help me identify this powder from Barnes Vor-tx 300 win mag factory ammo

[Orange Dust]

I highly recommend Hornady cam lock bullet puller.

Or a reloading press with just a shell holder and a pair of side cutters. Fastest bullet pullers known to man other than firing them. I've never pulled a bullet that I was willing to load and shoot again anyway

 

[med358-boise]

I think you are putting your efforts in the wrong spot.

You know your rifle likes the 180 TTSX. I am assumiing you have fired brass frm the Barnes rounds. Do a standard OCW load development with any good powder for the 300 win mag and be done with it. Look at your powder inventory and pick the best 300 Win Mag powder you already have.

 

[skipglo]

I'm trying to duplicate the 180 grain Barnes Vor-tx factory ammo that shoots extremely well out of my .300 win mag. Can you identify the powder in the pic below? Today I took a hacksaw and cut the case and removed the powder from a factory round. I know, I know...its probably a proprietary powder that isn't available to the public. But I thought I would put this out there anyway. The powder on the right (in the plastic baggie) is the Barnes. The powder on the left is some H4350 that I put there for scale and color. This ammo shoots at around 2990 fps out of my gun. The box says 2960 fps, so its pretty close. I was able to save just about every grain of the powder when I cut it out, and the total weight of the charge is

 

[azarcher10x]

I called Barnes to ask what they were using for powder in the 300 RUM ammo. They said "Nothing you and I can buy." I've shot for Barnes for 20 years. With Retumbo, max manual load, I'm still 50 to 100 fps slower than their factory ammo.

 

[RegionRat]

Like @Hatrick said, when you encounter a bullet that doesn't cooperate with a reasonable effort at a pull, the concept is to give it a little deeper seating nudge to break it loose.

If it is stuck due to some reaction or due to neck sealant, pushing it in on the order of 0.005" - 0.010" should break it loose so that normal pulling works. This is also a way to know if the cartridge is abnormal in terms of neck tension based on how hard you have to push.

A thought I will add is that if you discover that those bullets are really that "stuck", it will be very difficult to copy this with your load. I wouldn't recommend you try.

However, you can get the same bullet and do your own load development to roughly the same velocity level and optimize with your best process. Your time would be better spent.

It is often the case that ammo companies won't share their load data. Once in a while one does, but those were rare instances and it was printed on the box. Trying to identify this powder from photos is risky, and sending it to a lab would be far more expensive than doing your own load development. YMMV