What powder does Hornady use in their Precision Hunter ammo?

[Louisiana Reloader]

Wow, very informative and interesting on the gentleman's 300 PRC Precision Hunter powder experiment. I was very surprised myself by this. I often will pull factory loads to weight them to figure out a powder burn rate after I have chrono'd them. I can get real close figuring out their burn rate based on the charge weight and velocity; however it is still sometimes a guess on the powder manufacturer. If I can match the burn rate I can usually beat factory loads on velocity and accuracy. Thanks for the post—great post.

 

[Chas1]

Thanks for posting, I too mix same powder of different lots.

 

[Harry Knutz]

I believe Hornady may even blend powders.
At least that's been the rumor for a few years now.

Hornady Superformance Powder is a blended powder that they blend themselves.

 

[cohunt]

Hornady Superformance Powder is a blended powder that they blend themselves.

Yet in their superperformance line of ammo, they often don't use superperformance powder!

Lots of ammo manufactures dont use "canister grade" powder --- all the more reason to buy in bulk (if there is no store imposed purchase limit) -- you'll just have to put up with others calling you a horder/pepper.

The same info goes for lots of same powder, primers, even bullets for reloading.

So, what this means is guys that shoot 3 round groups will only have 17 rounds max of hunting ammo after zeroing a new lot--- but those guys that swear you have to shoot 10 round groups to know how accurate you are will only have 10 rounds left

 

[Citified]

This article sure helps explain changes in groups everything else being equal in the rifle on a given day. Thanks for the info.

 

[cajun]

The large ammo companies buy powder in bulk, by the ton. More often than not these are not the same as canister grade powders that we buy. It's also been a basic reloading principle that when using new lots of powder you need to retest the load.

 

[DesertDweller62]

A buddy was told by a Hornady insider that the 7mm PRC Precision Hunter 175 gr. ELD-X was loaded RL 26. In the video, this was confirmed again. I am not sure about the 180 EXD-M or the 160 gr. copper bullet. DD62

 

[carpassasin]

Great info figured the difference in lots but didnt know the companys switched powders interestin thanks.

 

[NW Hunter]

Saw this and found it interesting

Loved this post!
These are the posts I scour the forum looking for. This increases my knowledge base.
Thanks

 

[Hoggetter]

After several conversation with Hornady, they now have their own ball powders for all three PRC cartridges. It started in 2022 so if you look at the lot numbers you can tell by reading the first three digits, 320 will be year 2020, 321 will be year 2021, 322 will be year 2022, 323 will be year 2023. I found this out when pre2022 6.5prc ammo was shooting 1/2 moa or better in all the rifles I built and then after their switch in powders all the groups went to **** with there mid 322 year powders and newer, But the 300prc and the 7prc ammo shoots great with their new ball powder line.

 

[Hudge76]

Hornady has mentioned on their YouTube channel that they use proprietary powders you and I can't buy to load their ammo.

 

[bomberodevil]

That was a really informative video, but I'm a little surprised by the amount of variation in velocity of the three lots, and by the ES within each lot. With ES numbers in the 80-90's, it's not surprising their POI was all over the paper. I hand-weigh and double check each load during development, but my ES numbers are in the 15-30s, and I'm really not happy over 25.

 

[tim1457]

As mentioned earlier, I reload my ammunition, so I haven't looked into factory loaded specs. However, being mass produced ammunition, it could be possible powder weight, seating depth or combination might possibly cause the ES issues. Just a guess.

 

[crkckr]

The simple truth is that we, as reloaders, cannot buy the same powders the manufacturers use in their factory ammo. Another thing that is certain, if you try to identify a factory powder by sight, you are nearly 100% going to be flat out Wrong! This is especially true of pistol ammo, where most manufacturers use flash suppressed powders that are just not available to the public! Accurate said their powders are "reduced" flash but that is only in certain instances, it is not in all loads. AA9 has as much and the same brite white flash as H110/WW296 with max loads. Others that are as bad are Unique, Win 231, Blue Dot, IMR 2400 and in most cases IMR 4227. Now all that said, I have a load for my 44 Mag that uses the 200 gr Gold Dot (designed for the 44 Spcl) and enough 4227 to get the bullet up to around 1200 fps and it has no visible flash out of a 5.5" Redhawk, even at dusk. I have a similar load for the 357 using the 135 Gold Dots that is the just like the .44 Mag load (1200 fps), no flash. Unfortunately I have had no such luck trying to match Underwood's loading of the Lehigh Xtreme Defender bullets with any powder. Rats! I have tried nearly every powder with the exception of the VV powders which are pretty high priced around here. There is no data to suggest their velocities are any higher than what I can get my hands on now, so I carry factory ammo, have some reloads of the Lehigh bullets available and Gold Dots as back up back ups! Except in 10mm, since Speer decided to just crap all over reloaders everywhere and apparently are no longer making any 10mm bullets other than the 200 gr. Oh well, the XTP's will have to do! Thanks, Speer! (NOT!)
Cheers,
crkckr