I don't really have a "problem" with 2230, I just don't like it as much. That's like saying I have a "problem" with Chevy - just 'cause I prefer Ford doesn't mean I think Chevy builds nothing but rubbish.
What I don't like about 2230 is that it's a spherical "high energy" powder coated in graphite. Meters WELL, but is temperature sensitive (very high temps give VERY high pressures - something to beware of here in the desert, especially with black guns stored in a truck!) and dirty. If you use it in something without a flash hider in low light (or even a limp flash hider like the USGI model), 2230 blows a big white-yellow fireball that is HUGE in comparison.
Yes, I'm using Benchmark with 5.56 - but as I said in another thread, I run lightweight bullets. If I were running heavyweights in the 5.56, I'd go with something a touch slower. Although Hodgdons says that 4895 is about the same speed as Varget, that IS NOT the case. 4895 is a decent bit faster - enough to tell the differrence anyway. I've used Varget in my 16" AR behind 69 grain Sierra Match Kings with great success - it's a GREAT combo - so for 69 and heavier (especially if you've got a decent flash hider) I'd run Varget.
FWIW, Benchmark is the powder the Australian military uses in their M193. They use a touch slower powder (called Benchmark2, not imported QUITE YET, but Hodgdons is working on it) in their Mk262 type ammo. Not quite as slow as H4895, but slower than Benchmark.
If I - for whatever reason - couldn't get the "extreme" Hodgdons powders, I'd buy Vihta 1XX series. Those are GREAT powders, although they're also spherical and high nitro content. Not as high as the 5XX series though!
After that? Well, I don't want to cast stones, but my least favorite is IMR (worst of all worlds) and Winchester (not much better) is tied with AA. I'm sure I forgot someone, but I'm hungry so gimme a break ;-)
FWIW, I ran AA2520 in my competition service rifle until I used some of that ammo in my first sniper course. After that, the rest of those kegs have just sat there. It's surprising to watch your dope change by several MOA just from the temperature changes of early in the morning to the heat of the day. Without spotting rounds, it makes a difference!
And just so someone doesn't think I'm saying "Hodgdons only", let me say that there are plenty of powders I've moved away from that are made by Hodgdons. Good example: HS6. Used it for years, but it has problems too, and I moved on when something better came down the pike. But I do like their "extreme" powders.
FWIW - and only my opinion!