The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Reloading .338 Lapua and surplus powdersGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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| one of us |
I haven't tried any surplus powders in my 338 Lapua, but I'm interested. So I'm shamelessly adding to this thread in the hope that soneone outthere has tried it and posts. - Dan | |||
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| one of us |
I guess I'm not exactly clear on what you mean by surplus powder (it's late in the day), but I've had reasonably good luck with H870 in my 338/416 Rigby Imp. Beyond that R25 sure does well although I haven't tried it w. the 300 gr. I don't know if that helped you any but it kept the post active a bit longer... Reed | |||
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| one of us |
Thanks reed. WC872 or whatever one s appropriate is what we're looking for here (I think). - Thanks, Dan | |||
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| <brawls> |
your on the right track Reed, I'm looking at using H870 and other pull down and virgin powders that are a lot cheaper in 8lb. bulk than 7828 or H1000 by the pound. As you know those big cases tend to gobble up powder. Dan, what .338 Lapua are you shooting? | ||
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| <David Wile> |
Hey folks, I do not have any experience with .338, but I would not be surprised to find that the 5010 BMG surplus powder might work real well for it. I have a few friends who use the slow BMG powders for their big magnum stuff, and the 5010 is about as cheap as you can get today. Best wishes, | ||
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| one of us |
Brawls, I have one of the Sako TRG's with a 26" barrel. I haven't been able to find a load that gives me anything more than 340 Weatherby velocity, so far. Stii looking. 96 gr Rl 22 gives me 2960 fps with a 250 gr Hornady - about 20 fps faster than the Weatherby. I've made up some loads with Rl 25 but haven't chronographed them yet. - Dan | |||
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| <AKI> |
Haven�t tried any 5010, but it has roughly the same burning rate as 24N41 which is the powder that I get most speed with the 300gr MK. Starting load for 24N41 is 79.9gr, max 97.7gr. Those looking for best accuracy should try Lapua Scenar 250gr. I get low .3" at 100m/5 shots with them. AKI | ||
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| <brawls> |
all, thanks for the input, I'm going to give the BMG powder a try, I'll let you know what happens. AKI, I like the Lapua Scenar bullet, it's a little on the costly side here. The Sierra Game King and the Match king have done well for me, give them a try if you get a chance.I use the Game King to get the a load developed and then use the Match Kings to add the final touch. Dan, I've push the 250 Match Kings to about 3030 fps and get .5" groups @ 200yd, and I get about the same results from the 300gr Match kings at 28-2900fps Don't forget my Sako is a "former" TRGS. I have some good loads worked up using IMR 7828, RL 25 and H 1000, I don't have the data with me (at work)but once I get home... Have you tried the 200gr Nosler Ballist tips? I used them to punch paper before I modified my TRGS and I had some great results. Thanks for all the help, Bruce | ||
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| <Guy> |
Brawls - I shoot a 338 RUM Sendero and a friend of mine shoots a 338 Lapua with a 29" match grade barrel. He is out of town on business this month but I do remember that we had used H870 in our rifles. He was using approximately three grains more powder with the 300 MKHP than I (H870). My 338 RUM load with a 300 MKHP/H870 is 98.0 grains for 2638 fps. Three more grains of powder and the longer barrel gave him around 2750 fps with the 300 MKHP. Accuracy in both guns with this powder was excellent. I believe H870 and WC872 have similar burning rates. We both used 91.0 grains/H870 as our starting loads for the 300 MKHP. | ||
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| one of us |
Brawls, yes please post your loads so that I can try them. I haven't tried the nosler BT in this rifle yet, I've been concentrating on the heavier bullets. You're certainly right about the appetite of these big cases, hence the interest in surplus powders. Any info at all is interesting and I'll be happy to share what I find. The only guy locally who was shooting one of these (that I know) had it rebarreled to a 338-378 Weatherby. Thanks. - Dan | |||
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| <brawls> |
Dan, here is some of the data I have worked with and had some luck. My rifle, TRGS, was a great shooter even before I had it rebuilt. A friend has convinced me to start shooting 1000yd matches (which I haven�t done yet) so I had my rifle built by a gunsmith that lives to shoot 1000yd matches. It weights in at 17 lb so I can shoot in the light gun class. The heavy barrel helps with the heat. I take it you are hunting with yours, it should do well, my biggest concern would be the 200gr Nosler BT�s, they are great bullets but even on our Virginia whitetail the bullet does exactly what it is supposed to, basically explode. If you were to hit a heavy bone then penetration may not be what you would like. So here are some of the loads I have been using, as you well know, use all with caution and start with reduced loads. So there�s the safety briefing. 200gr Nosler ballistic tip, 103 gr IMR7828, CCI250 primer, 3.58�oal, Norma brass, I was getting about 3300 fps, when my rifle was in the standard TRGS configuration, I also had good results using 96gr of H4831 using the same primer and brass, I chronr�d about 3176 fps. Both of these printed sub moa @100yds. Again, this was before I had my rifle rebuilt. Using the 250gr Sierra GK with 90gr of IMR 7828 Win. Mag primers, oal 3.80�, I get 3029 fps and group size (5 shot) .532� @ 200yds. This is in my rifle after I had it modified, with the 30� heavy barrel. With the 300gr Sierra MK, I used 92 gr of H 1000, Win Mag primer, oal 3.786�, I was getting 2819 fps and under 1� groups @ 200yds. Again this was in the 30� barrel. Once you get the 300gr going about 2800fps it groups great, but as you can imagine, get ready for a little punishment on your end. Good luck, Bruce | ||
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| <Carlos> |
quote: | ||
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| <Carlos> |
quote: Dan: Just browsing around in some of these old posts and happend on to this one. I shoot the .338 Lapua in a Sako TRGS also, in fact I bought my rifle right there in Edmonton at Trail Firearms before they closed the doors. Anyhow, regarding the 200gr Nosler BT,(I use the C.T. 200gr Silvertip which is the same bullet with moly plating) I've worked up to 100gr Re22,Fed 215 primers & Lapua brass giving 3370 fps through the chronograph. This load groups 0.8" to 0.9" on average at 100 meters. Hope this helps | ||
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| one of us |
Thanks Carlos. I'll have to try some of these loads. if I can't get the results I'm hoping for, I'm considering rebarreling the rifle. One of the local 'smiths has told me of a 35-338 Lapua Imroved reamer that has my attention. Take care. - Dan | |||
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one of us |
Let me get this straight... You are shooting a $3000 rifle, using brass that runs around $2.20 each, bullets that cost around .40 cents each, and are worrying about the difference between 15 cents and 17 cents in powder costs per round??? [This message has been edited by ricciardelli (edited 02-04-2002).] | |||
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| one of us |
I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm more interested in some of the ultra slow powders that aren't generally commercially available, for performance reasons. By the time I buy it and ship it across the border, it certainly won't be any cheaper. - Dan | |||
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| one of us |
I was out just today running loads across my chronograph to get a new .338-.378 load. With the CCI 250 primer and Wby cases and the Sierra 250gr SPBT, IMR 5010, lot # 18484 from Jeff Bartlett (1-800-714-6348), 106 gr. 2894 fps These velocities are for single shots. I had a lot to do today. The factory load is 3060 fps with the Nosler 250gr Partition. Layne Simpson stopped at 3060 fps in the August 1995 issue of Shooting Times. Guns and Ammo (December 1999) was comfortable with going to 3143 fps. I felt it was prudent to stop at 111 gr., though I had no other reason. I've used IMR 5010 for .510-.505 Gibbs (145 gr. for 2075 fps with 700gr. M2 ball) and .338-.378 now. I've been satisfied with its responsiveness and linearity. It's a poor match for .510-.505 Gibbs, and shortly I will have experience with WC 852 (slow) as I continue my search for much higher velocities from .510-.505 Gibbs. WC 820 (new) makes a good .44 Magnum powder, though I think my 23 gr. load may have to be reduced. I've had trouble with WC 872. 110 gr. makes 2850 fps in .338-.378 with the Sierra 250 gr., but 113-114 gr. leads to sticky bolt lift. Using WC 872 in .510-.505 Gibbs produced hangfires up to 135 gr., wide variations in velocity, and low speeds. By contrast the IMR 5010 lit everytime at 125 gr. and over. There's a chance I just got a bad batch of WC 872 (lot # 49453). I could never get it to work in .300 Win. Mag. in any quantity I tried. | |||
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