I've been working with my .257 Weatherby a bit and Hot Core brought up this point of Hodgdon having some slower burners than H1000. Anyway, wondering what the possibilities of using US 869 are in this cartridge. What little bit of data I can find on thier site (where they actually have H870 and US 869 listed together)shows the two being very similar.

Here's Hodgdon's published 869 data. It begins at 7mm and goes up from there.

US869 Data

LWD

The closest thing you can find to the old H870 is Accurate 8700. Everyone I've spoke with thinks it may be the same stuff. They noticed no difference when switching.

What about WC-872? I thought that was the closest thing to H870.

With the 257 Weatherby, I don't think you'll gain much with these powders. A bit too slow for that case capacity. JMO.

They burn dirty, and are indeed temp. sensitive.

The published data for US 869 appears to have it in the general range of old H-870. WC-872 is somewhat slower than H-870, at least in the lot that I have used.

Any of these powders should be useful with 115-120 grain bullets in the .257 WBY. WC-872 is certainly very good in my .264 Winchester, so I doubt that it is too slow for the smaller bore WBY, even with the lighter bullets of the quarter bore. If it were not for the fact that I have a good supply of WC-872 I would certainly be trying the US 869 in my .264.

H-1000 performs in a non-linear fashion. I wouldn't trust it in a .257 WBY or .264 Win.

Stonecreek, I am set to buy some WC-872 OR US 869, but may have to try both. I will be using it in a 270 AM.

The bullet weight is 169.5.

Which do you like better? I was initially told to use the 872 but I have not purchased it yet. At the time, US869 was not available.

I haven't used any US 869. I have used some bit of WC 872 and have had very good luck with it. I'm not familiar with the .270 AM. What case is it built on? With such a heavy bullet, if the case capacity is fairly large, I would think that WC 872 would be a good performer.

Sorry, it's a 270 Allen Magnum. This is a 300 RUM necked down to a .277. The bullet is a Wildcat, ULDRBBT...ultra low drag, rebated boat tail. WC 872 was the recommended powder but at that time US 869 was not available yet. I've heard very good things about the 872 also but that it burns quite dirty.

Hoping to achieve roughly 3200-3300+fps with this bullet. The bbl is 28".

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
Sorry, it's a 270 Allen Magnum. This is a 300 RUM necked down to a .277. The bullet is a Wildcat, ULDRBBT...ultra low drag, rebated boat tail. WC 872 was the recommended powder but at that time US 869 was not available yet. I've heard very good things about the 872 also but that it burns quite dirty.

Hoping to achieve roughly 3200-3300+fps with this bullet. The bbl is 28".

Doc, this should be a quite reachable goal, I'm getting 3220 fps with my 300rum using 94g Retumbo and 200g Accubond

I still don't know what my 200AB is doing over Re25. But it sure as heck makes a tiny group!

(makes a BIG hole too).