Hornady Superformance Powder / Share Your Loads

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Before getting too hung up on Superformance, try Winchester 780 Supreme and IMR 4655 Enduron. Use max loads for whatever variety of 4831 you like as starting loads for 780 and go up from there if needed.

For 4655, consider a 1:1 exchange for H4831. In other words, a max load in H4831 would be a max load in 4655. I'd recommend starting at H414 data and working up. Or H4350 at the very least. It will be well into the safe zone.
 
I've played with it a bit when it first came out. I'm considering doing so again now that I know what I'm doing a bit more and see if I can make it work. It is finicky. Not as in dangerous spikes or especially temp sensitive or anything, but it seems like there's a really narrow charge weight window in which it performs in an optimal manner, meaning full velocity potential with consistent velocity spreads. I see Hodgdon and Barnes have data showing awesome numbers in 30-06 and 270. My experience was with 180 grain sst in 300 win mag and 75 hp and 100 btsp in .243. It gave good velocity with the 180s and 100s. The 75 grain 243 was the load Hodgdon had published right on the can and it didn't come anywhere close. The powder has a slower burn rate than was initially suggested in comparison chart size. I left it because while it gave almost weatherby speed in my win mag, the extreme spead with both this and the 243 was a little over 100 feet per second.
 
Welcome Calvin, it's great to have you here !!! Thks for your post & Enjoy our Forums ,Cheers !

Agreed! It is clear you're going to be a great resource around here.

62 grains of superformance under a 130 grain sst in my 270 shoots lights out. 140 eldx also shoots great.. 3180 fps.

Thanks, I'm going to try this one. When I measured a Hornady 130gn Superformance round, I measured 67.0gn. That the one I blew my primer and extractors with...
 
Agreed! It is clear you're going to be a great resource around here.



Thanks, I'm going to try this one. When I measured a Hornady 130gn Superformance round, I measured 67.0gn. That the one I blew my primer and extractors with...
Yup, Just take your comparator and measure the Hornady ammo, the 130 has always shot well for me in 3 different 270 rifles.. 62 grains is with Winchester brass, but I have shot Hornady brass with the same load no problem.. I use a federal 210 primer.

The 145 eldx I backed it down to 58 grains superformance, 210 primer and 2.716 comparator. Shoots like a lazer.. I hope this helps.
 
62 grains of Superformance in a standard 270 Win with a 130 grain bullet would have blown my Nosler 48 to bits. 58.5 was MAX and generated well over 3200 fps. Lot - to -lot variation? And remember, the Superformance loads in factory ammo is NOT the same Superformance available to handloaders... I would approach with caution.
 
I've played with it a bit when it first came out. I'm considering doing so again now that I know what I'm doing a bit more and see if I can make it work. It is finicky... I left it because while it gave almost weatherby speed in my win mag, the extreme spread with both this and the 243 was a little over 100 feet per second.

Ahhh, the curse of ball powder charges that don't generate near 100% load density! Everything said above is very true. It is the nature of the beast. Erratic velocity spread doesn't always mean poor accuracy...but it sure doesn't make you feel good about things! Using a longer (heavier?) bullet will minimize this if you want to use the powder in a particular cartridge where you find this to be an unacceptable occurrence.
 
.300 Dakota, I had not really considered this, that it might not be superformance that is finicky but ball powder in general. The only other ball powder I've used is win 760 and come to think of it that never really pleased me either. Very interesting. I do prefer a full case of any powder, even very lightly compressed. The combo I'm considering trying it in again is a .270 with 140 trophy bonded tips. They are long bullets. Barnes lists superformance as the fastest powder I think in 270 with 140 tsx. As the tbt is a grooved solid shank pill I figured they'd be similar.
 
I have taken for granted that people do load work up on their rifles... Every gun should be worked up to the loads that you see on this forum.. Personally I work up every gun I shoot, no matter what the published data is . Each gun can react differently depending on its components, twist, barrel tightness, etc.. Sooo as a disclaimer above data is near max for my guns... Start at lower charges and work up to published loads.. What works for me at 9000 feet elevation may be over pressure for you at sea level.. Many factors to weigh in on..

Superformance for me in the 270 has worked out to give me the best velocity and accuracy over other powders. Es has stayed within 30-50 fps.. Be safe, and happy shooting.
 
.300 Dakota, I had not really considered this, that it might not be superformance that is finicky but ball powder in general. The only other ball powder I've used is win 760 and come to think of it that never really pleased me either. Very interesting. I do prefer a full case of any powder, even very lightly compressed. The combo I'm considering trying it in again is a .270 with 140 trophy bonded tips. They are long bullets. Barnes lists superformance as the fastest powder I think in 270 with 140 tsx. As the tbt is a grooved solid shank pill I figured they'd be similar.

TBTs ARE quite similar to Barnes as far as handloading. You'll find out quickly that your gun either loves them or hates them. They are also coated, which helps reduce pressure and fouling, while increasing velocity. The coating is nickel, not stuff that clogs the bore. Accuracy is not affected in subsequent groups with conventional bullets. This is the old Bear Claw with grooves, a coating, and cool translucent orange tips to help initiation of expansion. These were the best killers ever designed, and are slated to make a come back, I've read.

I think Superformance is ideal for the 270, or perhaps the converse is true: The 270 is perfect for Superformance. The only other cartridge I could think of that might be better suited is the .280 Rem. If you experiment a little, I'm confident you can find a bullet/brass/primer combo that gives great accuracy and even better velocity.

That's a consideration many don't consider. Changing brass OR primers will give radically different accuracy results, holding charge, bullet, and seating depth constant. You don't want to do that near max charges, however. One can spot trends, such as heavier brass associated with higher pressure, but differences in alloy, rather than thicker walls, COULD be responsible for heavier weights. And as a rule, Winchester primers are the hottest. I don't use them. I did fairly recently just to see if I could use some up. I obtained a really good group with Reloader 23 in the 25-06 with blistering speed (over 3300 fps with 115 grain bullet), but the bolt handle was tight and ejector marks were prominent. I changed from the WLRM Winchester primer to a Federal 215 Gold Medal Match primer (yes, a magnum primer in 25-06- gives much better consistency in ignition and burn, and uses less powder) and got velocities of 3256 fps with more consistent velocities and a sub-1/2 MOA group and NO pressure! That's my current and for always hunting load in the ultralight Barrett Fieldcraft. I would not recommend making this arbitrary switch of primers at these levels of charge, once again. I am very familiar with the lot of Federal primers I used, and the rifle, and Reloader 23. Otherwise I wouldn't have tried it either. Always reduce when changing components.
 
I use superformance in 30-06, gave great accuracy and speeds about 150-200fps faster then anything else i tried.

I use WLR primers, 59.0gr Superformance with 178gr ELDx bullets. Average MV is 2928 fps. I might have to try it in my 22-250 one of these days.
 
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