Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .338 WM cold temp powders?

That's a good load SU. I don't run my 338 that hot, here's about what I get in cold weather:

Averages around 2,860 fps, but damn accurate....

I do like the Hodgdon H4350 powder in the 338 for sure. I haven't been able to locate any RL23 around here, or I may think about trying it in my old rifle....:

That kind of accuracy is great! good for you.

No way of knowing target accuracy for RL23 as right now as I'm using NECG open sights on the Ruger, no scope.

I’d like to see how RL16 runs. Seems very 4350 like in speeds and such and is touted to be pretty stable. I’m looking forward to working with it more in the future. Some of my first loads with 180 Accubonds and the 30-06 looked promising. I sorta got tired waiting on H4350.

Great points by all of ya, thank you.

I gave up on "waiting for H4350," partly because as I get, ah, more mature I'm not as willing to continually search for scare components or ammo, which is about the only way to find them. And even when you find some, if it's something you use a lot (whether H4350 or .17 Mach 2 ammo) then it's only a relatively short while until you're looking again.

Which is why I quit shooting ground squirrels with my CZ .17 M2 and sold it, along with what ammo I had left, and why I started trying substitutes for H4350. Right now the leader is IMR4451, partly because it's so similar to H4350 the data is almost interchangeable. In fact Hodgdon's on-line data lists the maximum loads for 225-grain bullets in the .338 as 69.5 grains for H4350 and 69.4 for IMR4451, with an 8 fps difference in muzzle velocity. Have also thoroughly tested IMR4451 in cold temperatures and it's just as stable as H4350, but contains a decoppering agent, which is nice for extended shooting sessions. So far it's been H4350's equal in every load tried. The only occasions when there's been a difference in accuracy, 4451 has been slightly more accurate.

Started using RL-23 just last year, but so far am impressed as well. It's not quite as available as IMR4451, but far more so than H4350. Finally found some RL-16 this summer, but have only tried it in one cartridge so far, the 6.5 Creedmoor. It gets great velocity but so far accuracy hasn't been as good as with 4451.

I'll have to check the availability of IMR4451. I've been lucky over the past 3 months and found 6 pounds of H4350, but like others have said it's damn hard to find. If there's a powder out there that's just as good and a lot easier to find, I'm going to be all over that. Like beretzs said, good info here... Thanks

bsa,

Except for maybe 2-3 months earlier this year, after all the new 6.5 Creedmoor shooters "discovered" 4451, it's been very available. Some people like to buy in local stores, instead of off the Internet, and I see it frequently the half-dozen local stores I visit.

But I mostly buy 8-pounders off the Internet, and even during the brief break in availability earlier this year my supply never dropped to the point it has with H4350. I was down to maybe 10 pounds before ordering some more a couple months ago, and these days I use 4451 in just about all the cartridges where I used to use H4350, and continually experiment with it in more, partly for articles and partly for my own use. So I'm using a LOT.

Do still have a few pounds of H4350, but about the only reason I keep some on hand anymore is to include it in articles about handloading a certain cartridge, for the readers who still have some, or are still desperately searching. I'm outta that game.

Thanks JB. That 4451 looks very promising. I'm going to be on the look out for some locally.

I bet you like it. If you decide you do and want more, Internet ordering 8-pounders usually results in prices at least as good as brick-and-mortar stores, even with the hazmat fee--which many have been reducing or even eliminating lately, at least temporarily.

I just checked the five websites where I order most reloading stuff. None had H4350, but only one didn't have IMR4451.

John- is R23 a "sort of" replacement for R22, only more temp stable? How does it com[pare to R22?

The burn-rate is similar, but not exactly the same. Like all powders, burn-rate will vary slightly with specific loads.

In my limited temp-tests so far it's been very good. Last I tested a bunch of powders and bullets in my special-run Tikka Superlite .260 Remington from Whittaker Guns, and the all-around winner (for my purposes anyway) was the 140 Nosler Accubond with a max load of RL-23. Very similar results from 70 to zero, both in accuracy and velocity (in fact it was a little faster at zero) and of course it worked very well in the field.

John, how does the 4451 compare to IMR 4350?

In most cartridges the load data is very close, if not identical. Of course, both will vary slightly from lot to lot, but so far the 4451 loads I've ended up with are no more than half a grain different than the H4350 loads in the same rifle with the same bullet, case and primer.

That's interesting MD.

Should have mentioned that over the years I've found H4350 and IMR4350 to produce very similar results--but again, IMR4350 can vary from lot to lot.

In other words, there's a LOT of overlap between all three powders.

Thanks, I just picked up a LB of R23 and another LB of H4831sc Saturday. I have shot a lot of R22 from magnums down to the .224 TTH and only had a slight issue at warmer temps, none at colder ( that I could tell, of course :))

To those interested.

Nosler 180 AB
IMR 4451 76.0 grains 3,205

Nosler 200 AB
RL 23 75.0 grains 2,996 mv

Nosler 225 AB
RL 26 76.0 grains 2,824 mv

Nosler 250 Partition
RL 22 75.0 2,830 mv

Nosler 250 Partition
RL 23 75.0 2,726 mv

Sounds pretty damn good to me. Now I just need to find some of that stuff!!!!

Checked my notes and I'm getting 2850 on the nose with 73.5gr of R19 with a cci200 from my 26 inch Winchester 70 at 61 degrees. Easy on brass

Great info! That’s about what I saw with 26. It was really good with 250’s.