H322

[ricky5042]

Hi all does anyone use H322 in their 308? if so what weight bullet head what powder weight brass and primer used.

Thanks

 

Rick

[Tuck]

Have a look here might be of some use

 

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

[Andrew]

Hodgdon doesn't list a load heavier than 130 for this powder IIRC. It's a bit quick for heavier bullets, I'd think. I use it in .223 and a buddy uses it in 20 Tactical.~Andrew

[Laurie]

As Andrew says, it's a bit (lot?) fast-burning for the cartridge and anything but light bullets. Having said that, the 'old' H322 (made in Scotland by ICI-Nobel, not the current Thales/ADI Australian manufactured Hodgdon) was a US favourite in short-range match loads back in the days when a lot of competition shooting was 200 and 300 yards. Although today's H322 comes from a different source, it'll be similar to the earlier version and its loads can still be used as a guide.

 

Ken Waters' fanatastic selection of 'Pet Loads' originally published as magazine articles and collected in a 1,035 page large format paperback has two 308 Win articles, the second from around 1980, very detailed with maybe 75 combinations and H322 figures surprisingly often.

 

130gn Hornady Spire Pt 43.0gn H322 2,891 fps, W-W case F210M

150 Sierra SP 41.0gn H322 2,627 fps W-W case Win 120 (now Win WLR)

150 Sierra SP 42.0gn H322 2,782 fps Fed case F210M, 3rd most accurate load

168 Hornady Match 41.0gn H322 2,691 fps Fed case F210M - near max pressure, extremely accurate.

180gn Sierra MatchKing 37.0gn H322 2,279 fps W-W case CCI-200, moderate pressures, extremely fine accuracy

180gn Sierra MatchKing 39.0gn H322 2,530 fps Fed case F210M, normal pressures

190gn W-W Match 36.0gn H322 2,290 fps S-X case (Winchester Super-X, I think) F210M, moderate pressures

 

Note that as well as the powders, many other components will have changed in 30 years. The 180gn SMK is likely the fabled long boat-tailed LR version of the bullet, much loved by 1,000 yard shooters back then and it would have almost certainlyu had a different bearing surface length compared to the modern short-range 180gn SMK.

 

Nevertheless, it shows that the powder can be used in 308 with surpriusingly heavy bullets if you're prepared to accept a lot of airspace in the case and reduced MVs. Match shooters of that era generally loaded ammo with faster powders than we do now - IMR-3031 and the old H4895 either surplus or new-manufacture ICI Scottish were very popular with heavy bullets.

 

If you're looking for a faster burner to try and can only get 'unpopular' powders in the present supply drought, IMR-3031 gives really good results and strikingly high MVs in 308 with many bullets, and yet it's hardly ever mentioned nowadays for this cartridge.

[ricky5042]

Thanks for the info guys I may just keep hold of it and get a more suitable powder.

[kent]

Gosh I could spend some time in your library

[Laurie]

It's available through Amazon.co.uk - getting a bit out of date for some cartridges now, but a great reference book. Don't expect to find 6.5X47 Lapua in it though!

[henryo]

Slightly off topic but Laurie do you think imr 3031 would work in .223 with say an 80gr matchking for targets out to 600 yards? I'm thinking of trying something other than varget.

[Laurie]

Henry,

 

never tried it myself, but it should work OK. I've seen mentions of it in the cartridge on the AccurateShooter Forum, but always with 40-55gn bullets. It works very well in .308 and usually anything that suits 308 with 155s to 175s suits 223 with 69s to 80s, but you can never tell. It's a bit longer grained than VarGet, but not so much as to cause a problem with excessively compressed loads in this sort of application.

 

I reckon it's difficult to beat the famous 4 in 223 / 80 though - VarGet, Re15, N140, H4895. If we ever see AR-Comp here (modified tmperature-insensitive Re15), this may be the one to try in heavy bullet 223.

[henryo]

Excellent thank you. I think I'll have to give it a go out of sheer curiosity.

Any advantage to going N540 over N140?

Also thinking of trying N550 with 80 VLDs for pushing the distance a bit. I can get about 28gr in with a little compression.

 

All the best

Henry

[Laurie]

Good luck with 3031.

 

N540 ups both the maximum charge weight you can use and the velocity, but not by as much as you might think. It does wear your barrel throat out a bit faster and the process that adds nitroglycerine to the base N140 seems to make the powder more temperature sensitive. If you're loading for a straight-pull, I'd say stick to 140.

 

I've tried N550 with 80s and the 80.5gn Berger in both an SSR-15 and bolt-action F/TR rifle. It's a bit too slow burning for this bullet weight, so neither MVs nor groups were anything special for me. If you want to go a bit slower in your powder characeristics, N150 is just usable and may provide more velocity than N140, but a lot depends on how the rifle is throated and hence how deep the bullet is seated into the case as you're getting short of room for this powder.

 

Many 90gn 223 users reckon N550 is THE powder, but I've had better results with N150, VarGet and Re15. It's certainly well suited to 90gn bullets in the cartridge though.

[henryo]

Brilliant info there cheers

Expect a lengthy post at some point