Anybody hand load 223 using BL-C2?

[427mach1]

I decided to try this powder for my new AR-15. It meters VERY nicely with very little variation between drops out of my powder dump. I just loaded several with 55 grain FMJBT and 53 grain Hornady V-max but have not had a chance to go to the range and chronograph and get some groupings.

Is anybody else using this powder or powder/bullet combinations?

 

[Forrest r]

25.5g of bl-c2 and a 55g bullet has been a favorite amony 223 shooters for over a decade. That's what I use when I practice with my ar on 100yd reduced service rifle targets.

You might have to go as much as 1g up or down to dial a load in but you should be able to get a moa load with the 55g/bl-c2 combo.

 

[thndrchiken]

BLC-2 is one of a few very good powders for the 223, I prefer 748 myself, ww brass, wsr primer, 27.8 gr of 748 produces dime sized groups out of my Savage 110 223 AI with 50 gr SST or BT's. Haven't had to load for my Howa 1500 223 yet, still have a bunch of Winchester 45 gr hp's for that. For my AR 5.56 load I use pulldown w844 which is the same as H335.

 

[longaction]

26.5 grains of BL C(2) with a 55 grain FMJ averaged 3126 from a 20" AR-15 barrel. Maybe a little too hot.

 

[TSQUARED]

BL-C(2) was a favorite powder when I shot a lot of 222 Remington. It should also be an excellent performer in the 223 Remington.

 

[427mach1]

Thanks for all the input.

My Hornady manual shows 24.4 - 28.1 grains with the 55 grain FMJ. It predicts 3100 fps with 26.6 grains, so that is close to what you got, longaction. They tested it with a 24" barrel if I recall correctly.

 

[rck281]

Isn't BL-C2 and W748 the same powder?

 

[DWalt]

They are located next to each other on the burning rate charts. They probably have slightly different bulk densities. Ballistics results for equal charge weights in the same case should be close.

 

[CptCurl]

BL-C(2) was a favorite powder when I shot a lot of 222 Remington. It should also be an excellent performer in the 223 Remington.

Tsquared,

Would you (or anybody else) share your load for BL-C(2) in the .222?

The very first rifle I loaded for was the .222, way back in 1969. Then I used 20.5 grains of IMR4198. For many intervening years I didn't own a .222, but recently I acquired one. I'll be loading some ammo soon.

BL-C(2) has become a favorite powder of mine in a variety of medium bore rifle cartridges. A good load in .222 would be icing on the cake.

Thanks,

 

[silverstateS&W]

23.5 and 50gr hornady sx

 

[steelslaver]

I can't remember the load, but a lot of prairie dogs used to die a sudden death from BL-C and 50gr bullets from my Mohawk 600 in 222

 

[Skeet 028]

25.2 gr BLC2 and a 55 gr bullet of most any kind. I just bought an old can of the original BLC surplus for 10 bucks...I st I've seen in years...I also like 748 H322 and even H4198.

 

[Nevada Ed]

my 22-250 with a 52gr Speer #1036, BLC 37gr with a cci200 did 3,580fps with 4 @ .45" at 100 yds.
748 and 4895 & H380 also did well in the accuracy departmrnt. H414 with a 70gr pill.

 

[kimporter]

Great powder for the 223,meters well out of my Redding measure,shoots very well out of My M-4,plus side many in my area don’t use it so it readily available,back in the early 60s my dad and uncle would buy it from a local hardware store for 10 cents a pound,store owner got it surplus

 

[Forrest r]

Posted about bl-c2 back in 2012 in this thread. Fast forward to 2020 when I decided to do testing with the 223rem.

I wanted to see just what kind of accuracy I could get using the cheapest components I could scrounge. It was a real eye opener!!!!
Brass: free range brass sorted into 2 piles nato and commercial/used nato in the testing.
Bullets were home swaged 62gr hp's made out of free 22lr cases and free range lead for cores.

I used s&b $20/1000 primers
I bought a new rifle for the testing. It was a cheap savage axis with an accru-trigger and a bull bbl. It was $299 + tax ($15). It had a $50 mail in rebate and Ib sold the scope that came with it for another $50. At the end of the day I had $215 in the new test rifle.

I put a 36x target dot scope on that rifle and took it out with 20 rounds to test that rifle for function and find what torques worked on the hold down screws.

After the initial range trip with that rifle I never did anything to it other than clean it. Didn't reinforce the stock or play with the adjustable trigger. I loaded up 5-shot ladder test loads using
mixed nato range brass (free)
home swaged bullets made from free 22lr cases and free range lead
bl-c2 powder

Took that cheap rifle out to the range and sighted it in/seasoned the bbl with culled swaged bullets. Then I did the testing @ 100yds.
The test target used that day doing ladder tests with bl-c2

That 25.5gr of bl-c2 did extremely well considering what was used for testing. A close-up of that 25.5gr 5-shot group.

 

[M29since14]

As others have already said, it’s hard to go wrong with BLC2 in the .223. You’ll need to tinker around with it depending on the bullet used and your rifle, but you’ll find something that will work very well.

Someone asked about the .222. I’ve always preferred IMR4198 in the .222, but it is tedious to load compared to BLC2. I used to use 24 grs. with 52 gr. HP and it shot just as well as my 4198 loads, but I don’t think it was quite as fast. Back then I didn’t own a chronograph. I have no idea if current published load data says such a load is safe/recommended with modern batches of BLC2. I’m still using 4198 and weighing each charge, though I’d willingly switch to BLC2 if I had to load a lot of cartridges quickly. Always check internet “I always used” load data before using it yourself. Things do change.

 

[BB57]

I've used a nominal load of 27.0 grs of BLC-2 since the mid 1990s with Hornady 55 gr FMJBTs. In a match grade barrel with a Wylde chamber it'll come close to 1 MOA and in a M16A1 or 20" SP1 5.56 chambered barrel it'll consistently do 1.5 MOA.

BLC-2 is more or less the civilian cannister grade equivalent of the military WC-846 used in M80 ball ammo. but keep in mind WC-846 has a very wide specification. So wide in fact that the WC-844 used for the M193 ball round is just one end of the WC-846 specification. H335 is more or less the civilian cannister grade version of WC-844.

Anytime you see a military powder charge specification keep in mind it is just a *nominal* charge and the actual powder charge for each lot of powder was based on ballistic testing and adjusted to get the specified velocity.

The cannister grade powders are held to a much tighter specification but they still will vary a bit in exact charge weight. Consequently, a 27.0 grain load to get 3200 fps in a 1:12 twist 20" barrel with 5.56 chamber can pretty easily range from 26.7 to 27.3 grains from one lot number to the next. Your primer choice can also impact velocity as much as 80 fps.

I'll load the Hornady 55 gr FMJBT to 3200 fps and adjust the charge for each new lot as needed to get that velocity.

In short, start out low an work up using a chronograph and watch for pressure signs.

 

[Always Faithful Holsters]

Yes. 55gr bullets only. I use a maximum load in all of my AR’s. There is only one thing to watch: BL-C2 is a bit temperature sensitive. Make sure to check functioning and chronograph in your area’s weather extremes. I live in Northern Indiana and have seen differences.