5.56/223 reload powder question

[skyugo]

Mark,

I've been told (2nd hand info, I have no way to verify it) by some shooters that 4895 is still seriously building pressure by the time the bullet leaves the muzzle, and that it was designed for heavier calibers (.30-06?). I have no idea about that, but I just didn't find it all that great and moved on. I'm sure it will work fine. Just work your load up, and see how it does.

Skyugo,
Are you meaning the dirty nature of H335? What type of load are you using it with?

Kurt,

I also have found I like Ramshot Tac. Cheap and works well. I've shot VV powders a bit and liked them, not so much for the cost, but they did well. Plus Varget was more available locally when/where I was and I tended to use it more often.

i use 24.5 grains of h335 with 55 grain hornady fjmjbt bullets.
i had been using IMR before. i was just really surprised how much it crudded everything up. it was noticeably harder to pull the charging handle back. this was on a freshly cleaned gun after just 100 rounds.
no malfunctions though.

i'm thinking i might just buy 8 lbs of TAC and go with it. pretty cheap, and it gets RAVE reviews.

[dodge]

Have you tried 748. I load 27gr behind the Sierra 53 gr HP Match and it works real good. Meters very nice and seems to be very clean burning.

[chadbag]

When using a Dillon powder measure with 22 caliber bullets, here are some things you can do:

-- polish the inside of the powder funnel.
-- dremel the inside of the powder funnel to give a longer less drastic curve to the funnel part and then polish it
-- whack the powder measure with your hand when the ram is down after each round

The problem with extruded powders is that they do not consistently form their air pockets. A secondary problem on small diameter cases is that they jam up in the powder funnel itself.

When you whack it (does not have to be that hard) when the ram is down after each round, you help settle the powder inside the powder measure chamber which gives you a more consistent set of air pockets and hence a more consistent charge weight. Ball powders are consistent as they don't exhibit a "pick up sticks" effect which causes varied air pockets and lack of consistency.

A small whack when doing 22 type cases (223, 204, 22-250, etc) when it is up in the powder die will help break the log jams that may appear.

The polishing and opening up and shallowing out the funnel angle in the powder funnel itself helps with the extruded powders jamming up.

Chad

[jmart]

Mark,

I've been told (2nd hand info, I have no way to verify it) by some shooters that 4895 is still seriously building pressure by the time the bullet leaves the muzzle, and that it was designed for heavier calibers (.30-06?). I have no idea about that, but I just didn't find it all that great and moved on. I'm sure it will work fine. Just work your load up, and see how it does.

Negative. All powders achieve max pressure in the first few inches of bullet travel. A slower powder just achieves a tad farther down the bore than a quicker powder.

4895, either variety, has been popular in HP circles for heavier bullets. I just hate loading extruded powders in .22 caliber case mouths. No fun.

[MSteven]

eguns, I'll look into those Dillon powder measure mods, although I haven't had a problem so far, it wouldn't hurt to make it better.

The information I'm getting agrees with my previous experiences in other calibers, This is my first try at loading for an AR and I wanted to make certain I wasn't missing some important information.

Mark

[UVvis]

Negative. All powders achieve max pressure in the first few inches of bullet travel. A slower powder just achieves a tad farther down the bore than a quicker powder.

4895, either variety, has been popular in HP circles for heavier bullets. I just hate loading extruded powders in .22 caliber case mouths. No fun.

Right, which is why I thought this to be goofy.

What I can see is a particular powder having higher than average pressure at the point the bullet leaves the muzzle, and still having a lower max pressure (slower burning powder...). Meaning that the load's pressure at the point of the bullet passing the muzzle would be higher than some other powders. This would make it easy to have more velocity spread in fired rounds.

But still, lots of people like 4895.

[markm]

Ramshot TAC is a superior powder for use in .223 with 55 grain bullets.
Clean, inexpensive, meters perfectly and provides excellent accuracy.

Indeed. I've gone through a few pounds of this stuff with 55 gr bullets, and I like it. I get the same velocity that I was getting with W748, but I use about 2 grains less powder.

Add the fact that it's cheaper than 748, and I can really reduce the per round cost of my practice ammo.

[toddackerman]

I used to use 4895 in my .308's years ago and abandoned it for WW748 because it flows much better. When I started on AR's I used WW748 in my 550B, again because Ball flows so well. In looking for a cheaper powder that I could use less volume and save $$$ I found Ramshot TAC, and won't go back to WW748.

TAC flows just as well, is cleaner, and you use about 10% less for the same velocities with a 55 Gn. bullet.

Too bad you have 16lbs. of 4895. It's just a pain to work with unless you're going to Trickle Charge highly accuarte Bench Rest types of loads.

[heston911]

Use Your 4895 on Your 55 gr. loads. But IMHO try Ramshot Xterminator. It burns super clean and is dirt cheap. Tac is OK as well, but it's slower burning than Xterm so it works better on projectiles 62 gr. on up.

My pet load for 55's is 24.8 grs. of Xterminator w/ cci# 41 primers.

[Slinger]

Have you tried 748. I load 27gr behind the Sierra 53 gr HP Match and it works real good. Meters very nice and seems to be very clean burning.

I've used WW-748 in the min-14 & ar way back and never had any problems. As you said it meters well and give decent accuracy. I just bought 16 lbs. of it and 5m 55 gr. fmjs.