Best suited powder for 300wsm and 208gr bullet
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I've burnt through about 5 lbs of imr 7828 and don't like the fouling and inconsistent performance it is showing. The rifle is a savage 110 fcp hs rebarreld to 300wsm, chambered for 230gr bergers, 29" finished length 5r, 1-9.5 twist. I just cleaned after 280 rounds when accuracy dropped off expecting to see little groups again, but I was not impressed. I got to 280 rnd
by wiping the crown and chamber every 3rd shooting session or so, without wiping the crown I'd see about 1/16" of crud buildup on the crown. After 25 fouling shots using 208gr ELD-M and 63.4 gr powder, I shot 2 3/4" 9 shot group with almost all vertical dispersion at 300yds. Other days I'm stacking the bullets, like I said just getting inconsistent performance. Looking at the enduron line imr 7977, but before I buy a lb I would like to know if anyone has a better powder that would work in a 300wsm with long barrel and heavy bullets?
Thanks,
Don
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H1000 and Retumbo would be on my short list to try.
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@orkan I've never used those powders before. Are they both temp stable? I'll check hodgdon reloading site as well. Thanks for the suggestion.
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They are the most temp stable powders I've ever used.
Hodgdon extruded (extreme) line of powders are almost all I use.
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@orkan looks like 62gr starting charge weight is normal for most of these slow powders 7828 and slower on the burn rate chart. I can't find data on the retumbo though. Is it close to h1000 for characteristics that I could use 62gr starting charge? I can run it through quickload as well just to double check.
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@donnie I'd start with H1000. Retumbo is likely a bit too slow.
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@orkan cabelas has lots of the h1000 in stock so that's what I'll do. I'll let you guys know how it works out hopefully next week. Thanks orkan.
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Happy to help.
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@orkan said in Best suited powder for 300wsm and 208gr bullet:
H1000 and Retumbo would be on my short list to try.
Have you had any experience or heard of Retumbo having fairly noticeable variations between powder lots?
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@martino1 said in Best suited powder for 300wsm and 208gr bullet:
Have you had any experience or heard of Retumbo having fairly noticeable variations between powder lots?
From time to time. Though all powder has variation between lots. Some larger than others.
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I am running IMR4350 in both of my 300wsm. One I shoot 200.2 gr bergers with 58gr imr4350, fed 210 primers and norma brass with excellent results. The other I shoot 175smk and 185 bergers with 61.5 to 62 gr powder, fed 210 primers and Norma brass with very good results. I am not sure how imr4350 will push the 230 though.
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@tpk936 what length barrel are you using? I was worried about running out of room to burn 4350 with a 29" barrel.
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@donnie Hart 30 inch 12 twist in a custom bench gun and Hart 28 inch 12 twist with a rem 700 action. Both shoot real good. I have run 168 to 200.2 in both. Bob Hart suggested I run the 208 with IMR4350. I had 168 to 200.2 bullets so I never tried the 208.
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@tpk936 thanks for that info. I have 2 lbs of h1000 to burn through, and if I don't like the results, I might try 4350. How do you find the fouling with the 4350? How often are you cleaning barrels?
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@donnie I clean every 100 rounds in bench gun and every 2 to 300 hundred in other. Fouling has not been an issue for me.
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Here's the results of load development today. With the lowest charge weight, 63gr, cases were coming out dirty to half way down the shoulder. Probably didn't have enough pressure to seal the neck to the chamber. I thought I was done at 65 gr as the ejector circle started showing, but I pushed past to 65.5 & 66 gr with no more ejector circles showing. At about 64gr, the primer cratering started but didn't get any worse all the way to 66gr. I think I'll stop at 66gr as I detected just slightly heavier bolt lift. The group at 65.5gr looks like it has some potential, so I'm thinking I'll try 65.3, 65.5, 65.7 at 300yds and see what groups look like. What do you guys think? The green dot is 1" across for reference.
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It’s hard to tell with the size of the groups but looks like a possible node between 64.5 and 65. They are both in roughly the same vertical position in reference to the center of the green dot. Any chronograph numbers with these?
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@donnie said in Best suited powder for 300wsm and 208gr bullet:
@orkan looks like 62gr starting charge weight is normal for most of these slow powders 7828 and slower on the burn rate chart. I can't find data on the retumbo though. Is it close to h1000 for characteristics that I could use 62gr starting charge? I can run it through quickload as well just to double check.
I found this burn rate chart on Hodgdons website. Might be useful as a reference.
https://www.hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/burn-rate-color.pdf
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Trying to tune a load for a rifle that is only producing 1 to 1.5 moa is almost impossible. You need to make a major component change to try and tighten up the group size before you can worry about fine tuning.
You need to find a bullet or powder it likes better. Remember, you don't tell it... it tells you. H1000 is a good powder in this cartridge, so I'd switch bullets first.
I'm noticing a lot of horizontal stringing in your groups. You sure you're driving this thing right?
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@bull81 said in Best suited powder for 300wsm and 208gr bullet:
It’s hard to tell with the size of the groups but looks like a possible node between 64.5 and 65. They are both in roughly the same vertical position in reference to the center of the green dot. Any chronograph numbers with these?
No chronograph numbers.
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@orkan said in Best suited powder for 300wsm and 208gr bullet:
Trying to tune a load for a rifle that is only producing 1 to 1.5 moa is almost impossible. You need to make a major component change to try and tighten up the group size before you can worry about fine tuning.
You need to find a bullet or powder it likes better. Remember, you don't tell it... it tells you. H1000 is a good powder in this cartridge, so I'd switch bullets first.
I'm noticing a lot of horizontal stringing in your groups. You sure you're driving this thing right?
The Hornady 208 ELD-M's were shooting around 1/2MOA right out to 1246yds. I was using 62gr IMR7828. Same thing with the low charge weight, case necks and shoulders were coming out fouled, so I wanted to find a different powder that provides a stable node at mid charge weights with less fouling. What other bullet would you recommend?
Definitely might not be driving the rifle right, and the wind was gusting 7-15mph right before we started shooting, but then died down. Could have still been gusting down the valley. Don't know how far that would push a 208gr bullet off at 200 yds. I'm guessing 1" at 200yds for 10mph wind at 3 or 9 oclock. Maybe i should shoot this again on a calm day to see if results are the same for horizontal stringing. If i could figure out that flyer on the 65.5gr group, that would be a 1/2moa horizontal group with about 1/4moa vertical.
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Ahhhhhh. I didn't notice those groups were at 200yds. Why are you doing that?
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@orkan said in Best suited powder for 300wsm and 208gr bullet:
Ahhhhhh. I didn't notice those groups were at 200yds. Why are you doing that?
I didn't think there was much point doing load development at 100yds when i will usually be shooting this rifle at 400-1500yds and further. Also, I was seeing larger groups at 100yds, but they didn't seem to spread at further distances as you think they should. A 1" group at 100yds would remain 1" at 200yds and not much more at 300yds. Don't know the reasoning for this but I see people claiming the larger bullets wont stabilize until they get out there. I still think the size of these groups are crap even for 200yds. What do you think, shoot this again to see if I get repeatable results? Or should i try 65.3, 65.5 & 65.7 to see if they settle down and come together?
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@donnie You aren't following my preferred protocol, so I don't think I can be of much assistance to you.
If you're wondering what my protocol is: https://www.primalrights.com/library/articles/load-development
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Got it figured out. My rifle really likes 65.6 gr H1000. 65.7 gr produces small groups at 100 but is just .3gr away from pressure signs starting.
I put 10 rounds into a small group using both winchester and Norma brass with the 65.6 gr charge of H1000.
65.5 gr is on the verge of jumping back to a scatter node, therefore I settled on 65.6gr.
I knocked the center of a 1/2" steel plate out at 420yds today. Both winchester and Norma brass performed and held the same elevation. Back to stacking bullets on steel.
