Hodgdon CFE 223 powder

[rcoody]

I've been out shooting with people who pop primers. They are the clueless ones loading way over the max listed in the powders online reloading tables. I believe that you can load a little over the listed lawyer friendly manuals, but I don't do it to the point of shortening case life. If you feel the need to brag about how fast your bullets go why not just buy a longer barrel and get the same velocity with less powder and stress on your gun and cases?

If you are worried about temp sensitivity. Load and chrono test on hot summer days and then you know that they are safe year around. I always sight in a rifle before using it in case it whacked during transportation or temp change is really great. Changing weather and elevation has a big effect.

I really don't think that a critter or you can tell the difference in a loss of 70 fps. CFE is a powder that can produce very low ES velocities which is much more important

I agree. Max loads are not the most accurate or consistent. Why not back off a little get more accuracy and not put so much wear and tear on your brass and equipment.

If you want faster then pick a cartridge that can get you there without pushing the limits.

 

[gj]

Dirty and not accurate,,,, but will work for blasting ammo ! A lot better choices out there for the 55fmj !

 

[gj]

CFE 223 has no temperature stability. A chrome lined barrel does not need copper fouling eliminator in the first place. H4895 is the best all-around .223 powder. Go a range faster or slower depending on bullet weight, but stick with temp stable powders, Benchmark thru Varget for .223 Rem., depending on bullet weight.

If you shoot prairie dogs all day long at a narrow temperature range, then CFE .223 may be your powder. Even then, there are several others that work just as well and will work much better at temperature extremes. Fourth of July isn't that far away, and aalso ny CFE .223 you have laying around might make some good fireworks.

Remember when you were a kid and putting a primer in a cigar was a fun prank? CFE 223 is about as useful as a primer for similar purposes like spiking the fireworks. As a practical rifle powder, I got over it a long time ago.

The guys I know who like CFE 223 are reloading guys who brag about its consistent metering. Every throw is "right on the money" according to them. What the hell is consistent metering worth when the powder itself is another ball powder with known temp stabilitry issues??? Buy an ultrasonic cleaner and wean yourself from clean burning ball powder that does not cut it in performance next to the best stick powders, and trickle up your charges on an accurate beam balance scale. Just say no to temp sensitive ball powder.

CFE 223 has one very good quality in that anybody who swears by it is nobody you want to take reloading advice from. It gets a very high rating in the "******* advice to avoid" category, and for that it has some usefulness, from personal experience.

As far as CFE 223 i have not been able to get it to perform well for myself....

Your advice is not practical when loading thousands of rounds a year !!!!

I use W748 and 50 Vmaxs and get 1/2 moa or better out of my ARs, temp sensitivity dont mean crap unless your already at a extreme max load for your gun !

Another excellent ball is AA2200,,, and if i could afford it , i prob would be using VihtaVuori ball powders.

All though there are some Extreme short cut extruded powders i would like to try, like LT-32 .

 

[snox801]

If you should never use temp sensitive why do so many people use rl 33? Because it is fat and as long as you are not at max and check you load for the temp you use most you won't have a problem. Also if you don't like cfe you don have to use it but it does work well just lower fps than you can get out of others.
On a side note cfe is by far the best powder in my 6x45. Best velocity and accuracy. Especially with heavy 6mm like 90 and 95gr.

 

[gj]

!@

If you should never use temp sensitive why do so many people use rl 33? Because it is fat and as long as you are not at max and check you load for the temp you use most you won't have a problem. Also if you don't like cfe you don have to use it but it does work well just lower fps than you can get out of others.
On a side note cfe is by far the best powder in my 6x45. Best velocity and accuracy. Especially with heavy 6mm like 90 and 95gr.

And all military ammo i have ever seen is ball powder ! My opinion CFE SUCKS !

 

[rcoody]

Re: !@

And all military ammo i have ever seen is ball powder ! My opinion CFE SUCKS !

Opinions vary

I find it works very well with heavier .223s 69gr mk my favorite

And in my grendel with the 123s

My 6mm ar turbo likes h4895

Whatever works for you

 

[gj]

Re: !@

Opinions vary

I find it works very well with heavier .223s 69gr mk my favorite

And in my grendel with the 123s

My 6mm ar turbo likes h4895

Whatever works for you

If it works for you great !

For me and my 15 .223 ARs, it didn't even come close to being a good .223 powder and that makes it SUCK !

 

[rcoody]

Re: !@

If it works for you great !

For me and my 15 .223 ARs, it didn't even come close to being a good .223 powder and that makes it SUCK !

15 .223 AR15s ? Why?

Obsession? Use them for training?

Personally my opinion is .223/5.56 Sux

I got.rid.of.all but my truck gun when i bought the 6mm AR TURBO 40

There are much better options out there

 

[gj]

Re: !@

15 .223 AR15s ? Why?

Obsession? Use them for training? (Because i can !) Self defense , hunting , competition ....

Personally my opinion is .223/5.56 Sux would you say that hitting a 3"x 9" P-Dog @400 to 600 yards sux
'

I got.rid.of.all but my truck gun when i bought the 6mm AR TURBO 40,,, 5.56 is way cheaper to shoot and load for

There are much better options out there

Not really better options ! Try your options shooting carbine competition and you will fall way behind the winners group !
Try loading and shooting 5,000 rounds of your 6mm AR TURBO 40 a year !
Your talking less than 30 cents a round VS about a 1.00 a round.....

 

[budlight]

As far as CFE 223 i have not been able to get it to perform well for myself....

Your advice is not practical when loading thousands of rounds a year !!!!

I use W748 and 50 Vmaxs and get 1/2 moa or better out of my ARs, temp sensitivity dont mean crap unless your already at a extreme max load for your gun !

Another excellent ball is AA2200,,, and if i could afford it , i prob would be using VihtaVuori ball powders.

All though there are some Extreme short cut extruded powders i would like to try, like LT-32 .

I also load large numbers of rounds. You should try TAC and AR-comp. I was lucky and got into Ar-comp when it first came out and it was cheap like $135 per 8# my last orders it had gone up to $153. either of these can make some small groups when you sort all the cases and use one volume size. I've been doing the outside and inside neck turning with a finished trim length of 1.760. I think that it holds the bullets better than say the shorter trim length of 1.750

I've attended the 3 gun shoots in Arizona and almost exclusively TAC is the powder for the 55 and 62 grain bullets even upto 70gr for the 300 yard stuff, But then AR-comp really shines in the 62-80 gr rounds

 

[snox801]

for all out performance CFE is not it except in my 6x45. that being said I know someone who shoots it every few times at the range in between his normal load so he doesn't have as much copper build up. Not for me but hey nice to have options.
Also I can't wait to get a 6mm ar turbo.

 

[gj]

Some one told a while back that CFE was just BLC-2 with a copper inhibitor added....