Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Impressed with Ramshot Magnum, thanks to Mule Deer

I recently read one of John's articles from a few years ago. I think it was titled, "Handloads That Work". This article inspired me to try Ramshot Magnum for my 300 Win with the 200gr Accubond.

I had previously tried Retumbo with good accuracy, but the velocities were very low. 3-shot groups were well under an inch at 100 yards, but 2650 fps seemed rather slow for a 300. Ok for a 30-06, but slow for the win mag. I had reached max published loads and didn't want to push it into no-man's-land without pressure data. At SAAMI COAL the powder was getting compressed as well with max charges.

I also worked up to the max published load with H1000 and accuracy was poor at 2700+ fps. I think it would have shot well at 2600 fps but this didn't do any better than Retumbo. I did shoot a mulie last year with the Retumbo load, but wanted something 'more' for this year's hunt.

John had written that Ramshot Magnum was very good in the 300, so I sent Ramshot an e-mail for a suggested load range. I'm glad I did. I'm getting excellent accuracy, velocity, and its extremely clean burning. Velocity is 2900 fps, and my last 4-shot group was under 7/8" at 100 yards. 3-shot group was under 1/2". I'm shooting a Super Light from Tikka with a 2-7x Vortex. Total rifle weight is only 7 lbs, and the recoil is up there. Even so, I'm thrilled with this load and rifle.

The most surprising thing is that Ramshot Magnum seems to burn much cooler than Retumbo or H1000. I swear that the barrel cools much faster with Ramshot although the Super Light does have a fluted barrel and my load development with Retumbo and H1000 were done with a standard non-fluted Tikka.

With all three powders I notice that the hottest part of the barrel is about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way from the chamber. Factory 180gr ammo, which I assume uses faster powder, always heats the chamber and very first part of the barrel. I can actually shoot 2 to 3 rounds with the Ramshot load without the barrel getting very warm. This really surprised me. And since this heat is away from the receiver it doesn't seem to affect bullet impact. The Tikka synthetic stock grips the receiver and first part of the barrel very tightly so heat in this area seems to cause vertical stringing. Not a problem with the Ramshot, although I never let the barrel get beyond warm to the touch.

Ramshot Magnum meters very well too, much better than the other two powders. And according to John, it is very temperature stable. I can't say enough good things about this powder for the 200gr Accubond in this rifle. And the Ramshot ballistician was very helpful. Much more helpful than some other powder companies.

I never thought about Ramshot, and never hear much about it for the 300 Win. Thanks for the article John. If it wasn't for that I never would have found this great powder and load. I'm thrilled to say the least. I thought I would have to try RL22 but was hesitant due to temp instability.