The Accurate Reloading Forums
H 870 Powder???

This topic can be found at:
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2511043/m/740105731

05 June 2004, 09:35
Perforator
H 870 Powder???
I inherited two pounds of the stuff last year. The only thing I've seen it listed for is the 30-378. Anyone have experience with this powder? I have a .375H&H and a .458 Win
and was hoping to use it up on these, but I haven't seen data for that powder. Any help would be appriciated.
05 June 2004, 09:59
Kingfisher
Perferator, H-870 is really going to be too slow for both of those. I can't pull up Hodgdon's website here at work but you might be able to use it in the 375 with really light bullets, but probably not, it's probably still going to be too slow. Sounds like a good excuse to buy a new gun! I used to use the hell out of H-870 but have moved away from it with my current loads. Might as well since it's already started to disappear.
05 June 2004, 10:22
ricciardelli
H-870 was a great powder for "heavy for caliber" bullets. But it has been replace by better powders.

Some examples where it is a great powder are:
6mm/284 winchester with bullets between 115 and 117 grains;
.25-06 Remington with a 125 grain bullet;
7mm RUM with a 168 grain bullet;
.300 RUM with almost any bullet;
.300 Dakota with a 300 grain bullet;
.30-378 Weatherby with almost any bullet;
.300 H&H with a 300 grain bullet;
.50 BMG with a 750 grain bullet.
05 June 2004, 14:12
Paul Brasky
I believe it can also be used with cast bullets and full-case loads (with mag. primers) in several calibers. Don't expect high velocity though.
05 June 2004, 15:19
muskrat
I think they quit making it also? Seems to me I read that a while back.I use it in 30-378 Weatherby with 180 grain ballistic tips and get great groups with it.
muskrat
live to shoot-shoot to live!
05 June 2004, 15:27
jeffeosso
doesn't kngsford sell this as selfstarting charcoal?

it's a bit slow

jeffe
05 June 2004, 16:56
Frank Martinez
Use the search and go back a month or two. I learned quite a lot about this powder there. Use my name.

Jeffe, it really is quite a flame-thrower. We had a night shoot a month ago and I used some with my 444 and 375 rum. You could almost read by the light of the blast.

Frank Martinez
06 June 2004, 03:56
Kingfisher
Yeah, the flame is pretty serious. When I was shooting the 210 gr. Barnes XLC's on top of 132 gr. of H-870 it looked like you were firing the main gun on a battleship.
06 June 2004, 05:13
Hammer
Is Hodgdon's discontinued H870 and Accurate's AA8700 the same stuff ?

Hammer
06 June 2004, 05:28
ricciardelli
Faster to slower:

211 H-870
212 AR-2214
213 RL-25

214 AA-8700
215 24N-41
216 20N-29
217 24N-21

218 H-50BMG
219 AR-2218
220 H-5010
221 W-870
06 June 2004, 12:44
Kingfisher
That list is not entirely accurate. I don't know where AR-2214 falls, but I know that H-870 is quite a bit slower than RL-25.
06 June 2004, 19:13
Ricochet
Quote:

Is Hodgdon's discontinued H870 and Accurate's AA8700 the same stuff ?

Hammer

No, they're similar, though. AA8700 seems to be slower burning than H870 in the .300 Weatherby and 7mm Rem Mags, in view of published velocities. They work really well only with big charges under the heaviest bullets in those cartridges. I use the similar military surplus WC860 and WC872 powders in those. I've wondered if AA8700 may be surplus WC872, much as H870 was surplus WC870. (All of the WC series powders were from Olin, the WC standing for "Western Cartridge," the originator of the Ball Powder manufacturing process.) H870 (WC870) and WC872 were made for 20mm, WC860 for .50 BMG. WC875 is an even slower burning 20mm powder.

Lots of cast bullet shooters have found full or nearly full case loads of these powders to give excellent accuracy with very low pressures and velocities in "standard" cartridges; if you search the Cast Bullets board you'll find lots of threads mentioning loads using them, especially WC860. It's very messy, of course, as much of the powder is left unburned.
07 June 2004, 05:30
Perforator
It doesn't look like I'll have a use for this powder, at least in the near future. Ricochet, do you think this will work with cast bullets in the .458 Win Mag.?
08 June 2004, 06:40
Ricochet
Yep. It'll be messy due to the unburned powder, but you'll get .45-70-like ballistics from a full case with excellent consistency. (Blackpowder .45-70 velocity range, that is.) I'd use a magnum primer and just see how much it takes to fill it right to the base of the bullet, maybe very slightly compressed. You'll have a mighty hard time blowing yourself up with that. H870-like powders are big favorites with a lot of the cast shooters. Gives velocities similar to the traditional cast bullet loads of small amounts of pistol or shotgun powders, with much lower peak pressures to reduce bullet deformation or leading, and the bulk of the big charge acts like the fillers often used with those light charges to keep the powder in a consistent position for every shot. Most of it sprays out of the muzzle, but some stays in the bore and the case and if you let it get into the action it buggers things up. I experimented a bit with IMR 7383 in .45-70 with cast bullets and quit using it because the big half-burned tubular powder grains jammed up my Marlin. The bolt action cast shooters have developed what they call the "WC860 flick" to keep the powder grains out of the works.