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Powder question!
laylandad
Member Posts: 961 ✭✭
Does anyone have any idea what type of powder Remington uses in it's rifle loads?? I anm curious to know, because most of my reloading manuals have a starting load greater than what is in the factory load. I have pulled 20 rounds and each load weighed exactly 52.5gr.
Don't get me wrong, the factory ammo loaded with 150gr Bronze Point shoots great, but I don't want to keep spending $28 a box on the stuff!
LLD
Don't get me wrong, the factory ammo loaded with 150gr Bronze Point shoots great, but I don't want to keep spending $28 a box on the stuff!
LLD
Comments
Not so with Remington, which doesn't make powder at all. They buy non-canister powder in huge lots, test it and use it as appropriate. The box of Remmy factory ammo you bought last year might have spherical powder in it, and this year's version of the same ammo might have extruded - or even a flake powder. The performance will be the same (or at least within their parameters) but the powder can vary a lot.
With rare exceptions like those Winchester loads, you CANNOT match the powder the factory uses. Period.
1.Match the bullet, since that determines every thing once it leaves the muzzle and many things before.
2.Chronography a factory round.
3. Measure overall length of factory load and match it.
4.Find a powder/load to use that will come close to matching factory velocity and chrony/fine tune loads to match factory velocity you determined in 2.
Optional 1. Since you know the weight of factory powder loads you could check multiple sets of load data to pick a powder that would have a charge wt close to it and give you something close to target velocity.
Optional 2.Years ago Remington had a publication that listed all current factory loads with velocity and pressures. If they still do you should try to pick a powder that will match pressure as well as velocity.
The optional things can help duplicate what we as individuals cannot measure such as rate of burn and pressure curves that can affect barrel harmonics. If you load an identical bullet to identical muzzle velocity you can reasonable expect the same exterior balistics but your zero point may change.
Ammo makers will buy an entire production run of a powder that meets a set of general parameters. Such a run might be 100,000 pounds or more. But because it is a bulk run, that powder is not exactly like any other batch of powder ever made, before or after that one.
The ammo company then works up loads for its suitable cartridges using that powder and loads them until the powder is gone. When it is gone, they order another entire lot - which will also be unlike any other powder ever made - and develop all new data.
A box of Acme .293 Whizbang ammo you bought two years ago might use 46.6 grains of an extruded powder, and a box of the exact same ammo you buy today might have 52.2 grains of a spherical powder.
So... You can't buy the powder they use, not because they are being secretive, but because THEY bought every kernel of it that exists. And you can't duplicate their load because their load can and does change.
Best and closet thing you can do to match a factory load is:
1.Match the bullet, since that determines every thing once it leaves the muzzle and many things before.
2.Chronography a factory round.
3. Measure overall length of factory load and match it.
4.Find a powder/load to use that will come close to matching factory velocity and chrony/fine tune loads to match factory velocity you determined in 2.
Optional 1. Since you know the weight of factory powder loads you could check multiple sets of load data to pick a powder that would have a charge wt close to it and give you something close to target velocity.
Optional 2.Years ago Remington had a publication that listed all current factory loads with velocity and pressures. If they still do you should try to pick a powder that will match pressure as well as velocity.
The optional things can help duplicate what we as individuals cannot measure such as rate of burn and pressure curves that can affect barrel harmonics. If you load an identical bullet to identical muzzle velocity you can reasonable expect the same exterior balistics but your zero point may change.
That right there will make factory loads cease to amaze you.
As many have said you can't duplicate the loads the factory's use. Honestly, I don't want to. I usually get a lot less than what they print on their box or magazines or in-store buying guides for velocity. Accuracy at times can be decent but is never what you can produce on a consistent basis. Depending on the caliber you're loading for Rem/Win will underload the powder capacity and that further decreases accuracy potential. You gotta remember though their whole point is to make it go bang "within their parameters".