- Oct 30, 2004
- 24,073
- 2,593
The new hign performance powders
- Thread starter FOTIS
- Start date
Antelope_Sniper
Handloader
- Jan 25, 2008
- 2,618
- 0
Those WSM loads look kind of screaming.....
I don't know about the powders, but i am not happy with the loaded stuff. Got a box of superformance in 7mm-08 and the target at 100 yards looked like a shotgun hit it. 
There is a tad more recoil but not much more. Got five rounds in a three inch circle. Not a happy camper.
There is a tad more recoil but not much more. Got five rounds in a three inch circle. Not a happy camper.
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 36,960
- 5,173
The powders are quite specialised. I spoke with a tech at Hodgdon to see if they had done anything with the LeverEvolution powder in 358 or 356. He bluntly stated that it would not work in those cartridges, though they have loads for the 338 Federal. It has, in his statement, very narrow applications. He advised me that Hornady uses over forty blends that they call "SuperFormance," one of which is released by Hodgdon. These powders are blended for very narrow and specific purposes. The powders will have some utility, but the handloader is on his own. This means that I do a lot of work and measure case expansion in the web in order to estimate pressures, or spring for that new Oehler chronograph. Hodgdon's charts of burn rates shows LeverEvolution with a burn rate slower than BL-C(2) and faster than H380, and SuperFormance with a burn rate slower than H4831 and faster than Supreme 780. It at least provides the cautious handloader with a starting point. However, without some profile information, it is reaching into a black box. Interesting.
i just can't believe they don't have a powder for sale for the .308, 30-06, .270. These are the three most popular cartridges in N America. Getting 100-200 more fps out of these make them a close cousin to some of the magnums. I guess right now if I want that I should just buy a bigger rifle :mrgreen:
I guess you can call me an old foggy but I am satisfied with the powders that I have been using for over 30 years. That is if they will still keep making them. I hate they stopped making H-870 but thank goodness they started making Retumbo for my 264 Win mag. I have only missed three deer in well over 200 kills and it was not the powders fault. I had a huge bee, looked like a yellow jacket on steroids, fly right into my eye at the moment I was squeezing the trigger shooting one deer and missed. On the second one I was shooting a deer a little over 400 yards away out in a cut over plot and I hit an unseen to me through the scope limb sticking out of a tree lap and deflected the bullet. The other was with a contender pistol at 107 yards. I had just killed one deer at 80 yards and two more were with it. They ran up the trail a ways and stopped. I reloaded and was going to shoot a second deer. It was standing facing me stomping it's front feet trying to get the dead deer to get up it guess. I was going to shoot it in the neck. At the moment the gun went off the deer ducked it's head down and I shot right over top of it. Dead is dead in my book. As for target work, as my buddy says, "if it got any more accurate it would shoot half a bullet hole." :mrgreen:
Antelope_Sniper
Handloader
- Jan 25, 2008
- 2,618
- 0
The .308 powder has been out for several years.
It's called Varget!!
It's called Varget!!
Big Squeeze
Handloader
- May 29, 2007
- 828
- 0
.............What you got, was a box of the Hornady Superformance factory ammo, that apparently your rifle doesn`t like too well.russ808":1bf2j7h3 said:I don't know about the powders, but i am not happy with the loaded stuff. Got a box of superformance in 7mm-08 and the target at 100 yards looked like a shotgun hit it.
According to the tech at Hodgdon with whom I spoke with by phone, this new Hodgdon Superperformance powder is "NOT" the same blend as what Hornady uses in their Superformance factory ammo. They are similar but not the same.
He also cautioned that for now, this new Hodgdon powder for reloading purposes, should ONLY be used for those cartridges listed such as the 300 WSM.
Whaddya know! I tinks I have a 300 WSM laying around somewhere.
74 gr of Hodgdon Sprformnce behind a 150 grainer at 3410 fps,,,24" barrel.
73.5 gr of the same behind a 155 grainer at 3405 fps,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,24" barrel.
72.0 gr ditto, ditto and ditto behind a 165 grainer at 3273 fps,,,,,24" barrel.
I do plan on doing a little fudgin though. I`ll substitute the 165 for the 168 VLD.
Deduct about 4.5% to 5% (approx 20 fps per inch) to account for a barrel that`s 7.5" shorter, then I`ll really have one darn screamin 300 WSM shorty Ruger carbine.
Which RL17 has already proven to do, this new stuff from Hodgdon will just make my carbine barrel grow even a little longer.
A 168 gr VLD at 3100 fps? And from a 16.5" barrel to boot?
Stay tuned!
corbin9191
Handloader
- Dec 2, 2007
- 724
- 0
I wonder how it would work in the 7mm wsm, becasue they already have the 300 wsm listed?
Big Squeeze
Handloader
- May 29, 2007
- 828
- 0
...............Good question. But I would hold off trying some until Hodgdon lists the 7 WSM. Give `em a call and see if they have plans to test this powder using a 7 WSM.corbin9191":3s0d31fz said:
Though I don`t see any reaon why it shouldn`t work for a 7 WSM as well as they show for the 300 WSM.
YoteSmoker
Handloader
- Oct 3, 2006
- 1,602
- 0
Varget works well for the 308, 7mm08, and 22-250 in my gun cabinet, and it's temperature tollerant to boot!
- Nov 4, 2004
- 24,389
- 6,738
Those new powders lood good!
JD338
JD338
DannoBoone
Beginner
- Oct 19, 2009
- 37
- 0
barthowes":215kf0nx said:
Alliant Reloader 17 has you covered in all three cartridges. It does everything that people have
been expecting from the new high performance powders. H4350 loads, minus 2gr. can be
substituted if one cannot find loads for their cartridges using RL17. The only disappointments I've
had is in using light for caliber bullets. Medium and heavy weight bullets do fly an average of
100-200fps faster, and accuracy is definitely there. It may have originally been made for the
shorter magnums, but I have had good luck with it even in a .22-250.
The more I read and hear about the new high performance powders, the more the word "hype"
comes to mind.
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