Help Choosing Powders

This is off topic, but does anyone shoot Winchester Magnum primers? I have 800 Rem 9 1/2 magnums but they gave me higher spreads than the Fed 215s. I only have 200 Federals left and cannot find them anywhere online or locally instock. I know primers change things but if the Winchesters deliver the same or near the same consistency as Federals then I will stock up on them. Winchester Small rifle and Large rifle primers are all I use in my other rifles, but this is my first magnum I've done extensive load development with so I have no experience with Winchester's mag primers. Thanks
 
I have come near the ending of load development in my .300 Win Mag and have narrowed my powders down to IMR 7828ssc and H4831. Both are within 10fps of each other and I am getting an ES of 11 and a SD of 4 with the 7828 load and an ES of 24 with a SD of 9 with the H4831 load. Accuracy goes to the IMR 7828 as well and pressure signs looks very much the same. The only thing holding me back from continuing with the IMR 7828 is that it's not known as an "extreme" or temp stable powder. The H4831 is very consistent across a wide range of temperatures and if I had more of it left I would fine tune my loads by .1 or .2 tenths of a grain to tighten up both accuracy and ES. Where I live it can be 10-35 degrees during deer season and in the 90s like its been this summer, and now is when I do a lot of practice and long range shooting.

I am going to order an 8lb keg of powder and cannot decide for the life of me whether to stick with the IMR 7828 and risk the possibility of temperature instability, or buy 8lbs of H4831 and roll with that. The 7828 is shooting under 1/2 MOA with 5 shots and the H4831 is around .75 MOA. I know if I test 4831 on a better day without as much mirage, the groups will shrink, and tinkering with the charges some will also lower the ES. I am caught in a dilemma and can't make up my mind. Any help or suggestions are appreciated, thanks guys.

I once had the exact same decision for my 300wm. For a while I picked H4831 untill I discovered my primer pockets were growing loose way too soon.
So I have been loving 7828ssc ever since.

Looking at my notes, 3148 fps at 31° , 3170fps at 73°.
This is with a 90+% case fill , 215m primers and 185vld.

Accuracy is consistently great.
 
I think I am leaning towards the 7828 but I am going to do more research about its temp stability. If it only changes 30-40fps from 30-90 then that is fine, but If its over that I am going with H-4831.

Here's what I have for temperature versus velocity in my 300 Win Mag with Berger 210 VLDs, using IMR 7828. It never gets much above 77F here, so I can't help with temperature affects extending up to 90F. Looks pretty good from 32*F to 77*F. The temperature affects were more pronounced below 32*F

7828%20Temperature%20Vs%20MV_zpszwbzfuts.jpg
 
This is off topic, but does anyone shoot Winchester Magnum primers? I have 800 Rem 9 1/2 magnums but they gave me higher spreads than the Fed 215s. I only have 200 Federals left and cannot find them anywhere online or locally instock. I know primers change things but if the Winchesters deliver the same or near the same consistency as Federals then I will stock up on them. Winchester Small rifle and Large rifle primers are all I use in my other rifles, but this is my first magnum I've done extensive load development with so I have no experience with Winchester's mag primers. Thanks

My go to primer is CCI followed by Federal, Winchester, and Remington. However, last year, I was surprised with the result when >>> http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/just-playing-different-primers-159193/
 
I already had two pounds of IMR 7828 on hand so I picked another 2lbs of it up at Cabelas yesterday so I should be set for awhile. From everything I found online and from the great data from phorwath, I can live with a 30+- fps velocity change from 30-90 degrees. Thanks for the help everyone, I also picked up some Winchester mag primers. They seem to be doing pretty well but I will do some further testing as I am working up a load with the 200gr ELD-Xs. Thanks again.
 
I already had two pounds of IMR 7828 on hand so I picked another 2lbs of it up at Cabelas yesterday so I should be set for awhile. From everything I found online and from the great data from phorwath, I can live with a 30+- fps velocity change from 30-90 degrees. Thanks for the help everyone, I also picked up some Winchester mag primers. They seem to be doing pretty well but I will do some further testing as I am working up a load with the 200gr ELD-Xs. Thanks again.

Check out #2 of http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/powder-temperature-sensitivity-31096/.
 
We use WRLM primers often. They have always been fine for us.

Unless the two new lbs of 7828 you picked up are from the same lot that you already had, there is a distinct possibility that they will not be the same.

Steve
 
Unless the two new lbs of 7828 you picked up are from the same lot that you already had, there is a distinct possibility that they will not be the same.

Steve

What I've done in the past to avoid any abrupt differences in new Lots of powders is to mix new 1 lb containers with the existing 1 lb containers I have on hand. I go thru a fairly elaborate and thorough process (meaning it takes some time) of blending/mixing the differing Lots/containers of powder together to ensure the final product is a uniform and consistent blend. It's a hassle, but I then end up with 3-4 lbs of uniform and consistent powder, which lasts me a good while.

Last time I did this was just one week ago. It's not my preference. It began when I first tried RL 33 about 1 1/2 years ago in a new rifle/cartridge, a 30/375 Ruger S.I. I didn't particularly want to purchase 5-8 lbs in bulk until I had tried the RL 33 with good results. So I bought a 1 lb container. Was looking pretty good, so I then purchased another 1 lb container (different Lot). Then about 6 weeks ago, I started loading for a .338 Lapua Improved, again starting out with RL 33. This 338 burns 106gr of RL 33 on every shot, draining powder from the 1 lb container like a thief in the night. So I purchased 2 more 1 lb containers (both the same Lot, however different than either of the original two containers). Since RL 33 was now shooting well in both rifles, I then blended about 3 1/4 lbs of powder from 3 different Lots of powder. Now I'm good for ~5 years.

I'd prefer to purchase a 5 or 8 lb container of powder after I've settled on a specific powder for one of my rifles. But that's a lot of money to spend on a trial basis with a new rifle/cartridge. Plus another consideration these days - there's always a newer, and sometimes better, powder coming to market. RL 26 is one that comes to mind. It's nice to be able to be able to move along with the latest/greatest powder to hit the shelves, without leaving $150 of powder on the shelf of the reloading room.

Someone may post and explain why this is a bad idea. But as long as the end product is mixed carefully to ensure a uniform blend of the 3 different parent Lots of powder, I can't think of any hazards to my methods/madness. The only negative was, my method was rather tedious to ensure the final product is uniform and consistent throughout. I'm sure my method could be improved.
 
Last week I mixed two eight pounders and 5 one pounders of Retumbo. 5 different lot# total. Labeled all containers LOT 2.

It is impossible to get a totally/ completely homogeneous blend because it is not a liquid , but the lot to lot variations shouldn't be over 5% difference.

I've did this a few times in the past with successful results, but I do drop 3% and check for pressure with the new lot.
 
I don't mix powder often, but when I do....
 

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