Hornady SUPERFORMANCE

[jcat]

I've only been shooting long range (1,000 yards) now for about a year. My rifle is a .308 with a 20" barrel. I've tried only 2 different factory ammos and stopped looking after I started shooting the Hornady SUPERFORMANCE 168gr ELD Match b/c it was unbelievably accurate out to 1000 yards (for me, anyway). After I got my DOPE set up for that ammo, I could hit the 1000 yd steel about 9 out of every 10 tries (usually on a sunny day with low/no wind). Because I wanted to get into handloading, I wanted to see if I could duplicate that Hornady load (and maybe improve upon it). I have the 11th edition of the Hornady reloading book and I was a bit surprised to see that they don't show the Hodgdon SUPERFORMANCE in their list of powders for the .308 168gr ELD Match bullets (but they do show it for 6.5 CM). Maybe they don't use the Hodgdon SUPERFORMANCE powder in their "SUPERFORMANCE" ammo?

Is anyone using Hodgdon SUPERFORMANCE powder with the Hornady 168gr ELD Match bullets in their .308 with excellent accuracy? If so, would you mind sharing which brass, primer and how many grains you're using? Any other info you'd be willing to share about your load development for this combo would be appreciated.

 

[FLIGHT762]

No, it is not the same Superformance powder that Hornady uses. Your best bet would to get some Alliant 2000 MR or some CFE 223 to try to get you velocities over what most other powders will get you to. My first choice would be the 2000 MR.

You will need that with your 20" tube. I have some very accurate loads with 2000 MR and 175's in excess of 2750 FPS out of a 24" tube.

2000 MR and CFE 223 are temperature sensitive, so you have that to deal with in higher temperatures.

 

[GBMaryland]

You can also try N540... it's a higher energy powder... It shouldn't be too temperature sensitive.

N540 high energy powder - Vihtavuori

Vihtavuori N540 is an excellent choice for cartridges running from the .223/5.56mm, .308 Win. and .30-06 Springfield with appropriate bullet weights. This is also a great powder for 6,5x47 Lapua and 6.5 Creedmoor as well as the .223 when using heavy bullets. Exceptionally clean-burning and...

www.vihtavuori.com

 

[Rob01]

Hornady Superformance loads use a mixture of about 8 different powders to get their loads depending on caliber and bullet. It is not the same powder as is sold by Hodgdon. DO NOT pull a bullet from the factory ammo, weigh the powder charge and use the commercially sold Superformance powder to replace it. They are not the same.

Read the .308 thread pinned above and find some powders and start working up a load. I use Varget myself but tough to find. What velocities are you getting with the factory ammo?

 

[jcat]

Hornady Superformance loads use a mixture of about 8 different powders to get their loads depending on caliber and bullet. It is not the same powder as is sold by Hodgdon. DO NOT pull a bullet from the factory ammo, weigh the powder charge and use the commercially sold Superformance powder to replace it. They are not the same.

Read the .308 thread pinned above and find some powders and start working up a load. I use Varget myself but tough to find. What velocities are you getting with the factory ammo?

I don't know my velocities b/c I don't have a chrono yet but the Hornady packaging states 2840 fps. Unfortunately, they didn't indicate what barrel length that came out of. I know I'll need to get a chrono for load development but I just don't have the money for that right now. I've been stocking up on brass/powders/bullets/primers over the past 9 months (while I waited to receive my Autotrickler). I'm glad I did stock up b/c these items are really hard to find now - especially the large rifle primers.

 

[jcat]

You can also try N540... it's a higher energy powder... It shouldn't be too temperature sensitive.

N540 high energy powder - Vihtavuori

Vihtavuori N540 is an excellent choice for cartridges running from the .223/5.56mm, .308 Win. and .30-06 Springfield with appropriate bullet weights. This is also a great powder for 6,5x47 Lapua and 6.5 Creedmoor as well as the .223 when using heavy bullets. Exceptionally clean-burning and...

www.vihtavuori.com

Thanks for that, GBM. I'll keep my eyes open for some.

 

[jcat]

No, it is not the same Superformance powder that Hornady uses. Your best bet would to get some Alliant 2000 MR or some CFE 223 to try to get you velocities over what most other powders will get you to. My first choice would be the 2000 MR.

You will need that with your 20" tube. I have some very accurate loads with 2000 MR and 175's in excess of 2750 FPS out of a 24" tube.

2000 MR and CFE 223 are temperature sensitive, so you have that to deal with in higher temperatures.

Thank you for that info.

 

[Rob01]

I don't know my velocities b/c I don't have a chrono yet but the Hornady packaging states 2840 fps. Unfortunately, they didn't indicate what barrel length that came out of. I know I'll need to get a chrono for load development but I just don't have the money for that right now. I've been stocking up on brass/powders/bullets/primers over the past 9 months (while I waited to receive my Autotrickler). I'm glad I did stock up b/c these items are really hard to find now - especially the large rifle primers.

It’s usually a 24” barrel so you are probably about 75-100fps less. You can try and reverse engineer it with your 1000 yard data. A chrono is a very good piece of gear to have. Should be less than $200 for something like a Magnetospeed Sporter.

What powders have you stocked up on now? If you are shooting factory ammo now then that brass would be good to use when you start to load.

 

[jcat]

For my .308, I have some Varget, H4350. Yes, I keep all my brass and, from the books/forums I've read and the YT videos, I know the fire-formed brass from my .308 is ideal. With my "Ugly Annealer," I'm hoping I'll be able to get at least 6 runs out of each piece. I bought some new brass just in case there isn't anymore brass to be had in a year or so . . . if you know what I mean.

 

[Rob01]

Varget will be the go two between those two for the .308.

You should easily get 6 firings out of that brass. You don’t need to anneal after every firing.

 

[MadDuner]

I put the 2840 FPS number for the 168gr Superperformance .308 ammo into StreLok and adjusted the scope the required number of Mils and it got my 20” RPR right on target at 1,000 yds other than my wind call. Granted - that was in 6,000 density altitude air. But that number might be pretty close to right!

 

[redbullitt]

Definitely a varget fan here... its pretty dead when it comes to temperature. Love it, but since its so hard to find its been relegated to hunting and match ammo only... cfe223 and tac have been filling the gap otherwise.

Tac, w748, cfe223, blc2 etc will all do fine, just will vary more with the weather. I always prefer a more consistent powder, even if it means less speed for stuff beyond 500 yards.

With a moderate load you should get plenty of brass life. Id wager 6 is gonna be easy unless bad brass or youre hotrodding it lol.

43.5g of varget and a 175 is a pretty typical load for most of my 308s. Depending on barrel length, 16 up to 26, i see between 2500 and 2750ish fps. I anneal every few firings and always once on the initial brass prep for once fired stuff. Brass gets neck sized either with a lee collet die or a redding bushing, shoulder bump to chamber when needed. Case life is excellent, even nasty federal brass does way better than 6 loadings.

 

[rweaver00geo]

Varget will only get you about 2650 out of a 20" barrel, I would definately try a H4350.

with a 168 gr

 

[Rob01]

Hodgdon doesn't even list a load for H4350 and a 168.

 

[NH4X]

I've only been shooting long range (1,000 yards) now for about a year. My rifle is a .308 with a 20" barrel. I've tried only 2 different factory ammos and stopped looking after I started shooting the Hornady SUPERFORMANCE 168gr ELD Match b/c it was unbelievably accurate out to 1000 yards (for me, anyway). After I got my DOPE set up for that ammo, I could hit the 1000 yd steel about 9 out of every 10 tries (usually on a sunny day with low/no wind). Because I wanted to get into handloading, I wanted to see if I could duplicate that Hornady load (and maybe improve upon it). I have the 11th edition of the Hornady reloading book and I was a bit surprised to see that they don't show the Hodgdon SUPERFORMANCE in their list of powders for the .308 168gr ELD Match bullets (but they do show it for 6.5 CM). Maybe they don't use the Hodgdon SUPERFORMANCE powder in their "SUPERFORMANCE" ammo?

Is anyone using Hodgdon SUPERFORMANCE powder with the Hornady 168gr ELD Match bullets in their .308 with excellent accuracy? If so, would you mind sharing which brass, primer and how many grains you're using? Any other info you'd be willing to share about your load development for this combo would be appreciated.

Yeah,I'm " that guy".I have worked with Superf.powder In my dpms 308 . I did so for the same reason as you. It shot small groups, although ,in my case it was the 165GMX factory load. I did what has been said NOT to do above and pulled bullet weighted powder. Long story short.......I ended up using 44.4 gr , 168 horn http ,horn case ,fed 210m........no over pressure signs , groups small ,BUT it was sloooow out of a 16" barrel when using a friends old chrono........don't know if it was accurate and haven't took a reading with a magneto speed to see. There are better powders ,as has been said for the 308 and I have moved on to some of them. But if I was in a bind and all I had to load was Superf.........I'd load it up and never look back

 

[rweaver00geo]

H4350 might be listed with nosler or sierra?

 

[Rob01]

Using a slower powder in a shorter barrel does not lend itself to higher velocities. But seeing as you recommend it why not list the load data so it could be looked at?

 

[rweaver00geo]

H4350 might be listed with nosler or sierra?

Imr 4350 is listed H4350 is not, my mistake

 

[HerbUSMC]

Just started load development for 6.5 PRC with hodgdon superformance powder
this powder was amazing for my 6.5 creedmoor and have searched low and high for information and there is next to nothing so I’m starting with the load data for 6.5 creedmoor using 153gr hornady a tip bullets 46.5gr according to hornady will run the 153 at 2800 fps. So using that as my starting point we have 46.5 gr superformance powder,Lapua case, cci large rifle benchrest primer and hornady 153 gr atips shooting out of a desert tech 28.5” barrel from short action customs (absolutely huge magazine!!! Desert tech hand fed rounds in the PRC to 3.25 COAL) with a coal of 3.050 which places us .0150 off of the lands. First velocity was a disappointing 2575 fps but we worked up to 50 grains even and 2800 fps with zero signs of pressure and a ton of case capacity to go looking to be above 3k

 

[HerbUSMC]

Yeah,I'm " that guy".I have worked with Superf.powder In my dpms 308 . I did so for the same reason as you. It shot small groups, although ,in my case it was the 165GMX factory load. I did what has been said NOT to do above and pulled bullet weighted powder. Long story short.......I ended up using 44.4 gr , 168 horn http ,horn case ,fed 210m........no over pressure signs , groups small ,BUT it was sloooow out of a 16" barrel when using a friends old chrono........don't know if it was accurate and haven't took a reading with a magneto speed to see. There are better powders ,as has been said for the 308 and I have moved on to some of them. But if I was in a bind and all I had to load was Superf.........I'd load it up and never look back

Hey i did the exact same thing with identical results but loved the powder for 6.5 creedmoor and just git amazing results today with 6.5 PRC

 

[NH4X]

Hey i did the exact same thing with identical results but loved the powder for 6.5 creedmoor and just git amazing results today with 6.5 PRC

Yeah, it' ll wake up a 6.5 creed, some of the fastest fps I've seen was with SuperF .I haven't had any experience with 6.5 PRC , it doesn't surprise me if it work in it ,too.

 

[OkieMike]

Don't know what kind of velocity you're chasing... But my wife's 20" .308 was in the 2660's with Lapua brass, BR2's, and 168 TMK's.

Powder was IMR 4064

#4 was 44.3 gr.
#5 was 44.5 gr.
#6 was 44.7 gr.
#7 was 44.9 gr.

Probably could have done more up the scale... #10 was 45.5 @2708. But I saw the node and started playing with seating depth.

Mike