Henry Rifle Forums

Test results firing 4 CFE223 powder test loads from about 55yds. These are quick shots using a branch in a bush as a rest. Five shots, one with a factory round to compare the 'felt' difference with the 4 CFE223 rounds. No discernible difference. Didn't repaint the 6" paddles, so circled the impacts in the pictures to make them easier to spot. Pictures are of the back side of paddles after they had flipped over. I cleaned the H009 afterwards. It was pretty dirty. I likely did not shoot enough rounds to get the barrel hot enough to test the anti-copper fouling properties of the powder. That will come later.

Never used cfe or lvr in the 30-30's, but they both work well in my 308 mx. and 223 , with only one grain of powder difference.
Is the Henry scoped?

RP

CFE223 has been my go to powder for jacketed 30-30 loads. When I was working up loads for velocity, I found that CFE would give me better accuracy than Levereveluyion when the loads were on the lighter side but they were about equal when the loads were on the hot side both in velocity and accuracy. I have been shooting mostly plated bullets recently and haven't experimented with CFE to see how it works with them.

I did not notice at the time if CFE helped with copper build up or not.

Happy Shooting.

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 22, 2023 7:12 am

...
Is the Henry scoped?

RP

Yes. Vortex Strike Eagle 1-6x24

leverjc wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 22, 2023 9:50 am

CFE223 has been my go to powder for jacketed 30-30 loads. When I was working up loads for velocity, I found that CFE would give me better accuracy than Levereveluyion when the loads were on the lighter side but they were about equal when the loads were on the hot side both in velocity and accuracy. I have been shooting mostly plated bullets recently and haven't experimented with CFE to see how it works with them.

I did not notice at the time if CFE helped with copper build up or not.

Happy Shooting.

Thank you. Load data for CFE223 in 30-30 was next to impossible to find. If you don't mind me asking, what was your source and how many grains did you use for your hot loads behind what bullet?

Mags I got most of my info from Lee's Modern Reloading second edition. 130grn 32.8 to 35.6 2378-2533fps 37,000psi, 150grn 33.9 to 36.8 2274-2409fps 36,700psi, 160grn 31.6 to 33.2 2170-2302fps 36,700psi. 170grn 32.2 to 35.0 2115-2258fps 36,800. I think Speer online data runs a little hotter but double check me on that. The Lee manual shows these loads some what lower than the 40,000 psi of most top end loads.

Hope this helps.

leverjc wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 22, 2023 7:19 pm

Mags I got most of my info from Lee's Modern Reloading second edition. 130grn 32.8 to 35.6 2378-2533fps 37,000psi, 150grn 33.9 to 36.8 2274-2409fps 36,700psi, 160grn 31.6 to 33.2 2170-2302fps 36,700psi. 170grn 32.2 to 35.0 2115-2258fps 36,800. I think Speer online data runs a little hotter but double check me on that. The Lee manual shows these loads some what lower than the 40,000 psi of most top end loads.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for sharing. I don't have Lee's manual. I did go to Lee's website to see if they had any online data. I encountered a statement there that they don't do their own data, that they copy and republish powder mfgr's data. Looking at your 150gr data, it looks like it came from Hodgdon for a Sierra bullet. I am hoping to eventually find CFE223 data for a Hornady 150gr RN. Something I noticed with H335 and TAC is that data for loading the Hornady bullet runs a couple grains higher with CFE223 than what is published for Sierra and Speer bullets. Only powders where I can see a side by side powder/bullet compare. I've been curious if that 2gr difference would carry over to CFE223/Hornady bullet as well. Anyway as you noted Speer data with a Speer 150gr bullet is hotter, 39.9gr CFE223. So maybe CFE223 behind a Hornady 150gr RN can go as hot as 41.9gr, I don't know, but inquisitive minds must know these things. Maybe some inquisitive hope out there. American Rifleman wrote an article that included CFE223 behind the Hornady bullet, that might have come from Lyman's 50th manual. Alas, the newest I have is the 48th.