Titegroup vs. Varget reloading powder

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grimblyd

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I'm beginning my investigation for cost of reloading .223 and was calculating my per bullet cost of powder (to ultimately arrive at my per bullet total cost), so went to Hodgsons reloading data website.

Picked a 55gr bullet for comparison.

Tittegroup powder: 3.1 gr, 1050 fps. Ok sounds lower than I use for my 9mm rounds, but they are also 124gr

Varget powder 22.8gr ~3k fps.... ok, its a lot faster, but 7.4 times as much powder for 3 times the speed?

dafuq?

That seems kind of like a large spread. Granted I've only ever reloaded .45 ACP and 9mm, but I've never seen a jump like that.

Is this correct?
 
Titegroup is a pistol powder, that load for .223 is a plinking load. The varget load is full power. Its like comparing the fuel mileage of a civic to a corvette. One is cheap to operate, one goes really fast. Choose which one suits you. BTW I like H335 for 55gr .223. 25.0 grs usually does it. Meters well, costs less than stick powder, shoots great and is fairly clean burning when loaded to the higher end. Max is 25.3.
 
like supernova said. that tightgroup load is a low power load with a fast pistol powder designed for cheep close range plinking. most standard full power 223 loads will closely mirror what the varget load is. if you are looking at costs i would not be using varget. although varget is an awesome 223 powder its just too expensive if you are looking to save pennies. h335 h322 w748 cfe223 blc2 are all great 223 powders to consider and im sure you can find some for less than varget.
 
Thanks guys.
I had been hoping that I could stick with one powder, to avoid mixing them accidentally, but it sounds like that would not be a sensible approach. I would imagine that if I used this Titegroup pinking load it might not even cycle my CQ-A.

Also looks like I need to do a lot more homework before I start reloading the .223's
 
I have been using titegroup for plinking/gallery loads in a few calibers. It's fun, but not comparable to a "real" round. Hodgdon's does list titegroup loads for both .223 and .308, but they are subsonic and for a jacketed bullet (I launch cast for gallery loads). I think I could reach out past 100m, but it would be sketchy. Almost certainly wouldn't cycle a semi (depending on what you're launching your .223 from) and I'm pretty certain my brass deforms more with gallery loads than more "normal" loads (stretches)...cost effectiveness is diminished when you consider brass is affected, and you're launching a jacketed round(hodgdon's data) at about 1/3 the oooomph they could go. For a specialized cat-sneeze/mouse fart/gallery load titegroup is ok(better choices for that too)

Varget. I haven't actually used it, but it does have a fine reputation for knocking down critters, or reaching out further than my tiny yard.

Apples an oranges, and will depend on what you want to do. I've only recently started reloading (after decades of desire) as bulk rimfire became a tiring chase. I now use my beloved centerfires like they were rimfires. No recoil, or noise. I also load up heftier rounds for further reaching/heavier hitting fun.
 
I have never heard of using titegroup in a 223. it is a fairly fast pistol powder.

I could see that a plinker load with it is possible. probably for single shot use. Would not expect it to cycle a semi.

varget is a powder I would use in a bolt action target rifle in 223.

For ordinary Ar-15 type shooting I would use one of the ball powders. Much easier to work with. H335, BLC2, 748 come to mind. I load 2 gr less than the Max in the book. Good accuracy and less muzzle jump.
 
I've tried Titegroup for 223 plinking loads, and it's severely underwhelming, and not time/cost effective for what you get. Compare the cost of components to 22 rimfire, and you'll see what I mean. I used a bolt action, and as someone mentioned, there's no way it would cycle an AR-15.
 
grimblyd said:
I'm beginning my investigation for cost of reloading .223 and was calculating my per bullet cost of powder (to ultimately arrive at my per bullet total cost), so went to Hodgsons reloading data website.

Picked a 55gr bullet for comparison.

Tittegroup powder: 3.1 gr, 1050 fps. Ok sounds lower than I use for my 9mm rounds, but they are also 124gr

Varget powder 22.8gr ~3k fps.... ok, its a lot faster, but 7.4 times as much powder for 3 times the speed?

dafuq?

That seems kind of like a large spread. Granted I've only ever reloaded .45 ACP and 9mm, but I've never seen a jump like that.

Is this correct?
Click to expand...

I know I posted earlier, but no nervous nelly posts yet. This should go without saying:
Different powders for different applications. Titegroup plinking rounds can be double charged(even triple+) which could result in gunparts (possibly flesh and bone too) at over 3000fps in all directions instead of a single bullet in one direction.
 
I'm guessing the Titegroup load is from the Hodgdon data site? They list subsonic loads for various cartridges and always seem to use Titegroup. From my understanding the loads were added due to the number of Americans asking for subsonic loads for use with suppressors. It surprised me the first time I saw it after those loads were added when Titegroup came up as a powder option for .308.

You will not find a powder that will load both rifle and pistol effectively. How many powders you optimally need depends on what kind of catridges you shoot. I have 3-4 pistol powders I use on a regular basis but could go down to 2. A powder for 9mm wont be suitable for full house loads in .44 magnum for example.

For rifle I currently use 4-5 powders but could go down to 2-3. Varget is nice but it's exceedingly difficult to find a lot of the time still. When I do find it, it is often much more expensive than other similar powders. Last time I found some it was $399 for an 8lbs keg. I picked up 8lbs of IMR 4166 for $300ish. IMR 4166 (one of the new Enduron powders) has a very similar burn rate and gives similar performance to Varget and is much easier to find. IMR 4064 is also very close to Varget; almost interchangeable. Powders I use often in .223 for use an an AR where I need the action to cycle include H4198, W748, and Benchmark. W748 is a ball powder as Ganderite said so goes through a volumetric powder thrower very nicely. Benchmark uses short grains so still works great though I run it through an electric powder dispenser.
 
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