Hodgdon CFE 223 Smokeless Powder, 1 lb

CFE 223 is the powder for shooting a lot of .223 rather than shooting a little of it very precisely. Its distinguishing feature is the Copper Fouling Eraser ingredient, which Hodgdon says was originally used in military propellant and greatly deters copper fouling, contributing to longer periods of top accuracy with less barrel cleaning time. On a high-round-count semi-automatic that is a meaningful benefit, because copper accumulation is what walks a barrel's accuracy off over a long session. Being a spherical powder rather than an extruded stick, it meters superbly accurately through a powder measure, which matters when you are throwing hundreds of charges on a progressive press instead of weighing each one. Hodgdon lists it for .204 Ruger, .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO, 22-250 Remington, and .308 Winchester and 7.62 NATO. One difference deserves emphasis because it is easy to assume otherwise: CFE 223 is not part of the Extreme line and Hodgdon's own product specification marks it as not temperature stable, so it is the wrong choice for a load you intend to shoot at distance across seasons. It is also one of the few Hodgdon rifle powders made in the United States.