Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What was the Jack O'connor load?

Bob, I'm loading 62g of AR2213SC (H4831SC) under yellow box, lathe turned 130g Partitions. 3100fps from a 23.5 inch barrel.

No pressure signs. Great accuracy. Fantastic performance on pigs!

bobnob the old lathe turned bullets made the Partition reputation. I have used a lot of them over the years in 7mm-140 (used up and gone now),and now 130-270's. They work well, too!

I have 250 of the 130 grainers in those yellow boxes Bob, and 200 of the 160 grainers!

Gonna use 'em all on pigs and deer too.

bobnob: I get freaked out when I think back and realize I was shooting and hunting when the new bullets came along!

Bob: I thought you were shooting and hunting when smokeless powder came along.

The load of 62/"new" H4831 is too hot...in Jack's favorite rifle (according to Brad, I wasn't there). It may be fine in others, and I make no broad claim either way.

59gr of modern H4831 was too hot in my WINCHESTER 270 using Winchester cases. I backed down to 58. Only switched to H4831 because Win 785 went obsolete.

It also depends on the bullet. Hornady bullets result in less pressure than some others. I would also bet 62 grains would be safe in most rifles with 130 Barnes TSX's--but would also bet it would be tougher to seat the bullets, especially with the "long-cut" powder!

I ran 60 with 130GMX at around 3k in my M70. Switched to R19 and 129's and am at 3,100 with a 22" tube. Have never used a NPT though.

Guess I'll be a heretic and comment that I like Reloader 22...



Granted, if I hunted in really cold temps I'd probably try H4831SC, or some of the other newer powders, but R22 works well in several different rifles for me.

60gr under 130gr Nosler BT's is a grain over Nosler's max, but it shoots very well and clocks 3165 fps. I could maybe nudge them past 3200 fps out of the Ruger's 26" barrel, but haven't bothered to try.

Yeah, 22 is a great .270 powder as well. In fact it's what I'm using in my No. 1B with 150-grain bullets, though it has worked with 130's in numerous other .270's. In this rifle 57.5 grains gets right around 3050 and very fine accuracy with both the Sierra GameKing and Nosler AccuBond Long Range. I plan to mostly use this rifle for pronghorn hunting, so colder temperatures won't be a problem. (57.5, by the way, is a also a grain over Nosler's max, but is about average for all sources of data for 150's in the .270.)

John,
Just as a matter or interest, when did you first learn about temperature fluctuation as I obviously never knew about it until I moved here.

As a full disclosure, I was hunting in the US some years prior and the loads that shot well in Oz were terrible here, so I tried some 2nd choice loads that were in the same box, different bullets and powder and they shot better than Oz.

It simply didn't twig with me back then, that it was a temperature issue.
John

John,

I started chronographing ammo in colder temperartures at least 20 years ago, partly because I'd noticed that often point of impact changed considerably, even at 100 yards and wanted to know why.

Sometime afterward I became aware that Hodgdon Extreme powders (which you know so well, right from the source) cured most cold problems. I also started chronographing in warmer temperatures at some point, probably about the mid-1990's, because I was also traveling a lot more where they could be a problem.

Thanks John.
Over that same period, about mid 90's, the Aussie powders were being transitioned and modified. The volumes I consumed meant that I had the Mulwex/AR/ADI versions and noticed the changes in burning rate going from a little faster than IMR to a little slower but cold to an Aussie is still T-shirt weather to an American, so the temp aspect was not aparent.

FYI, I found the IMR loads shot the same here but the Aussie powder varied and I reported same to the benchrest shooters I mixed with back then.

This was never a concern to them as they always loaded and shot same day at the respective location so never cared for issues like temp stability as long as the groups were where they needed to be. Also, they never chronographed as their focus was simply accuracy on that particular day.

Thanks for the feedback.
John

I had some of the details here wrong - rifle in question that showed too much pressure with the 62 grain load was Bradford's Milliron/Burgess .270, not his dad's rifle as I reported above.

While he has shot and killed game in the past few years with his dad's pet Biesen .270, Brad did not recall the load used.

GF1: That would make sense...JOC mentioned Brad's rifle in the article I cited above.

Its amazing how much dialog can come from 2 grains of H4831. Certainly shows the passion for JOC.

Bob,

I have a few dozen of these ol' 130 grain turned Partitions and would like to put them mostly into game rather than paper. Can you suggest a current, I almost said modern, bullet to try switching them for? Rifle is still enroute, so nothing to go on yet, and appreciate any suggestions.

My paternal grandfather was contemporary with JOC and when I was coming of age and moving up from a .22 centfire gramps suggested the 270 Winchester and Nosler Partitions citing that Jack O'connor knew what works. I'm hoping to take that memory afield, with gramps looking on from the happy hunting grounds.

Norman

Norman do you mean a pratice bullet that impacts about the same as the screw machine Partitions? If so, sure...a 130 Sierra should work with about the same loads and andvin my rifles point of impact is about the same.

Yes, thank you.