N130 With Absolute Hammers 308

jsthntn247

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Jan 14, 2009
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I have a 308 and considering the 151 or 162 Ab Hammers. I have H4895 but it's the fastest burn rate powder I have. I have access to buy N130. Anybody ever try it and/or think it would be a good combo with the bullets mentioned.
 
N130 might be a bit fast for 151's and by extension the same for 162's as well.

For 151's Steve has mentioned that Ramshot TAC worked well, there is good data for Alliant Pro Varmint in the AH load data PDF.

Based on a burn rate chart, H4895 is really close to TAC and Pro Varmint, so maybe it'll work? As a counter point to that AR COMP is right there too and I didn't get any magic velocity from it in my testing.

I'll personally be shooting a ladder of 151's in my VERY slow Rem 788 308 with Pro Varmint tomorrow to see how it stacks up.
 
Let me know how the testing goes. The lgs I believe had n133 as well but will have to recheck. Other than that they didn't have Jack but a few pistol powders.
 
I found TAC to work very well in traditional bullets from 150-175 gr with the 308 Win. So if TAC works well with the Hammer 151 then I see no reason why H4895 would not work well with them.
Update: The reason why I think H4895 will work with the Hammers is because it worked equally as well, if not better than the TAC in 150-175gr conventional bullets. And generally in the 308 win TAC is my go to powder.
 
I'll be posting this little update over in the ah load thread shortly, but here's my (very brief) update from today's outing:

151 gh AH
REM 788 308 win 22" bbl, 1in10 twist
2x fired mil brass
Fed 210m
Alliant Pro varmint
0.003" neck tension +1/8 crimp

47.0 gr 2943 fps stiff bolt lift
47.5 gr 2972 fps hard bolt lift:Stop

This gun continues to pressure out early. With that said this is better than I got with other powders.

I have a 2nd 308 I'll try too. It's a Ruger m77 with a heavy varmint barrel that I'm really curious how it handles the absolutes.

Oh, and @Grifm got much better results with his model 70.
 
I'll be posting this little update over in the ah load thread shortly, but here's my (very brief) update from today's outing:

151 gh AH
REM 788 308 win 22" bbl, 1in10 twist
2x fired mil brass
Fed 210m
Alliant Pro varmint
0.003" neck tension +1/8 crimp

47.0 gr 2943 fps stiff bolt lift
47.5 gr 2972 fps hard bolt lift:Stop

This gun continues to pressure out early. With that said this is better than I got with other powders.

I have a 2nd 308 I'll try too. It's a Ruger m77 with a heavy varmint barrel that I'm really curious how it handles the absolutes.

Oh, and @Grifm got much better results with his model 70.
Have you tried a VLD chamfer on the military brass(LC?)? I've seen a 5k psi pressure drop using a VLD chamfer tested on Oehler strain gauge.
 
Have you tried a VLD chamfer on the military brass(LC?)? I've seen a 5k psi pressure drop using a VLD chamfer tested on Oehler strain gauge.

Yep, these were prepped with the vld chamfer.

I have some win brass I have tested with this gun too and hit pressure at similar speeds as the mil bass did (obviously a change in powder charge due to more volume in the win brass).

This particular gun is one that was passed down in the family so Im not going to stress too much if I can't sort the pressure thing out. I have other guns and a partial rebuild on my 270 that I'll chase speed with!😁
 
Yep, these were prepped with the vld chamfer.

I have some win brass I have tested with this gun too and hit pressure at similar speeds as the mil bass did (obviously a change in powder charge due to more volume in the win brass).

This particular gun is one that was passed down in the family so Im not going to stress too much if I can't sort the pressure thing out. I have other guns and a partial rebuild on my 270 that I'll chase speed with!😁
Well those aren't bad speeds with a 22" 308 Win anyways. That old a rifle could just use a little polishing of the throat and be ready to pass down a couple more generations :)
 
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Well those aren't bad speeds with a 22" 308 Win anyways. That old a rifle could just just a little polishing of the throat and be ready to pass down a couple more generations :)
I will admit it's easy to get wrapped up in the speeds most folks are getting with the absolutes, but your point is on the mark and is well taken!
 
IMO passed down firearms are some of the coolest things around.
I have other guns and a partial rebuild on my 270 that I'll chase speed with!
I have a JC Higgins 270 Win with a chattered chamber. A smith tried to set it back but it's still kinda there. It does cycle fine and I don't think the chatter is that deep so since it's a chrome lined bore I'm debating making it a speed demon 😁
 
There is a 4895 load for the 162AH in the absolute data. I think that is about where they rain out of case capacity. Both TAC and PP Varmint are ball powders so you can fit a lot more in case. I agree that it will work, but you're likely going to be a bit slower than the ~3140 you should be able to get with TAC or PP Varmint.
 
I'll be posting this little update over in the ah load thread shortly, but here's my (very brief) update from today's outing:

151 gh AH
REM 788 308 win 22" bbl, 1in10 twist
2x fired mil brass
Fed 210m
Alliant Pro varmint
0.003" neck tension +1/8 crimp

47.0 gr 2943 fps stiff bolt lift
47.5 gr 2972 fps hard bolt lift:Stop

This gun continues to pressure out early. With that said this is better than I got with other powders.

I have a 2nd 308 I'll try too. It's a Ruger m77 with a heavy varmint barrel that I'm really curious how it handles the absolutes.

Oh, and @Grifm got much better results with his model 70.
I am very interested as I have 2 788 rifles in .308.
 
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