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by RiverRider
Sat Aug 06, 2011 12:28 pm
Forum: Reloading Forum
Topic: Powder for 5.56 that meters well
Replies: 15
Views: 4821

Re: Powder for 5.56 that meters well

Because no one mentioned Hodgdon Benchmark, I felt compelled to register and post a reply to this thread. So here I am.

I started out with H335 in .223 Remington many years ago, but learned that pressures and velocities can vary according to temperature (and it is perfectly reasonable to expect accuracy to vary as well). I also learned that there are powders available that outperform others when it comes to consistency vs. temperature.

I shoot 50-grain bullets exclusively in my .223 bolt-action (love that V-Max!) and have found Benchmark to provide excellent accuracy and maximum velocity. It does not flow quite as well as some of the sphericals like Ramshot TAC and H335, but I have found that I get very acceptable charge weight consistency using my Uni-Flow with the small drum and a baffle in the hopper.

I tried Ramshot TAC, and it was not a bad performer but I was missing about 150 fps of velocity when compared to Benchmark---but that was with 50-grain bullets only. I never tried X-Terminator in .223, but I have some I'm using in .222 Remington and may try it in .223 one of these days. Some folks highly recommend X-Terminator for the .223 Remington and they may well be on to something.

For what it's worth: Benchmark, H322, TAC, and X-Terminator are relatively immune to the effects of temperature. I have heard reports that AA2230 is also, but I am not sure.

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