I have a new 308 to develop some loads for. I purchased a scar 17. I have also ran into a fair amount of CFE223 to use. I was curious if anyone has used this for their gas gun? It looks promising on paper(spec wise). I have read a few trials that describe the lack of copper fowling when using it. Anyway looking for reviews and thoughts on this. If you have found and pet loads I would love to hear them for reference when I do my loads.
- Thread starter svxwilson
- Start date
It works well in my bolts, it should work well in a gasser, go for it. What bullet you plan on using?
I have 155gr Amax, 168amax, 178 amax and one box of 168 SMK. Was thinking of going with the 168s amax first as I have the most of those. I even have 195 bthp and 208 Amax but I don't think the 1/12 twist will enjoy those heavy bullets.
I have 155gr Amax, 168amax, 178 amax and one box of 168 SMK. Was thinking of going with the 168s amax first as I have the most of those. I even have 195 bthp and 208 Amax but I don't think the 1/12 twist will enjoy those heavy bullets.
I have been feeding mine an exclusive diet of 147 grain and 152 grain pills accelerated by burning CFE-223 for close to a year now. I have found that 44.4 gives great accuracy, and doesn't burn up a barrel.
This is part of my last run:
Made exclusively from this:
For this:
And getting this:
This is part of my last run:
Made exclusively from this:
For this:
And getting this:
I'm running 47 gr of CFE223 with 168 gr A-max and PPU brass and put up groups like this with my DPMS Oracle.
I tested 5 or 6 different powders in my MWS last summer(2012). All with 175 SMK, all min loads. Was just testing things out to see what would run. No accuracy testing.
CFE223, while I dont know the speed since I didnt chrono, had NOTICEABLY more recoil than anything else I tested. Couldnt name all the powders but I think I tested R15, 4064, Varget, H335 and 8208 XBR as well as the CFE223 obviously. I also think, and again dont remember 100%, that the CFE223 had the best accuracy of all the powders I test. Now maybe this was because the speed was up a bit into a node and the others were slower and not into a node, I dont know. So far me, the results were good enough to justify load development, although I havent done any to this point due to other factors.
CFE223, while I dont know the speed since I didnt chrono, had NOTICEABLY more recoil than anything else I tested. Couldnt name all the powders but I think I tested R15, 4064, Varget, H335 and 8208 XBR as well as the CFE223 obviously. I also think, and again dont remember 100%, that the CFE223 had the best accuracy of all the powders I test. Now maybe this was because the speed was up a bit into a node and the others were slower and not into a node, I dont know. So far me, the results were good enough to justify load development, although I havent done any to this point due to other factors.
I have had really good results with CFE223. It burns really clean, it flows really well through my powder measure and it is quite accurate in my .308 bolt gun. It is currently my go to powder. I use 44.5 grains under 168 smk's in Lake City brass.
Thanks for the pics 280nosler. Nice groups. I was curious to how well the scar 17 can perform with hand loads. Do you ever use heavier bullets than the 147 and 152 pills? What kind are the 147 and 152s? I have some varget test loads loaded up, I think I am going to load up some CFE223 in the am and head out to the range with the 2 different powders. I have a ladder of 90 168amax bullets loaded up with varget, lapua brass, Remington 9 1/2 primers.
I should have quantified those Were shot at 50 yards from bags, but still good in my opinion. I had a small stockpile (3k) of air pulled 147 grain mil FMJ's. The 152 were bought at a gun show here in town 2 years ago when I originally ordered my OBR, which I subsequently cancelled last year when I bought the scar. I haven't tried anything heavier than 152, and use LC brass for all my auto loader rounds with pretty good success. I tested a variety of powder (ball c2, h335, and some mil surp 744 I think) and the cfe provided the smallest sd for velocities, close to the best accuracy, but more importantly metered and measured the best for use in my 550.
I have had great luck with CFE-223 and 168 Noslers in my gas guns. Meters well, great accuracy and velocity. The only issue is the pressure seems a bit higher than Varget so you can't load it as close to max (especially in a gas gun), but the added velocity makes it a wash. If this stuff was available when I made my last powder purchase I would have stocked up on it as my powder of choice.
Is the CFE223 the same speed as MR2000 or ARcomp?
I'd say no, 47grs of CFE & 2000MR give 2 different velocities, shooting 168AMAxs in my SPSS CFE gave me 2830 & 2000MR 2783, that would make CFE a bit faster burning.
