I was getting 4400 FPS with 70gr Blitzkings and 75gr of RL17 with my 30" 12TW 257 WBY so you are in the ball park. IN this application RL17 is worth 200FPS over H4350 also I would not be surprised if you reached 88gr without signs of being over pressure. 90% of my loads are compressed loads. That is how I do it in one grain increments untill pressure backoff one grain then fine tune it from there, has never steered me wrong.
Loaded up my first hammers this evening
- Thread starter Calvin45
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Calvin45
Well-Known Member
Ah good to hear From ya man.
My barrel is a 24 inch 10 twist factory vanguard so that's a big difference from 30. I remain hopeful.
If I ever do stumble upon rl17 or 26 I'll buy them but I've had less trouble procuring superformanc so, of the progressive burn rate super dooper wonder powders, it wins for me. Cuz I have it on hand
Calvin45
Well-Known Member
Well folks my first round of testing is a bit of a bust.
SUPERFORMANCE is not a suitable powder for this particular application.
I had worried it might be too slow…turns out it pressured out real hard long before we had a decent case fill. And my experience has without exception been that ball powders in magnum cases with poor load density are not ideal. This progressive burning double base ball in an overbore case if not a full case is a nightmare. Very very erratic, crazy huge es numbers.
At 80 grains we abruptly hit a hard spike. Pierced primers, super hard ejector print, had to whack the bolt open. At lower charges we were already seeing some heavy cratering.
Dang chronograph was acting up yesterday. I have no numbers!
Next up will be h4350 or h4831. They're both "faster" than superformance but a heck of a lot bulkier for good case fill and consistent performance. And nailing down the burn rate of superformance is **** near impossible. It doesn't always play the same. More than most powders. The hornady ballisticians even admit this outright…it has a very narrow range of application but where it works it really works.
It does not work for this it turns out. But that's how we learn things…we try!
SUPERFORMANCE is not a suitable powder for this particular application.
I had worried it might be too slow…turns out it pressured out real hard long before we had a decent case fill. And my experience has without exception been that ball powders in magnum cases with poor load density are not ideal. This progressive burning double base ball in an overbore case if not a full case is a nightmare. Very very erratic, crazy huge es numbers.
At 80 grains we abruptly hit a hard spike. Pierced primers, super hard ejector print, had to whack the bolt open. At lower charges we were already seeing some heavy cratering.
Dang chronograph was acting up yesterday. I have no numbers!
Next up will be h4350 or h4831. They're both "faster" than superformance but a heck of a lot bulkier for good case fill and consistent performance. And nailing down the burn rate of superformance is **** near impossible. It doesn't always play the same. More than most powders. The hornady ballisticians even admit this outright…it has a very narrow range of application but where it works it really works.
It does not work for this it turns out. But that's how we learn things…we try!
H4350 may work but something in the Varget burn range is where you will need to be
Calvin45
Well-Known Member
So long as it's something real bulky I have to beleive - if a not-full case of superformance overpressures I can't imagine how empty the case would be with something like h380, leverevolution, or cfe223 (all ball powders in that varget range).
Have you played around with the 75 hammer hunters in your 257 yet?
H380 will work and is one of my favorites, I've loaded the 75 in the 25-06AI
Calvin45
Well-Known Member
Seriously? That's nuts. I thought it was just the absolute hammers that didn't line up with other load data. My LGS had some h380 last time i was in there….
Care to share the load? Was it anywhere near a full case of powder?
I ran 61g of H4350 (crunched} just north of 4K and 54g of Varget
Calvin45
Well-Known Member
Much obliged. As the 257 bee is still a touch roomier than the -06 ai I'll try 4350
Next but it doesn't satisfy I'll try h380 then
M1A1ABRAMS
Well-Known Member
Thanks NOW I will be looking for 4955 at the local LGs for my 25-06. LOL
nealm66
Well-Known Member
Heard they discontinued the enduron powders
M1A1ABRAMS
Well-Known Member
Is there any other powders from them that may be good for 25-06, Hunting applications ? Looking in my manuals I never noticed the 4955. Just curious where to find the load info for the 4955 ?
nealm66
Well-Known Member
I'll run out to the gun room to confirm the powder/primer I used for the 25-06. It definitely was an enduron and i posted data to the hammer reload thread. I do remember using large rifle instead of magnum in a cartridge ( 270wsm?) with excellent results but can't remember which but was thinking it might help tame the pressure spike for Superformance. But I need to be quiet till I have my notes in front of me. I do know the 116's in the 270wsm shot 3 large mule deer and was told it was like lightning strikes and had never seen them die so quickly
nealm66
Well-Known Member
It was 4451, 58.7 gr. I have 3721 as fps average
