SmallCaliberCentral

I am helping my son-in-law on figureing out a load for his .223 and was wondering were to start what do you guys like. Powder mostly. I am starting w/ a 40 grain hornady v-max

You didn't say what he would be using the 223 for, but if it's target shooting any of 52gr.Match bullets are good. If it's Coyotes, the 55gr. sp. are a good choice. I use a 52gr. hp from James Calhoun for Predators.
There's a lot of nice powder choices on the market now, but my 2 favorites are W 748 and H 335. Rem. 7 1/2 primers have been very good to me. I quit buying commercial brass and just use the Lake City or IMI brass.

Mostly Prairie Poodles and some coyotes

I personally wouldn't use a plastic tip bullet for Coyotes. The Sierra #1365 55gr.sp would be a great choice along with the Hornady 55sp. For Prairie Poodles, the plastic tip bullets would work great.
I guess I should add that I'm a pelt hunter, so I look for a bullet that doesn't cause much damage.

Hi majcl5

What twist is your son-in-law's .223?

I haven't tried the 40g V-Max but my Savage VLP 1 in 9" twist loves the 69g Sierra Matchking over 24.0grains of VARGET. Alternatively, i'm getting great success from the same bullet but stoked up with 25.5grains of H4895.

Hope this helps.

K

For bullets in that weight range I would look at a powder with a simmilar burn rate to H335. Ramshot TAC, Benchmark, 335, 322, N133 would all be great choices. I have had the best luck with Benchmark and TAC in my .223 rifles.

thanks for the advise guys

I been working with the new Nosler 35 grain .224 Lead Free BT's and so far TAC and Benchmark seem to be promising.