How close are RL17 and H4350?

[Frank in the Laurels]

No matter what your comparing it to, H-4350 is the greatest powder ever created for such a wide variety of cartridges and types of casings...from .243-338 I use it almost exclusively..cleared my bench of all the wannabees and that's about the only thing there..a little Vitt 133 & Varget...H-4350, the "mother's milk" of reloading..

 

[RockyMtnMT]

This is from Bryan Litz gave his rule of thumb for how muzzle velocities may vary with temperature from different types of rifle powder. Good Double-Base Powders 1fps per degree Fahrenheit, Average Single Base Powder, 0.3 to 0.5 fps per degree degree Fahrenheit. Best Single Base Powders: 0.1 to 0.2 fps per degree Fahrenheit. 94% of shooters finishing in the top 100 in the Precision Rifle Series (PRS) choose to run one of gun powders from Hodgdon Extreme Series of powders, like H4350 and Varget. That because the Hodgdon Extreme powders will provide consistent muzzle velocities across virtually any environment. Hodgdon Extreme preform just as well at 125 degree as they do at ) degrees.
SD DESCRIPTION CHART
20+fps excessive muzzle velocity variation. Not suitable for long range shooting, but ok for short range use. 15fps good factory ammunition or poor hand-loads. Useable for long range shooting but not ideal. 10fps Exceptional factory ammunition or average hand-loads. Acceptable for many long-range shooting applications. 10fps will give you approximately 1 MOA of vertical dispersion at 1000yds. 5fps Un-heard of for factory ammunition, and represents the best hand-loads. 5fps will give you approximately 1/2 MOA at 1000yds.

I just ran numbers for a random bullet with a change in velocity of 30 fps. Elevation of 4000'. This results in exactly 5" changed in drop. To my calculations that is less than .5 moa.

Way too much is made of finding single digit es.

 

[ButterBean]

I just ran numbers for a random bullet with a change in velocity of 30 fps. Elevation of 4000'. This results in exactly 5" changed in drop. To my calculations that is less than .5 moa.

Way too much is made of finding single digit es.

You slobbered a bib full right there ShoNuff

 

[dogz]

yeah way too much of this gack is people trying to make shooting and killing into rocket science and it just isn't.......

 

[ButterBean]

yeah way too much of this gack is people trying to make shooting and killing into rocket science and it just isn't.......

ShoNuff

 

[atl5029]

The biggest limitation with the 338RCM is powder capacity. So part of your question is what bullets and bullet weights are you planning to shoot?

For example, if going with something like a 185gnTTSX, you might need to go faster than H4350. Perhaps try H4895. If that is not available, I would try Varget, that you listed above.

For heavier bullets, e.g. 225gnTTSX or 250gn, you might find that H4350 can produce a decent load, but you will probably want more space and should consider StaBall6.5. Hodgdon lists 59.8 gn max load, and uncompressed!, in the 338-06 with a 250gn Hornady for 2572fps. [The 338-RCM has about 2 grains more capacity than the 338-06, but the RCM has a short neck and loses its nominal advantage with medium to longer bullets, so that it is very similar to the 338-06, sometimes getting by on a grain or so less powder than a 338-06 load with longer/heavier bullets.]

Another space-saving alternative would be CFE223. It might be best to use a magnum primer with CFE223 and would require that you re-zero and/or re-test between summer and winter loads. That can often be accommodated by adding or subtracting a grain of powder.

I plan on shooting 250 grain bullets. I think 225 would be more ideal, but I plan on using the CEB lasers in this, and I'm not going to do a ton of practice with those since they're so pricey, and there are no 225 grain match bullets available. So, I figured I'd take the higher BC and lower velocity and try the 250 grain CEB Laser since there are a variety of high BC match bullets also available. I am building the rifle on a commercial Mauser 98 action, so I have a lot of extra room to play with and can seat the bullets right at the shoulder/body junction so as not to encroach on powder space.

 

[rbTanzan]

I plan on shooting 250 grain bullets. I think 225 would be more ideal, but I plan on using the CEB lasers in this, and I'm not going to do a ton of practice with those since they're so pricey, and there are no 225 grain match bullets available. So, I figured I'd take the higher BC and lower velocity and try the 250 grain CEB Laser since there are a variety of high BC match bullets also available. I am building the rifle on a commercial Mauser 98 action, so I have a lot of extra room to play with and can seat the bullets right at the shoulder/body junction so as not to encroach on powder space.

In that case, go right ahead and test the CEB in your rifle for accuracy. I tried some CEB's in my 338WM but accuracy was not good and I don't know why. So I am back to 225gnTTSX and 223 Hammer Hunter as my "go to" all purpose bullets for our 338WM. The 185gnTTSX has been a good deer bullet but I would prefer the 225 TTSX or 223 HH if shooting a heavy-bodied animal beyond 300 yards.

 

[atl5029]

In that case, go right ahead and test the CEB in your rifle for accuracy. I tried some CEB's in my 338WM but accuracy was not good and I don't know why. So I am back to 225gnTTSX and 223 Hammer Hunter as my "go to" all purpose bullets for our 338WM. The 185gnTTSX has been a good deer bullet but I would prefer the 225 TTSX or 223 HH if shooting a heavy-bodied animal beyond 300 yards.

How has your experience been with the HH? I've had good luck with CEB and HH so far, but even if I was shooting Barnes I'd want a cheap match target load as well.

 

[rbTanzan]

How has your experience been with the HH? I've had good luck with CEB and HH so far, but even if I was shooting Barnes I'd want a cheap match target load as well.

The HH has a very slight edge over the TTSX. I am starting to think that bullet concentricity in the loaded round is as much a factor as any. The Hammer is easier to bring into round than the TTSX using Hornady's Concentricity Tool, possibly because of the lesser engraving pressure.

I've not yet taken game with a 338-223gn HH, so I cannot comment on that. The 225gnTTSX has performed admirably in Africa and the 185gnTTSX on US deer. My only Hammer experience on game was a 151gnAbHammer in 308W last year. The only recovered bullet from these has been one 185TTSX and excellently shaped.