Has anyone ever heard of "Big Boy" powder and who makes it?

Western Powders, Inc. out of Montana owns the Ramshot line of powders which Big Boy use to belong but has since been renamed Magnum. There is another Ramshot powder called Big Game and having two starting with 'Big' seemed to confuse people so they decided to rename Big Boy in 2001. According to Western Powders' website, Big Boy/Magnum sits in between H-1000 (fast side) and RL-25 (slow side) in burning rate to give you an idea of its applications. Western Powders also owns the Accurate Arms line of powders.

Here is the web site w/ loading data for Ramshot powders:

Ramshot Powders

Hope this answers your question.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Stick:
Western Powders, Inc. out of Montana owns the Ramshot line of powders which Big Boy use to belong but has since been renamed Magnum. There is another Ramshot powder called Big Game and having two starting with 'Big' seemed to confuse people so they decided to rename Big Boy in 2001. According to Western Powders' website, Big Boy/Magnum sits in between H-1000 (fast side) and RL-25 (slow side) in burning rate to give you an idea of its applications. Western Powders also owns the Accurate Arms line of powders.

Here is the web site w/ loading data for Ramshot powders:

Ramshot Powders

Hope this answers your question.

Now there's an excellent reply....

Thanks vapodog. I try to be as complete and thorough as possible when answering a fellow shooter's question. Guess its the engineer in me.

Oh, crap, not another engineer.....

Big Stick, welcome to the forum. If you're going to be like that all the time, we can use you around here... Dutch.

Ramshot and Accurate powder are both owned by westert powder in Montana.

Big Stick, Thanks I appreciate your thoroughness(must be the engineer in me)
I did see the "Big Game" and wondered, but...
Now for the second question. Has anyone used it and had success?
vapodog, Dutch, and vines...thanks also for the input.

I've used the powder and it's fine stuff.....and yes....I, too, am an engineer.

I use it in my 223WSSM with 80 gr. bullets, and it is great stuff. Exceptionally consistent at medium (i.e. 50 - 55,000 PSI) pressures. ES of below 20 is pretty standard.

Fouling's not too bad, and I would rate temp sensitivity at "below average", though there is definitely some variation.

Cheap, and easy metering doesn't hurt either.... HTH, Dutch.

Dutch - Thanks for the welcome.

Double js - Sorry, but I have never tried any
of the Ramshot powders.

I am using a couple of their powders and it is going extremely well. Ramshot True Blue is a competition grade handgun powder that is slower than Unique, but seemingly as flexible except that there is no shotgun data, Burn Rate is said to be similar to VV 3N37, AA#7. I have gotten excellent accuracy in .45 ACP as well as 9mm. Thought it might be a little slow for the .45, but that is not the case. It burns very clean and I load from 200 gr. SWC target loads to 185 gr. +P Golden Sabers. It has application in all handgun loads from 9mm to .454 Casull.

The other Ramshot powder I have is their fastest Rifle powder; X-Terminator. I have been shooting the True Cast 170 gr. FNGC bullets in .30-30, so I wanted something just a tad faster than W-748. My first loads were with Rem. 150 gr. Core-Lokts however, but they were more accurate than my 748 loads, on the first attempt!

Ramshot's newest rifle powder is slightly faster than Magnum. It is called Hunter and burn rate is next to R-19. It can be used in some of the Short Magnums and definitely all of the standard cartridges. It is a very dense Ball powder @ 950 grams/liter, that is supposed to rival extruded powders in temperature insensitivity. Excellent metering!

I keep hearing people talk about the temperature ranges with certain powders...are there certain powders that's properties will not change with extreme temperature variables??
I have seen handloads perform differently with changes in temperatures, but was unsure if that was the reason.

Oh, BTW the handloads for this powder are for a 338 RUM. I have used RL22 and IMR 7828 with my 300 WBY and had good success, but the Barnes manual claims "Big Boy" as a good powder.

There are no powders that are impervious to changes in temperature. Some are better than others (the Hodgdon "extreme" line comes to mind).

Even those powders that produce very small changes in velocity, may well show changes in POI, simply because rifle barrels also change with temperature. FWIW, Dutch.

Has anyone chrono'd the Magnum powder. I've tried it a little in 300 wby and it was about 200 fps slower than their website said....just wondering if I got a superslow lot or what.