I use H 335 at 25.0 grains for 55 grainers with great results.
It is this load, which seemed a real bread and butter load for most...and shot well for me...
Until the day, I had some factory Black Hills ammo, that I use to buy when it was like $11.50 for a box of 50, way back... would buy it as that was the cheap way to buy brass...had 7 rounds left of the box, pulled the trigger and BOOM....blew the primer, and split the stock in several places..
77 Mk 2 Ruger.. Disassembled the other 6 and charge was 25 grains of H 335. Verified that by calling Black Hills.... told them the issue I had.
Thought it must have been a freak over charge. Stripped and repaired the stock via a friend who is a cabinet maker, then refinished the stock.
Rifle had about 8,000 rounds down the barrel. I had used a lot of H 335 with a 25 grain charge over the years so figured it was a freak accident.
60 days later, after the gun was back in service, it was one of my handloads this time... same 25 grains of H 335 with a 55 grain SP. Went Kaboom again, this time damaged the bolt fairly bad, but repairable. Stock was blown into several big pieces this time. Took it back to my cabinet maker friend once again, and he put it back together...
at the time, I thought it had to be something wrong with the rifle., then found on the campfire here, several guys were having the same issues out of H 335 at the time...
I admit. I quit using H 335 PERIOD. Its also where I came to the conclusion, about anything else also works well in a 223., so there was no shortages of alternatives. I ended up giving the rifle to gunsmith friend, Mike Bellm, who use to live here in town., he turned the barrel back and rechambered it into a 222. He never had ANY problems with the gun, and we even put another stock on it ( a Zytel stock)... yet, I still have that original stock and refinished it once again, and it serves on a Model 77 Mk 2 chambered in 260 Rem.
I know plenty of guys who use trainloads of H 335 for decades and have never had ONE issue with it....but personally having two incidents so close together, on the same rifle, I've avoided using it at all...
another issue I had been noticing with it before hand... how "flashy" it was, as friend John Noveske called it. In spring Sage rat shooting, I quit shooting it prone, in dry grass... yeah I lit a couple of small blazes, that were easily put out.. however I just started shooting off the hood of my 4 Runner instead... and still do to this day...
pretty much replaced it with using W 748, when using a ball powder.. never have had ANY issues with W 748, and its more consistent.
No critic of those who use H 335.. just sharing my experience.. which is evidently highly rare...but twice in 60 days....I learned a lesson to avoid it.
