Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Not as long range as I planned

I bought that 8 pound jug of H4350 in 2008.
In 2011 I worked up from Hodgdon's load of 58 gr for 162 gr.
I found the threshold of long brass life to be at 67.5 gr with a Hornady SST in my Ruger #1 7mmRM.


I backed off 4% [not 6% like Vernon Speer in 1956 developing loads for a book with old powders without temp coating]
At 3100 fps I got this mule doe at 400 yards.

In 2012 I worked up a load with H4350 and 150 gr Nos Bal Tip bullets to 3250 fps in a 7mmRM I built with a Braz VZ24, lothar Walther barrel, and two dozen other parts.

I shot a number of deer and one antelope with the 150 in the VZ24.

In 2013 I built a 257 Roberts Ackley Improved Rimmed 1885 falling block rifle with a Uberti action, a Shilen barrel, and some other parts, some of which I designed.

I worked up loads with the H4350 and 115 gr Nos Bal Tip until the brass yield. I backed off 4%. I only got 3050 fps because the case heads of the Norma 7x57 rimmed brass I used were soft.


In 2013 I built another 7mmRM with an old Rem700 action, a Shilen barrel, and a lot of other parts. I worked up to 72 gr of H4350 and 140 gr Bal Tip and found the threshold of long brass life. I backed off to 70 gr.


I shot this buck at 477 yards with it in 2013.

Then in 2014 with a Browning 1885 7mmRM factory gun, I just loaded more 70 gr H4350 140 gr, got 3400 fps, and shot the buck antelope that is shown in the first page of this thread, and this mule buck on Thursday:


I got another 8 pound jug of H4350 in 2014, but there is still a pound left in the old 2008 jug. I will be interesting to see if there is any variation jug to jug.