Is the general consensus that CFE223 is the easy button? I’ve got TAC which I’m still working on, but use mainly for “bulk” 77 grain 556 as well as some 308 loads. For precision 556 and 308 I’m using N140. I’ve also got some H335, but my initial trials werent as easy as I’d hoped. Is it worth grabbing CFE223 so I’m only trying 1 powder?
I initially thought the Lehigh 110 match made sense, but I’ve struggled to get adequate speed and acceptable groups. I saw a lot of positive results with Lapua Scenar 123 so I bought about 800 of those and will be using them.
I actually think TAC is the easy button. I know many like cfe because it gives great speeds at equal or lower pressures. However, its going to be more sensitive to temp changes and I hear really dirty.
Do you have a bolt gun or semi? If I were you, I would try experimenting with n140 just to see if there is potential. I've read on the forums that n133, n135, and n140 will be good grendel powders but there's very little to no info of people backing that up. It would be really cool if you could try it out and post results.
Otherwise, benchmark should be good, especially with lighter bullets. If you have a bolt gun, you might make it work with the 123s.
The obvious and easy answers are the super difficult to get powders which I'll list below.
H4895
AR-Comp
IMR8208XBR
If you can find those, you're set. Varget is good if you have a bolt gun and can load long to be able to stuff more into the case. It is pretty bulky for the case size so stuffing enough of it is difficult. For that reason, Staball Match, which is similar burn rate to varget, might work. It is a ball powder so should be easier to pack being that its more dense.