I am trying to figure out which powder to start load development with a .243 Winchester and 55 grain Ballistic Silvertips. I like the looks of H414 and H380. What does anybody think about these two powders for this application?

I am thinking they would work well as they fill the case well.

300 - I recently tried some 55gr. BT's in my .243 Encore with AA2520, which were very fast and accurate. However, they impacted 6" lower than my 100gr. and 85gr. loads. I would expect that H380 or H414 would work fine. Let me know what kind of results you get; I will try those two powders as well. Mags

Nothing at all original about your thought.

H-380 From 43.6 grains to 53.0 grains
Remington 9-1/2 Primer
H-414 From 45.0 grains to 52.5 grains
Remington 9-1/2 Primer

But you would probably be better off with:
RL-15 From 39.5 grains to 45.0 grains
Remington 9-1/2 Primer

58 gr. V max. 15 rapid fired shots-3/4" 50 yds.
avg.3235fps.stiff wind OAL.2.625, clean, barrel only slightly warm 25 gr. 2400 WLR primer THIS MAY BE NEAR MAX??? all powder was dispenced and not individually weighed and every round was eyeballed to varify powder height.A similar experiment with Seafire's Blue Dot was equally as rewarding and the barrel even cooler. roger

I have been trying H414 in my Rem 700 243 and 55 gr BT with excellent results. I tried a couple of other powders but my rifle seems to like 414. I am not loading to max velocity. I am loading for accuracy. velocity is plenty good with 55 gr BT's

I had a Rem 243 that would not shoot anything worth a darn and still does not. Except: 55 grain BTs and 60 gr Sierra HPs with a load of 50 grains of H 380. Those it shoots into a single hole at 100 yds if you can hold the rifle steady.

So I am real fond of H 380 with that bullet. HOwever I load H 414 in my 243s a lot with the 85 to 105 gain bullets.

Cheers
thunderbolt

Thanks for the input.

Steve, I am curious as to why I would be happier with RL 15 as opposed to the others. This is not a challenge, but a plea for information on powders. The reason I was looking at the other two (H380 and H414) were percent of case filled as well as the nice metering characteristics of the ball powder.

However, I have heard in several places that RL 15 is a great powder.

Just wondering what is has that makes it better than other powders for this application.

Thanks.

Shoots cleaner and temperature insensitive.