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| One of Us |
I'm looking for advice concerning my first plains game safari. Do I have to be concerned about using a temp. insensitive powder? I have some good loads worked up but they are with regular old powders. Does it really matter or am I concerned for nothing. Hate to have poi shift all over... Thanks Rick ps. loading for a 308 and a 375R. DRSS | ||
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I've never had an issue with the temperature and powder performance. Guns and hunting | |||
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I have never had an issue. Just got back and used RL 17 and it worked great. | |||
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The typical RSA plains game hunt is in the winter. Maybe a chance of frost in morning to a high of the 80's No powder issue. M | |||
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I agree with everyone above. I used a .338 Win Mag and IMR4350, perfect results for me and it was hotter at my home in Colorado than it was in South Africa on my hunt. | |||
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No concerns after 3 trips across the pond. Graybird "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after ... it's the reckoning." | |||
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I've hunted North America and Namibia over the last 47 years. Never worried about temp and powder. As usual just my $.02 Paul K | |||
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On a hot day, put your loads on the dash to get them nice and hot. Shoot them at your range. Through a chrony if possible. I did this and it eased my mind on a sweltering oct hunt in Mozambique. As others said, i had no issues with pressures or extraction. But it's worth thinking about if your loaded hot to begin with. I used RL 15 in a 375h&h which isn't supposed to be that stable to start with. | |||
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If you had loaded maximum loads for temperatures below 0 degrees it might be a good idea to lower the load with a grain or two for hunting in South Africa in the winter. As mentioned above, it is only cold in early morning and then temperatures rise to 50+ degrees F during the day. | |||
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Way way hotter in the USA than in RSA ! I come from SA and found part of the USA hotter by more than 10 even 20 deg Celsius in summer ! | |||
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Just one trip for me to RSA and IMR4350 did just fine. I suppose it should have...... Most mornings were in the low 30's and daytime temps might have 50 one or two times in 10 days. ________________________________________________ Maker of The Frankenstud Sling Keeper Proudly made in the USA Acepting all forms of payment | |||
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I have been hunting Africa for many years, and apart from the first year, I have been using reloads ever since. Never had any problems with temperature, despite the fact in some areas we hunt the rifle stock becomes too hot to handle! I bet this is one of those started by some arm chair shooter. | |||
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See item 8 Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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| one of us |
Of course you need temperature insensitive powder for hunting in Africa! Also for Vermont and Kansas, for that matter. And don't forget to make sure your barrel twist is adequate -- these days you need at least a 1-8" twist, or a 1-7" is better if you want to be on the safe side. Some people will also try to hunt with a variable scope which has only three-times magnification, like an obsolete 3-9X. You'll need a six-times scope, preferably a 3-18X -- and be sure to keep it at 18X since African game has become much harder to see in the last century. Don't depend on lead bullets, either. Monometal or at least chemically bonded premium bullets are absolutely necessary for even the lightest of African game. Now, besides buying a satellite phone and a medical evacuation insurance policy, you're all set. Experienced African hunters always do all of these things, just like Teddy Roosevelt did over a century ago. | |||
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I recently bought a LabRadar and set it up for every long range shot I take. I am documenting the temperature and the velocity of various loads and hopefully in one year will have some good data. When I lived in MN I was able to test some big temp variations; ball powders were atrocious, but the Hodgdon temp insensitive powders were very impressive, esp Varget. That said, the farthest I have shot anything in Africa is a bit over 300 yards - not enough to worry about in terms of different MVs. | |||
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Where I live, deer season opens in A-zone in a few days and I will be hunting in 110 degree temps. With that same rifle, I will be hunting with my son in Montana in near zero temps. Between 100+ temps and freezing temps, RL22 DOES FLUCTUATE by about 100 FPS or more. This is unacceptable to me, and can be dangerous in loads developed in the upper accuracy node. RL22 makes some really accurate loads (especially for magnums), but I wouldn't trust it if you hunt in extreme temperature spreads unless you shoot mild loads or adjust your load for summer. With my H4350, H4895, and Varget loads tested with either my 35p at the range or my magnetospeed in the field, MV variation is very minimal. Using these 3 powders, I am always able to make just about any hunting load work. Also to your question; I really don't think that RSA gets very hot compared to much of the Southwestern United States. Actually, it gets pretty damn cold there. | |||
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