Which powder?

[38Super]

I'm about to start reloading. 223 for medium distance target shooting and I'm looking for some powder advice.

I'll probably be using 69 or 77 gr Matchings. Barrel is a 1 in 9 twist so more likely the 69s but I'm willing to try the 77s.
Rifle is a Howa 1500 24" varmint barrel.

There appear to be several popular powders - Varget, H4895, Reloader 15, Vit N140 + others.

Is there any particular reason for choosing one or the other other than trying all of them to see which gives the best accuracy?

[dromia]

Vihtavuori powders are far more consistently available than the American labelled ones.

[kevinww]

Good discussion previously here.
https://www.full-bore.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=30191

[38Super]

Usefull info thanks but it doesn't really say why people use one type over another apart from availability.

I know I liked the Vit powders I used to use because of the way they flowed when handling.
Don't know if that's the same for the slower burning types.

My LGS has Varget, H4895 and N140 in stock. N140 is a bit cheaper. Is that as good a reason as any for using it?

[Andy632]

77gn bullet, 24gn Varget, job done.

[Rarms]

77gn bullet, 24gn Varget, job done.

Thats what im using

[Laurie]

223 is a very easy cartridge to get satisfactory loads for, same as 308 Win. (They have near identical case capacity / charge weights to bore area ratios.)

Within that, the various makes of 77gn bullet are IME amongst the easiest to get to shoot well in a decent barrel. Bearing in mind that they're designed for US Hi-Power XTC competition standing and kneeling stages that require semi-auto operation, hence magazine length COALs and reliable feed, in chambers such as the Wylde model with long freebores to accept single-loaded 80gn rounds at ~2.450" OAL, these have to be VERY forgiving bullets.

So, in a nutshell, there are more powders around than you can shake a stick at, that won't just give acceptable performance, but very good performance (same as the 168gn SMK in 308). So, you come down to individual shooter's preference and opinion and there is nothing or nobody that can say that X is THE powder for 223/77gn. Some barrels might marginally prefer one over another. We don't even have to worry about barrel gas pressure curves here as we can't use these things in semi-auto mode.

Try any or all of those recommended and you'll likely get good results. As you note, issues such as supply availability, price, lot to lot consistency, how well the powder meters in a measure, how easily fouling cleans out, whether the maker has added an anti-copper fouling agent, the state of the lunar cycle ... etc ... etc may be the deciding factor. Make / model of primer may determine one is marginally better than the others too. In some countries, temperature tolerance may be a big factor, but only occasionally here. In North America though that will make a lot of people lean to Hodgdon H4895 and VarGet, both good choices for the combination and both from the ADI/Hodgdon 'Extreme' range.

There are cartridges and load combinations where one or two powders are outstanding. 6mm BR with 105-108gn bullets falls into this category, for instance. 223 and 77s definitely doesn't