Hi Gang,
So I started reloading a few weeks back, and have been having a pretty good time of it - have learned a lot more about accuracy and shooting than I expected, and my 700 LTR is now definitely not something a coyote, or even a field mouse, would want to find itself on the other end of.
However, I'm really perplexed by the difference between flake powder (H335) and extruded powders. I've run about 100+ rounds of .223 loaded at varying levels of H335, and I just can't seem to get consistent behavior from that powder. One day, it will shoot a .5 inch group, and the next day the same load will shoot a 1.5" group. It's like it has a mind of its own, and consistency be damned - I am manually weighing each round I'm producing, so this isn't a powder measure discrepancy or anything like that.
On the other hand, it seems that just about any extruded powder will shoot beautifully in my .223 with hardly any effort at all. Benchmark, H322, H4895, all produced stunning groups (stunning by my standards is .25-.35 at 100 yards) with hardly any effort as compared to H335 where I've been completely stymied....
I know the right thing to do, from a practical perspective, is to just throw up my hands, declare flake powder to be one of the great mysteries of the universe and simply go buy a life's supply of H4895, but I'd really like to know where I'm going wrong with the H335, as a lot of people have raved about it online. Here are a couple of things I can't figure out:
1. I'm using 55 grain Noslers, which seem to be the right weight for H335 and seem to be the wrong weight class for a slower burning powder like H4895. However, the H4895 produces amazing groups, whereas H335 does not.
2. Ok, so maybe it's the slower burning powder? But if that's the case, why do Benchmark and H322 also produce excellent groups for me? According to Hodgdon's burn rate chart, the H322 and Benchmark powders are *faster* than H335...
3. Am I just being unrealistic and expecting too much from a factory rifle? Is .5-.75 pretty dang good for an LTR - which is what I can get with H335 and the .25 with H4895 just plain freakish, or should I expect to be able to get .25 groups with flake powder out of the LTR as well?
As always, thanks for any thoughts and advice!
Cheers,
Russ
So I started reloading a few weeks back, and have been having a pretty good time of it - have learned a lot more about accuracy and shooting than I expected, and my 700 LTR is now definitely not something a coyote, or even a field mouse, would want to find itself on the other end of.
However, I'm really perplexed by the difference between flake powder (H335) and extruded powders. I've run about 100+ rounds of .223 loaded at varying levels of H335, and I just can't seem to get consistent behavior from that powder. One day, it will shoot a .5 inch group, and the next day the same load will shoot a 1.5" group. It's like it has a mind of its own, and consistency be damned - I am manually weighing each round I'm producing, so this isn't a powder measure discrepancy or anything like that.
On the other hand, it seems that just about any extruded powder will shoot beautifully in my .223 with hardly any effort at all. Benchmark, H322, H4895, all produced stunning groups (stunning by my standards is .25-.35 at 100 yards) with hardly any effort as compared to H335 where I've been completely stymied....
I know the right thing to do, from a practical perspective, is to just throw up my hands, declare flake powder to be one of the great mysteries of the universe and simply go buy a life's supply of H4895, but I'd really like to know where I'm going wrong with the H335, as a lot of people have raved about it online. Here are a couple of things I can't figure out:
1. I'm using 55 grain Noslers, which seem to be the right weight for H335 and seem to be the wrong weight class for a slower burning powder like H4895. However, the H4895 produces amazing groups, whereas H335 does not.
2. Ok, so maybe it's the slower burning powder? But if that's the case, why do Benchmark and H322 also produce excellent groups for me? According to Hodgdon's burn rate chart, the H322 and Benchmark powders are *faster* than H335...
3. Am I just being unrealistic and expecting too much from a factory rifle? Is .5-.75 pretty dang good for an LTR - which is what I can get with H335 and the .25 with H4895 just plain freakish, or should I expect to be able to get .25 groups with flake powder out of the LTR as well?
As always, thanks for any thoughts and advice!
Cheers,
Russ
