Interesting experience superformance powder in 3006...

kraky1

Handloader
Mar 7, 2012
494
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I had what I thought was somewhat interesting experience with 165 grainers and 61.3 Grains of superformance in a 22-inch 3006 Ruger. This is my buddies gun and it has a little bit of a slow Barrel and it has a little bit of excess headspace. The brass I used was 2x fired federal. The shoulders had been sized so that in this gun it would have allowed about .005 headspace growth.
The Loads clocked 2785 at the muzzle. Certainly not a Hot Load but I wouldn't exactly consider it mild either.
The surprising thing to me was that looking at the brass after firing them Primers had backed out and the most the headspace grew was .002.
Maybe I'm using hillbilly theory here but it would indicate to me that those loads were really mild like almost down towards 3030 pressures.... I don't think I ever see Primers backing out of shells unless they're well down into the 40,000 PSI range? Anyhow it seems like that powder makes okay velocity and really low pressure. This is pretty much a Max load according to the books and I'm not sure this powder would like being compressed.... so I'm not going more besides the fact that it is pretty darn accurate.... and all we needed for is shots to 200 yards in the Wisconsin Woods.
Has anybody else played with this powder much in any cartridges?
 
Yes...I would say that it was an 'interesting experience' because the load you're using and the MV you're listing as 2785 fps is slightly above a load listed as a 'beginning load' of 55 grains through a 26" barrel @2724 fps! I suggest that something is askew with your chronograph data! Your load is 3/10 grain over a listed 'max load' which gives 2927 fps with a PSI rating of 58,800. This is using the 165 gr. SPBT bullet. You're at a MAX LOAD and the reason your primers are backing out is because of it and excessive headspacing!
 
Hornady lists 61.6... Hodgdon lists just slightly less. There is nothing wrong with the chronograph it performed flawlessly all day with lots of different loads. .005 is really not excessive headspace if this had been virgin Factory brass it could have grown .007 - .008 in this particular gun. Most reports on superformance Powder that I see seem to indicate it does not get anywhere near the speed that hogdon says it does...although I did just pick up another can which is a quite a bit newer lot and maybe they'll be a surprise. So far what I've seen of it in 3006 size cases says it performs alot like h4831..... if you could get that much into a case.
I was getting groups just over an inch at 200 yds. All the brass still Chambers like butter and I collet sized it and I'm going to do the same load over for another proof testing.
 
I have been testing it in a 280 Rem (Mod 70 featherweight) with good results with 140 AB's. I can't see as there is really anything "super" about it. It won't do anything that RL 19 or 4831 won't do. Not saying it's a bad powder, because its certainly not, it runs neck and neck with my two favorites (19 & 4831). It does meter very well and going strictly with published data, I haven't seen anything to suggest any pressure issues. The one thing that stands out in my mind is that a 3 grain increase from 54 to 57 grains only produces 78 extra fps, but 3200 extra PSI..(according to Hodgdon, anyway)
 
Funny...hogdon max loads and hornadies data are viritual twins....hogdon say 2900+ for speed......Hornady says 2700....wow!
But it has been really accurate.
 
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