In my older Hornady book it shows H450 as the powder for best performance in the 7x57 behind the 154 and 162 bullets. I have been using H4350 and while I get exceptable vel and accuracy I wonder if anyone has found Rel 19 to be on a par with the H450 data in the Hornady book (third ed) where 55.5gn H450 get 2800 behind 162 bullet and 56.8 gets 2900fps behind the 154gn bullet. These are max of course and while max is not the aim I would like to get the 168gn Berger VLD going a little quicker than the 2560fps I get over 46gn H4350. I get 2688fps for the 160 woodleigh and this will be my mainstay hunting bullet but built this rifle to try a bit of longer range work even if it is just on paper. It has a 25in x 9in twist bbl so should be good for the heavier bullets. Would welcome others experience who may have used H450 and have found a good equivelent.
Thanks, Von Gruff.

I've been using Winchester Supreme 780 instead of H-450.....it sure works well for me. See Hodgdon's website for loading data.

I can't find H-450 on my burn chart but think it's slower than Rl-19....

One might also look to AA 3100 as an alternative.

Ramshot may also have a ball powder close to H-450 as well.

124. Hodgdon H4350
125. Norma N204
126. Ramshot Hunter
127. Alliant RL19
128. Vihta Vuori N160
129. Vihta Vuori N560
130. IMR 4831
131. Scot Brig 4831
132. Norma N205
133. Accurate XMR 3100
134. Winchester WMR
135. Hodgdon H4831
136. Norma MRP
137. Alliant RL22
138. Winchester 785
139. Hodgdon H450
140. Accurate Mag Pro
141. Vihta Vuori N165
142. Winchester WXR
143. IMR 7828
144. Accurate 8700
145. Hodgdon H1000
146. Ramshot Magnum
147. Alliant RL25
148. Hodgdon Retumbo
149. Hodgdon H870
150. Vihta Vuori N170
151. Vihta Vuori 24N41

I have the same Ramshot burn rate chart the Mikincolorado is showing and hold it suspect.It shows Accurate XMR 3100 to have a faster burn rate than H4831. From my experience and from published load data that just ain't so. In fact the 3100 might be what you are looking for. Now if you were lucky enough to get 16# or so of DP86 you'd be in fat city right now. roger

In New Zealand some of those powders are not easily obtained. We can most easily get ADI/Hodgdon (ADI makes Hodgdon) IMR, and Win. There is patchy supply of Vihta Vuori and Norma.
I think I can get Rel but have had replys on another forum that suguest H4381 gives similar results to H450 at similar load levels. I have a couple of burn rate charts and one places some powders at dramatically different places to the other. If one were trying to extrapolate data using only one source it could end up with a bit of drama on the firing line.I had read of good results with Reloader19 but H4381 (ADI 2213) is one of the easier powders to obtain in quantity so would look to that for the heaviest bullets for preference.

Von Gruff.

Von,

H-414, which is the same powder as Winchester 760 is the best powder for accuracy in several 7x57's I load for, behind 140 grain bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by DMB:
Von,

H-414, which is the same powder as Winchester 760 is the best powder for accuracy in several 7x57's I load for, behind 140 grain bullets.

I certainly agree whole heartedly with this statement and as a matter of fact it seems to work well with this case regardless what caliber it is necked to.

But it's a lot faster than H-450 which is what this thread is about.

This is from an old burn rate chart I have, published in both Hornady third edition (1982) and Nosler second edition (1981). You can see that H450 is sandwiched between the 4831s on this chart. Try one of those powders if you like. Sierra second edition (1978) lists H450 in the same position, between the 4831s.

Like Bartsche, I'm also a little suspicious of the Ramshot chart now after comparing it to the old charts.

41 Norma 202
42 Du Pont IMR 4320
43 Hodgdon H380
44 Winchester 760
45 Hodgdon H414
46 Hodgdon H205
47 Du Pont IMR 4350
48 Norma 204
49 Du Pont IMR 4831
50 Hodgdon H450
51 Hodgdon H4831
52 Winchester 785
53 Norma MRP
54 Hodgdon H870

I use faster burning powders like H414 or IMR 4350 in my 7x57 rifles.

Hey Von Gruff, I almost decided not to post, because I expect this will simply confuse the issue.

I do not believe there is " one " powder which will replace good old H450. From what I've seen, the best replacement might be H414, H4350, H4831 or H1000 - depending on the specific Cartridge and Bullet Weight. Some of the Powders occasionally tend to shift their Relative Burn Rate positions on the Charts with a change in the Cartridge. I do not have a definitive answer about why that is so, but it happens often enough that if a person burns enough powder they can witness it for themselves.

I've not used the Norma, Ramshot, nor Accurate Arms stuff enough to comment on them. The RL-Powders always become erratic as I get close to a Safe Max, so I no longer even bother with them.

Great replys and just what I was looking for.
I have found that in my rifle varget is best for the 140gn bullets while H4350 works for the 160gn. It was for the heavier 168gn + that I was looking to get better performance from and from the responses here and on another forum it looks like H4831 gets the nod. Thank you one and all for the vauable insights.

Von Gruff

Von Gruff.

H450 is more akin to H4831 than RL19, which is closer to IMR 4831 or even IMR 4350.