Powder for 223 Rem with 55gr sierra FB spitzers

[Bcnr33v]

I am about to reload some 223Rem with 55gr sierra spitzers (#1360). I am running a 20" 1 in 12 twist barrel.

I am tossing up between ADI BM2 or BM8208. Anyone have an experience?

[Peter988]

My Tikka 223 goes good with 24.5 of 8208 and 55 gr pills.

[Bcnr33v]

My Tikka 223 goes good with 24.5 of 8208 and 55 gr pills.

Thanks. I spoke to Hogdon and Sierra tech overnight and both recommended to start with the BM8208

[fussy]

AR2206H
24g in my tikka

[deye243]

Have not tried the Sierra flat base spitzer 55 grain for more than 30 years as back then I found them too hard out of a 223 no problem out of a 22 250 though I use the 55 grain speer 25.5 grains of 2206 h and I get 3260 feet per second I use CCIBR4 or CCI 450 Magnum primers because of the fault with howa firing pin radius and diameter and firing pin hole size they have a thicker Cup use this load with a cci 400 primer and they will cookie cut as the 400 primer is designed for the very old low pressure cartridges like the 22 Hornet and such

[bigrich]

I am about to reload some 223Rem with 55gr sierra spitzers (#1360). I am running a 20" 1 in 12 twist barrel.

I am tossing up between ADI BM2 or BM8208. Anyone have an experience?

it's hard to find a 55gn bullet that won't shoot accurately out of a 12 twist 223 with any of the powder suggested . bullet performance for the job at hand is the variable . personally i've used the 55 vmax for target work with BM2 at about 3000fps , but found better on game performance with the 55vmax loaded up near max with 2206h . your 20" barrel is probably handy , especially out of a vehicle , but may loose some velocity . probably not enough to matter if you put the bullet in the right spot . but i found in my use a little more velocity made a difference in terminal performance . don't use the 55vmax with a cannelure , as these don't perform as well from my observation . others will have their own opinions and observations , these are mine . i've also found ADI brass to be excellent , consistent brass , good value for money . let us know how you get on . cheers

[CJRBOLTGUN1]

just finished some load development for my 223rem using bm8208 and got to say I prefer it over bm2, speer 55gr (1032),25.7 bm8208, win sr primer, coal 2.239" ave vel 3181 out of a 26inch barrel, bug eyes, also 55gr Hornady H2266b same everything except coal is 2.200", velocity 3250fps and same, bug eyes at 100m, rifle is a rem700 vssf 26" 1/12 twist, these are my findings after finding the powder charge and seating depth, your results may vary

[bigrich]

just finished some load development for my 223rem using bm8208 and got to say I prefer it over bm2, speer 55gr (1032),25.7 bm8208, win sr primer, coal 2.239" ave vel 3181 out of a 26inch barrel, bug eyes, also 55gr Hornady H2266b same everything except coal is 2.200", velocity 3250fps and same, bug eyes at 100m, rifle is a rem700 vssf 26" 1/12 twist, these are my findings after finding the powder charge and seating depth, your results may vary

2206h gives a bit more velocity with great accuracy i found

[straightshooter]

I am about to reload some 223Rem with 55gr sierra spitzers (#1360). I am running a 20" 1 in 12 twist barrel.

I am tossing up between ADI BM2 or BM8208. Anyone have an experience?

ADI developed a powder to suit the specific requirements of the 223 Austeyr rifle.
It's canister equivalent is BM2.
I use it in a Mini MarkX Mauser with a 20" barrel with 55 grain and ADI 62 grain projectiles with excellent results such as good velocity and not much muzzle flash. However my barrel is 1 in 9" twist to suit the ADI projectiles.
In your case the 20" barrel should be the deciding factor. Slower powders likely would deliver lower velocities and more muzzle flash which would be a drawback in low light situations.
I have noticed a difference in pressures between lots of BM2 especially in my 17 Rem but if you don't load to the maximum recommended by ADI then that should not be much of a problem in practice.

[CJRBOLTGUN1]

just finished some load development for my 223rem using bm8208 and got to say I prefer it over bm2, speer 55gr (1032),25.7 bm8208, win sr primer, coal 2.239" ave vel 3181 out of a 26inch barrel, bug eyes, also 55gr Hornady H2266b same everything except coal is 2.200", velocity 3250fps and same, bug eyes at 100m, rifle is a rem700 vssf 26" 1/12 twist, these are my findings after finding the powder charge and seating depth, your results may vary

2206h gives a bit more velocity with great accuracy i found

never bothered to give it go, just looking at the load data and it shows 1 grain between start and max i usually steer clear of them powders with small ranges ,i was using bm2 years ago but the smell would make me crook so i went back to Win748, then tried 2207 as i got some cheap, its ok but fussy as hell and didn't really find a tight grouping combo,
one of my bro's has been shooting 8208 for a while now, mainly due to availability he's stuck with it ,he gave me some to try and i was sceptical at first ,was easy to tune and find a few nodes ,also shoots better than win748 which I'm nearly out of

[Bcnr33v]

I did some testing today
- 20 inch 1/12 twist
- sierra 1360 55gr flat base
- BM8020

It has good accuracy at 24.0gr but only 2,800 fps

Another node at 24.6gr. Still only gets 2,950fps

About 0.5MOA at both

I will play with seating depth next. Running 0.020" from the lands currently

[bigrich]

just finished some load development for my 223rem using bm8208 and got to say I prefer it over bm2, speer 55gr (1032),25.7 bm8208, win sr primer, coal 2.239" ave vel 3181 out of a 26inch barrel, bug eyes, also 55gr Hornady H2266b same everything except coal is 2.200", velocity 3250fps and same, bug eyes at 100m, rifle is a rem700 vssf 26" 1/12 twist, these are my findings after finding the powder charge and seating depth, your results may vary

2206h gives a bit more velocity with great accuracy i found

never bothered to give it go, just looking at the load data and it shows 1 grain between start and max i usually steer clear of them powders with small ranges ,i was using bm2 years ago but the smell would make me crook so i went back to Win748, then tried 2207 as i got some cheap, its ok but fussy as hell and didn't really find a tight grouping combo,
one of my bro's has been shooting 8208 for a while now, mainly due to availability he's stuck with it ,he gave me some to try and i was sceptical at first ,was easy to tune and find a few nodes ,also shoots better than win748 which I'm nearly out of

just checked my ADI data , yeah 2206h is a funny one in 223 . they a one grain min to max powder charge with speer soft points , but other bullets have a 2 to 2 1/2 powder charge range . maybe a misprint with the speer bullet ? 2206h is known for it's ability for reduced loads . regardless , the accuracy and speed i get out of my 223 makes this a go to powder for me . cheers

[Fester]

The barrel length could well be the deciding factor between BM2 and 8208.
I found them hard to choose between, but ended up with 24.6gr of 8208 in a 24" barrel.

The short barrel may well prefer BM2.

Around 3,000fps is about right, often a bit higher, and still getting great accuracy.

[bigrich]

The barrel length could well be the deciding factor between BM2 and 8208.
I found them hard to choose between, but ended up with 24.6gr of 8208 in a 24" barrel.

The short barrel may well prefer BM2.

Around 3,000fps is about right, often a bit higher, and still getting great accuracy.

i agree

[Bcnr33v]

The barrel length could well be the deciding factor between BM2 and 8208.
I found them hard to choose between, but ended up with 24.6gr of 8208 in a 24" barrel.

The short barrel may well prefer BM2.

Around 3,000fps is about right, often a bit higher, and still getting great accuracy.

The lyman manual is actually pretty close. They tested a 20" barrel. 25.3gr max charge at 3050fps for 8208. They show an extra 100fps with BM2 at the same charge.

[CJRBOLTGUN1]

just finished some load development for my 223rem using bm8208 and got to say I prefer it over bm2, speer 55gr (1032),25.7 bm8208, win sr primer, coal 2.239" ave vel 3181 out of a 26inch barrel, bug eyes, also 55gr Hornady H2266b same everything except coal is 2.200", velocity 3250fps and same, bug eyes at 100m, rifle is a rem700 vssf 26" 1/12 twist, these are my findings after finding the powder charge and seating depth, your results may vary

2206h gives a bit more velocity with great accuracy i found

never bothered to give it go, just looking at the load data and it shows 1 grain between start and max i usually steer clear of them powders with small ranges ,i was using bm2 years ago but the smell would make me crook so i went back to Win748, then tried 2207 as i got some cheap, its ok but fussy as hell and didn't really find a tight grouping combo,
one of my bro's has been shooting 8208 for a while now, mainly due to availability he's stuck with it ,he gave me some to try and i was sceptical at first ,was easy to tune and find a few nodes ,also shoots better than win748 which I'm nearly out of

just checked my ADI data , yeah 2206h is a funny one in 223 . they a one grain min to max powder charge with speer soft points , but other bullets have a 2 to 2 1/2 powder charge range . maybe a misprint with the speer bullet ? 2206h is known for it's ability for reduced loads . regardless , the accuracy and speed i get out of my 223 makes this a go to powder for me . cheers

if I ever get stuck for 8208 I might try it