Ball powder list

[Crockett12]

H-450 has been out of production for years. It was discontinued prior to the .270 WSM being introduced, hence the lack of published loading data for that particular cartridge. If you are seeking slower burning ball powders for use in cartridges similar to the .270 WSM, I suggest looking for Ramshot Hunter or Magnum, Accurate MagPro, and Alliant Power Pro 4000-MR. Another good hint for determining if a powder is ball powder is if it is manufactured in the USA. Chances are if it is produced domestically, it is a ball or spherical powder from St. Marks, Florida.

I have an 8 pound keg of H-450, which is why I wanted to use it in the 270 WSM. Somewhere along the line I got old and have decided not to hunt big game anymore because of being physically limited. I can still do the hunting but the work after the game is on the ground is beginning to get beyond what I can physically do -- so I'm transitioning to predator hunting instead! I've got two 270 WSM's and will sell one but can't bring myself to sell the other. Both are 1/2 inch shooters with H-1000 and 110 gr Barnes bullets, so have no reason to experiment with other powders and still have plenty of that powder. I also have two 22-250's and one is a 1/4 inch shooter with H-4895 and the other a 1/2 to 3/4 inch shooter with H-380. I'm getting a little light on H-4895 and want to look for a ball powder that works better in the 1/4 inch rifle than the H-380 does -- hence the question about the ball powder list!

 

[2ndtimer]

I have an 8 pound keg of H-450, which is why I wanted to use it in the 270 WSM. Somewhere along the line I got old and have decided not to hunt big game anymore because of being physically limited. I can still do the hunting but the work after the game is on the ground is beginning to get beyond what I can physically do -- so I'm transitioning to predator hunting instead! I've got two 270 WSM's and will sell one but can't bring myself to sell the other. Both are 1/2 inch shooters with H-1000 and 110 gr Barnes bullets, so have no reason to experiment with other powders and still have plenty of that powder. I also have two 22-250's and one is a 1/4 inch shooter with H-4895 and the other a 1/2 to 3/4 inch shooter with H-380. I'm getting a little light on H-4895 and want to look for a ball powder that works better in the 1/4 inch rifle than the H-380 does -- hence the question about the ball powder list!

Given that you have a good quantity of H-450, I would consider trying it in your .270WSM. My old loading manuals Speer No. 10, Hornady 4th Edition and Hodgdon Data Manual No. 25 from 1981, 1991 and 1988 respectively each show maximum charges for 100 or 110 gr bullets for the .270 Win as 62.0 or 63.0 gr of H-450. I would start my WSM loads at that level and work up one grain at a time and watch for pressure signs. In my quick research, it would appear that Ramshot Hunter is slightly quicker burning than H-450, and my Lyman 49th Edition shows a max load of 68.0 gr of Hunter with a 110 gr Sierra bullet for the .270 WSM. You should be able to go 68.0 gr of H-450 with relative safety, even with the mono metal bullet. And probably several grains higher, carefully watching for pressure signs. It is your firearm, your eyes and fingers. I have loaded a few times without specific load data for a particular cartridge and powder, extrapolating data from similar cartridges and similar powder burning rates. It would be interesting to hear your results, if you choose to give it a try.
You could even give the H-450 a try in your 22-250. My old Speer and Hodgdon manual both list loads for that cartridge with H-450. I liked that powder with my old .243 Win.

 

[Crockett12]

Given that you have a good quantity of H-450, I would consider trying it in your .270WSM. My old loading manuals Speer No. 10, Hornady 4th Edition and Hodgdon Data Manual No. 25 from 1981, 1991 and 1988 respectively each show maximum charges for 100 or 110 gr bullets for the .270 Win as 62.0 or 63.0 gr of H-450. I would start my WSM loads at that level and work up one grain at a time and watch for pressure signs. In my quick research, it would appear that Ramshot Hunter is slightly quicker burning than H-450, and my Lyman 49th Edition shows a max load of 68.0 gr of Hunter with a 110 gr Sierra bullet for the .270 WSM. You should be able to go 68.0 gr of H-450 with relative safety, even with the mono metal bullet. And probably several grains higher, carefully watching for pressure signs. It is your firearm, your eyes and fingers. I have loaded a few times without specific load data for a particular cartridge and powder, extrapolating data from similar cartridges and similar powder burning rates. It would be interesting to hear your results, if you choose to give it a try.
You could even give the H-450 a try in your 22-250. My old Speer and Hodgdon manual both list loads for that cartridge with H-450. I liked that powder with my old .243 Win.

Great suggestions! I do enjoy working up a load so might try it with different bullets with H-450 in both WSM's! I had orginially wanted to find a load with 140 grain bullets and got good velocity in both rifles but the accuracy wasn't what I wanted, even while trying several different powders! Hadn't even thought about trying it in the 22-250 -- but it's a possibility by taking a look at powders with similar burn rates as H-450! Thanks for your input!

 

[STGguy]

Try Ball C-2 for the .223 and IMR 4320 for the 22-250

That's my "go to " for :
- 223
- 7.62x39
- 7.62 x 54 150 gr projectiles in my PU Sniper
- 308/ 7.62 NATO
- 303 British
- 7-08 w 139 - 140 gr (4350 for heavier / hog loads )
- prob something else I'm forgetting

I love Ball Powders as they meter really well in normal powder throwers

 

[JAYgs8163]

Aa2460 works very well also in a short barrel 308. I run a 130 grain Barnes TTSX at 3085 FPS out of a 18" barrel. Good on game out to 550-600.

 

[Wrenches]

If I remember correctly H450 and Winchester 785 were the same powder.

 

[RidgeTop]

I had good results with 785 in Rem 7mmMag and heavy bullets like 175's. Full power loads only.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

In 60 years of reloading in a climate that has temperatures from -25 to 90+ every year, I have only one hardened rule !! I STAY AWAY FROM ALL BALL POWDER, LIFES TOO SHORT TO CAUSE MYSELF MORE HEADACHES..

 

[Bret GRAVELINE Graveline]

In 60 years of reloading in a climate that has temperatures from -25 to 90+ every year I STAY AWAY FROM ALL BALL POWDER, LIFES TOO SHORT TO CAUSE MYSELF MORE HEADACHES..

I only have 51 years behind me, our temps here never reach into the negative and rarely into even single digits, but sub freezing to well over 100 are the norm add 10 to 15 for the Garage in the summer time, where most people I know store they're powder, almost all the powder I've lost has been IMR powders, the one exception was AA 8600, that powder was a mis blended batch of AA8700, it was less than 2 dollars a pound back in the early 90's I believe, I bought 24 lbs of it, most of it went bad, I had perhaps 20 pounds of other AA powder only the 8600 was lost, and that was less than 10 years after I had purchased it, I took over the family reloading privileges about 71 or 72 to this day I still have several cans of misc powder left over from dad which predates my time behind the reloading bench by a good 10 to 15 years, powders like IMR 4198 4320 3031 Hod BC2 H335 H380 H450 H570 Alcan7 they all appear to be in excellent condition.

 

[Crockett12]

I only have 51 years behind me, our temps here never reach into the negative and rarely into even single digits, but sub freezing to well over 100 are the norm add 10 to 15 for the Garage in the summer time, where most people I know store they're powder, almost all the powder I've lost has been IMR powders, the one exception was AA 8600, that powder was a mis blended batch of AA8700, it was less than 2 dollars a pound back in the early 90's I believe, I bought 24 lbs of it, most of it went bad, I had perhaps 20 pounds of other AA powder only the 8600 was lost, and that was less than 10 years after I had purchased it, I took over the family reloading privileges about 71 or 72 to this day I still have several cans of misc powder left over from dad which predates my time behind the reloading bench by a good 10 to 15 years, powders like IMR 4198 4320 3031 Hod BC2 H335 H380 H450 H570 Alcan7 they all appear to be in excellent condition.

I've been reloading since about 1962! Lets see -- that's 60 years now -- how time flies! I still have a partial can of H205 that I bought sometime in the early 80's so it's probably around 40 years old and it still appears to still be good. The only can I've ever lost was a can of IMR 4320 that isn't quite as old and I realized it was gone probably 15 years ago!

 

[Crockett12]

In 60 years of reloading in a climate that has temperatures from -25 to 90+ every year I STAY AWAY FROM ALL BALL POWDER, LIFES TOO SHORT TO CAUSE MYSELF MORE HEADACHES..

Sounds like good advice! I've been doing this for 60 years too and have never played around with ball powder much except to work up loads and never had any luck getting the accuracy I wanted -- so never hunted with it. Probably the powder I've used the most has been IMR 4350 & since I bought an Oehler 35P some years ago, did find that it was temperature sensitive & accuracy varied because of it!
My plans are to hunt coyote in a different location than at home! Where I plan to hunt will sometimes be in hot conditions, so will check any loads using ball powders with my chronograph in those hot conditions before I trust them. I do tend to want accuracy over velocity -- so will stay away from hot loads.

 

[cape cove]

Great suggestions! I do enjoy working up a load so might try it with different bullets with H-450 in both WSM's! I had orginially wanted to find a load with 140 grain bullets and got good velocity in both rifles but the accuracy wasn't what I wanted, even while trying several different powders! Hadn't even thought about trying it in the 22-250 -- but it's a possibility by taking a look at powders with similar burn rates as H-450! Thanks for your input!

I have been using H-450 in my 270 Weatherby for a long time . Great powder with the 130-150 gr Hornady Interlock in fact the best I have used in this cartridge. The only complaint I would have is the large different in burn rate that is possible from lot to lot. I had one lot with a 5gr difference from the next lot I used. Lucky for me I went from a fast lot to a much slower one. All the more reason to always back off 10% and work back up. When H-450 was discontinued I read that this very fact was one of the reasons it was discontinued.

 

[Crockett12]

I have been using H-450 in my 270 Weatherby for a long time . Great powder with the 130-150 gr Hornady Interlock in fact the best I have used in this cartridge. The only complaint I would have is the large different in burn rate that is possible from lot to lot. I had one lot with a 5gr difference from the next lot I used. Lucky for me I went from a fast lot to a much slower one. All the more reason to always back off 10% and work back up. When H-450 was discontinued I read that this very fact was one of the reasons it was discontinued.

Interesting! I only have one 8# keg -- so I only have one lot -- and never had those problems because of it!