First time reloading - getting prep.

[GasGuzzler]

H335 is what I use for most 5.56X45 loads and it's readily available in relative terms. CFE223 is okay too.

 

[deemus]

Yep those will work perfectly fine. Any .223 or 5.56 brass will work.

It should be noted that if it’s military brass, the primer pockets will need to be reamed.

 

[jc79]

Another vote for H335. With 55gr bullets, I've gotten the best results using H335.
It also meters out of powder measures very well, since it's a ball powder. Varget and other stick/extruded powders like it can be a pain to measure accurately.

 

[TexMex247]

I don't think I recall you mentioning what gun you are shooting 223 rounds through but powder selection is important for a direct impingement rifle like an AR. H335, Tac, AA2230 are tried and true. With some "ball" powders magnum primers are recommended. My go to is 24.2-24.6gr TAC rifle under a 62gr Hornady BTSP. Magnum or std primer fine with that load. Like most people I started out loading bunches of 55gr bullets even Xtreme like you mentioned but I have moved to heavier weights that give me better accuracy in my barrel twist rates(mostly 1:8).

For the 308, imr 4064, W748, Blc2, are all great, run gas guns well and have been available here and there. If you are curious about a powder look at the most popular and then see what's adjacent to it on a powder burn rate chart. It will put into perspective your best alternates.

As far as 9mm, I use mostly titegroup but it's not for everyone. If cost wasn't a factor I'd be using vivhuatori powders. I also started with 115s but have since moved to 124-135 gr. When you come across reasonably priced powder or primers(<$35lb powder, <$100/1k primers) buy em up and use or horse trade later. Happy shooting and reloading!

 

[TEXAS "All or nothing"]

I don't think I recall you mentioning what gun you are shooting 223 rounds through but powder selection is important for a direct impingement rifle like an AR. H335, Tac, AA2230 are tried and true. With some "ball" powders magnum primers are recommended. My go to is 24.2-24.6gr TAC rifle under a 62gr Hornady BTSP. Magnum or std primer fine with that load. Like most people I started out loading bunches of 55gr bullets even Xtreme like you mentioned but I have moved to heavier weights that give me better accuracy in my barrel twist rates(mostly 1:8).

For the 308, imr 4064, W748, Blc2, are all great, run gas guns well and have been available here and there. If you are curious about a powder look at the most popular and then see what's adjacent to it on a powder burn rate chart. It will put into perspective your best alternates.

As far as 9mm, I use mostly titegroup but it's not for everyone. If cost wasn't a factor I'd be using vivhuatori powders. I also started with 115s but have since moved to 124-135 gr. When you come across reasonably priced powder or primers(<$35lb powder, <$100/1k primers) buy em up and use or horse trade later. Happy shooting and reloading!

IF powders were easily available like in the past then finding and using what IS available is the hard part. I use TAC and cfe223 mainly at 55-62gr. All things aren't as equal as they were in the past unfortunately.

 

[RankAmateur]

I don't think I recall you mentioning what gun you are shooting 223 rounds through but powder selection is important for a direct impingement rifle like an AR. H335, Tac, AA2230 are tried and true. With some "ball" powders magnum primers are recommended. My go to is 24.2-24.6gr TAC rifle under a 62gr Hornady BTSP. Magnum or std primer fine with that load. Like most people I started out loading bunches of 55gr bullets even Xtreme like you mentioned but I have moved to heavier weights that give me better accuracy in my barrel twist rates(mostly 1:8).

For the 308, imr 4064, W748, Blc2, are all great, run gas guns well and have been available here and there. If you are curious about a powder look at the most popular and then see what's adjacent to it on a powder burn rate chart. It will put into perspective your best alternates.

As far as 9mm, I use mostly titegroup but it's not for everyone. If cost wasn't a factor I'd be using vivhuatori powders. I also started with 115s but have since moved to 124-135 gr. When you come across reasonably priced powder or primers(<$35lb powder, <$100/1k primers) buy em up and use or horse trade later. Happy shooting and reloading!

TAC available now from Powder Valley. N320 and Titegroup available from Bruno. Hope this is helpful.

 

[MrRobot]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice. Today was a good day. I received my Lyman case trim express and my 1000 CCI magnum small rifle primers 450. I also received my 223-55gr FMJ bullet. They are so small in person compared to the videos I saw online. Still looking for the 400 version for my main primer and keeping the 450 as a backup.

Now the only thing left is the powder. From all the feedback so far I'm hearing these are all good powder for AR15.

H335
AA2230
CFE223
Alliant AR-Comp
Varget rifle powder
H4198

​

Like I said this is my first time reloading. I'm learning from reading and watching videos online. Sucks that there aren't any reloading courses or centers willing to offer reloading stuff.

Anyway with the world going to sh*t in the next couple of months. I want to get this down in case ammo get's short again.

Thanks again for everyone's help on here.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Graf and Sons has 4198 in one pounders and 8s but it's not nearly my first choice when I load 5.56X45.

Only FIVE 8-pounders remain

 

[deemus]

BassPro had CFE223 on the shelf. Lots of 1 lbers and 1 8 lber when I left.

 

[RankAmateur]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice. Today was a good day. I received my Lyman case trim express and my 1000 CCI magnum small rifle primers 450. I also received my 223-55gr FMJ bullet. They are so small in person compared to the videos I saw online. Still looking for the 400 version for my main primer and keeping the 450 as a backup.

Now the only thing left is the powder. From all the feedback so far I'm hearing these are all good powder for AR15.

H335
AA2230
CFE223
Alliant AR-Comp
Varget rifle powder
H4198

​

Like I said this is my first time reloading. I'm learning from reading and watching videos online. Sucks that there aren't any reloading courses or centers willing to offer reloading stuff.

Anyway with the world going to sh*t in the next couple of months. I want to get this down in case ammo get's short again.

Thanks again for everyone's help on here.

H335 and TAC in stock at Brownells, TAC in stock at Bruno and Powder Valley. IMR4198 is available at a few vendors, but it is not quite the same as H4198 (I haven't found H4198 available in nearly a year).

As you've probably been advised, it's probably a good idea to get your hands on a couple of reloading manuals to serve as safe references. You can also get safe reloading load info directly from most powder and bullet manufacturers, though those loads are, understandably, focused on that manufacturer's powder or bullets.

 

[MrRobot]

@Txmark, I did that earlier before posting it. What I notice from the site it's a certain bullet and primer plus case. When I was a range I would pick up my brass and everyone else or they would give me the brass. I have a mixer of 9mm to 223 and so on.

My daughter came home today and her co-worker let her borrow Lyman's 50th edition book so I could look at it. I guess it's her dad and he's out of the country.

Very nice book but when I went to the 223 section. The bullet I bought is not in there. The only bullet I see is 55 gr. Jacketed SPT.
Could it be that this book doesn't have the FMJ bullet I have?

That's the thing that worries me that the Lyman 50th book does not have the bullet I bought and the Lee reloading does. Lyman is only using Hornady, Sierra... Maybe this book is not the correct one for the bullets I have. Maybe if I bought Hornady or Sierra then it would.

 

[rotor]

Just realize that the manuals from the bullet manufacturers only cover loads with their bullets. Lee doesn't actually do tests, they seem to just skim the manuals out there and borrow their material. Lyman does tests. If you see a load for a 55 gr 223 jsp you pretty much should be able to use the fmj load. The big difference is lead vs fmj. Plated from Berry says both are okay unless you exceed their speed limits.
If I see a Hornady bullet load from their manual and I have an equivalent bullet made by some other company I use the listed load. Most small companies do not list loads.

 

[MrRobot]

@rotor thank you very much for explaining this to me. I worried plus since I'm new I didn't want to hurt myself or damage my gun.

Feel like a total Newbie!!!!!! learning to walk all over again.

 

[TexMex247]

Most important things as mentioned are composition like lead vs plated vs fmj as well as weight in grains. As bullets get heavier there's less internal space for powder which is why you will see velocity also drops with heavier ones. If you cram the same amount of powder for a 55gr load under a 65gr bullet you will create a dangerous pressure situation.

Also don't get caught up in trying to exactly duplicate a recipe or worry about cartridge overall length. If you are not loading to max you can always run a bullet shorter than recommend COL. Eventually you will find what runs most reliably.

For rifles like an AR you will be limited by what fits in the magazine when realistically longer bullets may well be more accurate. In addition, unless you are loading for a hunting rifle, top speed should be secondary to function and accuracy.

 

[wakosama]

just fyi. MD SMITH RELOADING pages always had some good online info... and I use the contender reloading handbooks alot.

 

[MrRobot]

I will have to check that site out. From what I'm gathering here is that if they are the same GR try to find one close to it.

Like the FMJ and SPT brand right? I just looked at both books to see what the data was for CFE233.
They are the same loads. I compared a couple more powders for the 55gr and some are the same but some have a little high load.
I don't plan on getting that high.

Man learned something new today about bullets. Thank you guys again.