Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles H4831 slow?

A few years back, I tested H4831 in the 270 win and 7mm Rem Mag. Both loads were terribly slow. 270 Win 24" barrel 57gr H4831 150 Nosler BT was 2750fps
7mm Rem Mag 26" barrel 65gr H4831 160 Nosler AB was 2925. Nowhere near book velocities or what other people claim to get. Maybe my batch was just slow, Idk. I switched to RL23 and got great velocity and great accuracy. 3000fps in the 270 Win. and 3100fps in the 7 mm Rem Mag mag. Was considering trying H4831SC since I can find it now. Anyone have experience with the original H4831 cut being slow recently or the SC version giving better velocity?

I have used both the standard 4831 and the SC version in 270win, 6.5 creedmoor, and 280AckImp. I can't say I ever noticed or recorded a difference in velocity when using either cut.

Like you, I've experienced great velocities with Reloder 23, but I still use the 4831 as it too is accurate.

Personally I always try to load for accuracy over velocity but often I can find a compromise for both with any given powder.

Yep. Recent lots (last 15 years) of H4831SC have been slow for me. This was discussed a few years ago, and others came to the same conclusion on this site. In 270 Win, at least Hornady upped the max load to 62gr for 130 gr bullets in their latest edition.

try IMR 4831 if you can find it...

H4831sc works ok in a .270 with 130 and 140 grain projectiles. With 150's it is very slow. My velocity with 150's is very similar to the OP's at around 2750 fps at Hodgdon book maximum.

That stinks, because i've always gotten very good accuracy and shot it for years before I got a chronograph and knew my velocities lol

I have seen the the same thing with H4831sc (3 different lots) in 3 different 270s.

I had to go around 2g over book to get near published velocities and 2.5g before even primers started to flatten. While velocity and pressure seemed to be consistent with each other, I didn't like being that far over book so I went to different powders for this that first rifle.

I picked up 2 additional 270s and got exactly the same results with H4831sc, even with different lot numbers. I don't have my notes in front of me, but all were needing around 62-62.5g with 130s to get decent velocity and pressures were fine. The 140g and 150g loads also needed around 2g over book to match results.

In comparison, RL16, Hunter, and RL26 loads all tracked very close to book data in all 3 rifles.

If you want to run 150's in a .270, then Reloder 26 will give a good velocity over 3000 fps. However, that powder is too temperature sensitive especially in very hot climates, such as if you travel a lot with your .270. Alternatively, you can get very good velocity in .277 bore with 150's if you were to go with a bigger case and use Retumbo...but the .270 Win case is not big enough to hold enough Retumbo. I think 140 grain projectiles in a .270 Win is the place to be using H4831sc.