

DD
 
I had very good results with RL10X & 52gr bullets. While a fairly light load a charge of 21.5 grs. RL10X was amazing out to 400 yards. I changed primers to fine tune. I have used this combination in two different rifles & they each preferred a different primer.
Semper Fi
 
The new Accurate Arms LT-32 (for benchrest shooters) is showing good promise with my Remington 700 5R, 1-9, with 52 gr. match bullets. A maximum load of 23 grs. chronographs 3,250 in my 24 inch barrel.

The edit: Until switching to LT 32 I shot around 25 grs. N133 with lighter weight bullets. My barrel is a little odd. It won't shoot the 69 Sierras or similar heavy weight bullets.
 
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H 4198 is a good bet. It shoots great in my 223 and other 222 family of cases Startat 21.5 gr and work up from there . 23.5 is working well in my model 70 varmint , with the 12 twist.
 
Imr-4198

I have a factory Rem 700 Varminter with a laminated stock that has been rebedded and recrowned, with an old El Paso steel tubed Weaver T-16 bedded in the rings. With the factory barrel and 23.0g of IMR-4198 (this is a hot load) and the Sierra #1345 55g "Blitz" medium-velocity bullets and Winchester primers, I've shot groups in the low .1xx" at 100 yd., but most are around 3/8 to 1/2 MOA - after all, this is a factory barrel that will not come completely clean, even with repeated scrubbing. I've easily dispatched groundhogs and crows at 400+ yards with this rig. I use Lapua brass, since the primer pockets of American brass open up immediately with this load. I got away with neck sizing the brass for the first three firings, with FL sizing each time after three reloadings.

My buddy "Krupka" sold this gun to me years ago for a good price...I have been greatful ever since! I think I'll put a Krieger chambered in a 222/45 on it when I wear the barrel out.
 
Winchester 748

This may sound crazy, but Winchester 748 and Federal 205M's in well-prepped Lapua brass behind Berger 52g bullet shoot sub .200's in my Sako HB Vixen all day long!
 
until the temp/humidity changes.
been there done that[
it is not "stable" compared to many modern powders.
(oh and this thread is FOUR YEARS old)

QUOTE=LundFish;792418]This may sound crazy, but Winchester 748 and Federal 205M's in well-prepped Lapua brass behind Berger 52g bullet shoot sub .200's in my Sako HB Vixen all day long![/QUOTE]
 
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