Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters w-w 296 vs h-110

are ww-296 and h-110 the same powders? I have seen in print which of the Winchester and Hodgdon powders are the same powders I.E. 540 and hs6 and I think 760 and h414. maybe I just missed it but I have not noticed 296 and h-110 mentioned yet.

Best of my knowledge they are indeed.

Same powder, different label.

Any difference in load data you might discover is due to the other components used or lot-lot variation.

And the interesting addition to this fact is the variation stated by the distributors compared to actual tests. Every can of powder is a law unto itself even if it has the same label, unless it is from the same batch.

Trust nothing, check everything.

JW

Just to plaster the wall with a 296/H-110 test in a 22 Hornet.
The exact same load with H-110 shot 3 shots into a 3/4" group at 100 yards, and the 296 load was all over the paper. Same rifle. Did several tests of both loads to establish some credibility.

I had a freind that was in R & D with the gun industry. He told me that H110 was actually Win 295(non-canister powder) compared to 296 which was a touch slower. That, was 18 years ago...things can change like 760/H414 was NOT the same powder 18 years ago...now it is.

There is a reson for that. Hodgdon is and was, mostly a distributor until it purchased the IMR range. The sources for their powders changes over the years so that there were slight variences in the powders but they were close enough that they could be labelled as the same powder.

An example is H 4350 which used to be a Scotish powder I believe. When they changed the source to the AR range from Oz, AR 2209 was actually a touch faster burning than IMR 4350. It was slowed down to match the previous supplier with the granules changed entirely from the blocky angle cut with a yellowish hue to what you see today.

When you slow a powder down, you don't need to advertise the fact as it will not hurt anything as the pressures generated will be slightly reduced. In Oz, we were told nothing but that is ok becaue we knew what was going on because of the volumes we consumed.

John