was curious how to compare brand "x" to brand "y"?  I believe i have read that H335 and RL15 were both used in manufacturing ammo for our military?  so am i to assume they are similiar, both ball powders?  Trying to get an idea and for example Hornady manual lists for 55gr 223 Rem. H322 and H335 are nearly identical on table and other than one being extruded and the other not.

Seems the manual doesn't even list RL15 but does RL-10X and RL15 seems to be very popular for .223

From what i've read about deciding on a powder and "think i understand"

1. i should be choosing a powder in the middle range for a particular grain bullet
2. i could fill my case up with H20, wiegh it and take 85% and that should be the appr. load for case capacity

alot of choices and still trying to grasp the idea of why one thinks brand "a" powder would work for "b" projectile.

thanks

Scour your load manuals for every new bullet you are going to try, look for speed, pressure and most accurate (if applicable) and make your decision based on that. Sometimes a different speed
powder will make a certain bullet shoot better or give you lower pressures. That's the fun of this hobby.

Best advice I ever got was start with the lowest published load, work upwards, and get a Chrony

more on manuals...
would like to work with Hornady 40gr v-max.  Hornady manual lists 8 different powders.  Are these the best powders for this bullet that they have tested?  assuming they have tried others?  I know theres software out there one uses that is suppose to show ballistics for given components,barrel leghth etc...

Chronagraph is somehting i have been reading on and wanting and what it does for us.  May have to just say F*&K the bills and buy one.

Take some advice from someone that has reloaded for 20+ years:

Don't buy every powder that you think you want to try.  

If you do that, you'll end up with 50 3/4ths full cans of powder and 3 powders that you use all the time.  

Good advice.
__________________

So, OK......just narrow down your search some.

Buy the 1 lb can and do some experiments.

Choose........what YOU like.

Then, buy the 8 lb can.

Aloha, Mark

PS.........

A good place to start is pick those powders that others have had success with.  I've done well with H335, and AA2230 for 55 grainers they're ball powders and meter extremely well.  I tend to get a bit more velocity out of AA2230 (wouldn't know this if I didn't have a chrony).  Also, with these two powders I've always used CCI #450 (small rifle magnum primers).  They may work well with regular small rifle primers but that's what I had when I started and have seen no reason to switch.

DOC

perfect point.  It was suggested to use AA2230 by an gentleman whom i never met before, and from our conversation he has been reloading for many years and had more info than i could absord and left with more questions than i started, to use being he had great success in the AR with it.  This powder is NOT listed in my manual and with all the others was curious why?  somone stated above the powders listed are the ones the worked the best and being as your the second to mention this particular one why wasn't it listed?

Now still being new to this hobby/passion and to the top of the learning curve i am trying to put everything togeather.  

Sometimes, a powder brand or mfn will be "shut out" by the writers of the manual.

Why list data for a competitor's powder company?

Then, the shear number of powders makes it almost impossible to list every single one.

And, not to mention that some powders are new, usually not suitable by "type" (i.e pistol or SG powder for rifle loading), don't fit with the criteria set by the authors, burning rate, builds pressure too fast or slow, etc.......

I'm not saying, that someone who has an "unlisted load" is BS.

All I'm saying, is to be careful.  

Cause, you never know when someone is &*@^*&! with you.

HTH.......to clarify.

Aloha, Mark

Choosing a powder is one of the harder things for a beginning reloader to do.  I will also agree that the most manuals don't really help you out very much in picking the optimum powder.  You are lucky that the .223 is a cartridge that works well with a variety of powders.  Only in recent years has it expanded to use the heavier 62+ grain bullets via fast-twist barrels, adding another dimension to picking a good powder - and that doesn't make it any easier!

I like to look at several reloading sources and manuals.  Some of them point out certain powders that they feel are good "accuracy" powders.  That is a help.  An example is the Nosler manual that lists H-335 as the "Most Accurate Powder Tested" on their .223 55-grain bullet page.

I normally look at the powders that give the better, or higher velocities in several manuals for the bullet weight I'm interested in.  Or to put it another way - a powder that is capable of delivering top velocities in the weight if you choose.  Certain powders are more suited to certain bullet weights.  For example, I consider RL15 with 60+ .223 bullets, but H-335 with 40-55 grainers because those are the ranges in which they shine.  That would be a good choice, and it has been for me personally.  These powders that top the velocity list normally have a decent pressure curve and have a high load density.  

I like to see if the powders that look interesting are listed in more than one manual.  This is an indication that it has common usage in that caliber/weight.  There are some good powders that aren't listed everywhere however - there are so many new powders and some manuals just arbitrarily pick a certain few to list 10-15 perhaps.
I also like to check around in magazine articles and online to see which powders work well.  A good powder works well for a lot of people.  For example: I never have tried BL-C2, but I have read, seen online, and heard from various people that it is a good powder choice.  Recently I shot some reloads with BL-C2 and it lived up to its rep.  In your case RL15 would fall into the same category.  Many more people here use RL15 with success than RL10X.

I like to study the physical characteristics of the powder.  For example, if I desire a powder that is easy to meter, I will look at the ball powders or an extruded powder with a very short grain structure.  So IMR 3031 may be listed, but I would pick RL15 over it for metering.

In recent years there has been an effort to make powders both cleaner burning and temperature insensitive.  Both of these are very positive traits, so when the choice narrows, cleanliness and the ability to deliver the same full velocity when it is cold in the winter as it does in the summer may be an important consideration.  Ramshot, Hodgdon Extreme, and certain Alliant powders like RL15 have one or both of these traits.

And yes, a chronograph really is a nice tool for working up a load - pay more attention to the maximum velocity listed in the manuals (the more sources the better) for the particular bullet weight/powder combination and stop when you reach that velocity.  You will find this is a more accurate indicator of pressure than most other methods.  You may use slightly more or less of a charge to reach that velocity due to factors relating to your particular rifle, powder lot etc., but rest assured that there are no "magic barrels" that will give another 100 fps at safe maximum pressure.