US869 thoughts, anyone?

[26Reload]

I have had good luck with US 869 in my 7 RUM - usually at full pressure loads.

Hey Shp....I also have a 7rum Remington 700 spa sporter....I worked up some loads last year..saw a few working from 89-94 gr rl33...
I had better groups at 91.5...shooting 168 lrab @ 2950fps...
I see a lot of you shooting faster....am curious where you are at in final load development....just wondering how much I am wasting...did drop back also because of heavy recoil....tore up three hat brims...92gr shot well just want the rifle more tamed....thx
No brake...

 

[Pdvdh]

I was being gentle when I recommended another powder other than US869. The only reason I ever used it was due to my small bore 25RUM cartridge. Had to in order to avoid powder bridging caused pressure spikes/disasters. It would be at the bottom of my list with a 338 bore cartridge.

 

[TwoMore]

I was being gentle when I recommended another powder other than US869. The only reason I ever used it was due to my small bore 25RUM cartridge. Had to in order to avoid powder bridging caused pressure spikes/disasters. It would be at the bottom of my list with 338 a bore cartridge.

I use the ball powder for that reason, I use rl33 in my 338 edge I bought 16 pounds of it and didnt use it in the rogue lol but it does great in the edge. I am have good results with the 872 in the rogue but it took some time to get my ES down. tight neck tension and close to the lands gets it down under 20

 

[Pdvdh]

I wish I could get some of the WC 872 pulldown. Living in Alaska, I can't order any gun powders for direct shipment. All gunpowder comes into the State thru VFGrace (distributor) in Anchorage. Well... possibly Sportsman's Warehouse, Bass Pro Shops, and Cabelas have their own means of delivery. Not sure about that.

If I ever drive up from the States again, I'll have to try to snag some WC 872 by having it shipped to a lower 48 address ahead of time, and then drive back up thru Canada. Do you happen to know if it's still available???

Kirby Allen used WC 872 in his 257 Allen Magnum. I'm led to believe it's a little better burn rate and behaving than US869. Not a lot of difference, as I understood it, but enough that he preferred it, between the two.

 

[TwoMore]

Pats reloading has it

 

[TwoMore]

is it legal to send it personally. I would send some to you

 

[Pdvdh]

Thanks, but no, I don't know of any cost effective way to ship it to Alaska. Not legally. I think the air shipment is the cause of this problem. Everything in small sizes / quantities comes up by air, whether it be Fed Ex, UPS, USPS, etc... and gun powder and bulk primers cannot be shipped by air/jet.

Powder has to be trucked or barged up. The large distributors/suppliers can afford to, and do truck or barge it up here in bulk quantities. I'm sorta in the know, because my brother owns a gun shop locally. He has one, and only one, source of gun powder and primers in Alaska. That's from his distributor/supplier located in Anchorage. They also supply all of the smaller stores/shops located throughout Alaska.

I think H870 is the same powder as WC 872. But it's no longer manufactured. I have about 1/2lb of H870, but that's barely enough for load development.

 

[royinidaho]

Engineering101 - The "beast" weighs 13.5 pounds and is unbraked. It was made for a short fella and has two heavy duty recoil pads to get it to about a 13+ inch length of pull for regular folks.

My 375 Allen Mag at just under 16 pounds with the large Pain Killer brake pushing 400 grain bullets at 3125 is like a BB gun in comparison.

I'm afraid of developing a "winch" vs a "flinch" and fear for the collar bone should I go prone with it.

 

[Gregg C]

I've run US869 in both a 26 Nosler and a 28 Nosler. No problems. In fact US869 was the only powder that could get the 26 Nosler to behave and I tried them all. Interestingly Nosler's latest handbook shows all compressed loads for 300 grain pills and US869 in the big Weatherby. It is also the highest velocity load listed with 115 grains giving a velocity of 2,830 fps out of a 26 inch tube.

Thanks for that. Do they show a pressure? I bet it's comparatively low, if they do. That's what attracted me to that stuff. That and at the time, it was every where, and less cost..

 

[Gregg C]

GC, the tightest group I've ever had in my 30/378 Wby was with US869. The problem I had was temp sensitivity. I switched to Retumbo with great results and no temp sensitivity.

Heard that, too. In your experience , did it matter which end of the thermometer ?

 

[Gregg C]

Temp sensitivity, and larger ES/SD in MV fall within my characterization of finicky.
If you shoot a smaller caliber, large capacity cartridge, you might have to use a ball powder to prevent powder bridging and pressure spikes. But with the 338 bore, no worries about powder bridging.
Which is why I'd seriously consider another powder.
I used to use IMR 7828 with my 338-378 with lighter weight bullets, but that was 25-30yrs ago. More powders and choices are available today.

Well, interestingly enough, I'm dealing with a high ES . Guess now I know why, at least PART of it.. Ok , that one didn't work out, next powder please. I've probably put 8 pounds of that stuff thru my rifle, I guess it's time to stop beating my head against a wall.

 

[Pdvdh]

Yeah, don't throw it away. Load it to a healthy pressure to minimize ES/SD and to get a fuller, more complete, and more consistent burning of it. Use hot magnum primers.

But I'd explore some other, more user-friendly, powders for the long haul.

 

[freebird63]

My experience with it was that it was very temp sensitive.....tried it in my 300RUM