Hodgdon CFE .223 any good?

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Zetter

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Hi All

I trialled some 75 grain boat tails in my .223 with vit 140 and it worked really well. However the issue is I have virtually none of it left and its as rare as rocking horse poo at the moment due to it being popular for .243 and .308 loads.

Having looked for alternatives I can get my hands on Hodgedon CFE .223 fairly readily.

Does anyone have any experience with this powder for .223 before I push the button?


Cheers Zetter
 
I've used it with lighter bullets. It's a good powder that gives very little ES especially once you really start filling the case. The real downside? The temp sensitivity of it. It will push a good load to overpressure in about 10 degrees.
I also used it in 308 and got a good load without being high up the charge, gave me no issues whatsoever
 
Cheers for that Hendrix I will give it a shot I think as I can see vit being a tough one to get hold of and its for a range rifle so I am using quite a bit going forwards. I will make sure I am cautious on the load weight.
 
I used it to really good effect with 55gr and 63gr bullets in a .223. I only stopped using it because Viht N133 and N135 were easier to get in quantity locally to me.
 
I bought 2 tubs of cfe off here. Not tried it yet. Hopefully try it in my 223 and 204ruger soon. Seems to be good powder. Wouldn't think you'll have any problems.
 
Cheers for all the responses on this I have stuck an order in with Spud for a couple of tubs along with their last tub of RL22 for my .270.
I have vit 133 at home but while my rifle was ok with lighter bullets (53 grain boat tails) after its re barrel, it really seems to like heavier stuff (probably as its now a 1 in 8 twist). After trying some 75 grain Hornady match through it I am a definite convert to the heavier side of the street in this rifle as the first load test with them would not shoot above a .6" group with most being below .4" which was pretty good and is probably limited by my skill level as a shooter to be honest as I think it probably could have gone a bit tighter.
However with the lack of availability of Vit 140 I am forced to look elsewhere if I want to keep using the heavy stuff.
 
Zetter said:
Cheers for all the responses on this I have stuck an order in with Spud for a couple of tubs along with their last tub of RL22 for my .270.
I have vit 133 at home but while my rifle was ok with lighter bullets (53 grain boat tails) after its re barrel, it really seems to like heavier stuff (probably as its now a 1 in 8 twist). After trying some 75 grain Hornady match through it I am a definite convert to the heavier side of the street in this rifle as the first load test with them would not shoot above a .6" group with most being below .4" which was pretty good and is probably limited by my skill level as a shooter to be honest as I think it probably could have gone a bit tighter.
However with the lack of availability of Vit 140 I am forced to look elsewhere if I want to keep using the heavy stuff.
Click to expand...
I was in Norman clarks last week , he was out of vitt 133 but i thought i saw some 140, maybe worth a try .
 
When y
Zetter said:
Cheers for all the responses on this I have stuck an order in with Spud for a couple of tubs along with their last tub of RL22 for my .270.
I have vit 133 at home but while my rifle was ok with lighter bullets (53 grain boat tails) after its re barrel, it really seems to like heavier stuff (probably as its now a 1 in 8 twist). After trying some 75 grain Hornady match through it I am a definite convert to the heavier side of the street in this rifle as the first load test with them would not shoot above a .6" group with most being below .4" which was pretty good and is probably limited by my skill level as a shooter to be honest as I think it probably could have gone a bit tighter.
However with the lack of availability of Vit 140 I am forced to look elsewhere if I want to keep using the heavy stuff.
Click to expand...
When you got your new barrel, did it have a longer cut throat, for heavier, longer bullets?
 
I would caution against use of CFE223 with 75gr (and heavier) bullets in .223. Published load data is safe, but I was never able to achieve (IMHO) acceptable accuracy. I think there is an ignition problem (erratic ignition) with the heavier bullets in the .223 case (just a guess). Varget, Ramshot Tac and IMR8208 were much better with heavi(er) bullets in the .223 IME.
 
Interestingly I’ve never been able to get this to shoot any sense in .222. Has anyone else tried?
 
Acm said:
Interestingly I’ve never been able to get this to shoot any sense in .222. Has anyone else tried?
Click to expand...
Yep, It's one of the very few powders that I have tried that doesn't work in a Duece, I use it in my .204 now that BLC (2) has run out so I thought I would give it a go, my thought is that it is too slow/bulky for the case size.
 
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Lancaster said:
Yep, It's one of the very few powders that I have tried that doesn't work in a Duece, I use it in my .204 now that BLC (2) has run out so I thought I would give it a go, my thought is that it is too slow/bulky for the case size.
Click to expand...
Tried it in .204 (32gr) with barely acceptable accuracy but slow.
DG
 
Zetter said:
Hi All

I trialled some 75 grain boat tails in my .223 with vit 140 and it worked really well. However the issue is I have virtually none of it left and its as rare as rocking horse poo at the moment due to it being popular for .243 and .308 loads.

Having looked for alternatives I can get my hands on Hodgedon CFE .223 fairly readily.

Does anyone have any experience with this powder for .223 before I push the button?


Cheers Zetter
Click to expand...
Ragged hole @100m using 69gr HPBT on top of 25.2gr of CFE in a 1:8 twist.
DG
 
using it this year with 75 gn HPBT. with a 223 the max load is 25gn, with 556 or wylde chamber you can go to 26.5. not getting really high speed at 25.7, circa 2600fps, but grouping ok.

supposedly, it is susceptible to temp variations, but reading up on internet, the variation is not enough to worry me, but i am using it for CSR rather than live quarry.

Its available so i use it, just reloading 500 rounds with it at the moment!
 
Hi
New to the site.

Ive been using cfe223 for around 2 yrs now shot alot of rounds mainly 69gr and 62gr found it to be an excellent powder in my 223.

100% my go to powder but every rifle seems to like or dislike different powders.

Be interested to hear how you get on with the heavier bullet
 
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