Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles H380=22-250+Mag Primers

Who wudda thunk it - Speer Did!

I have been working up loads for grandchildren in a Howa 1500, Hvy Barrel, tupperware stock that showed a lot of promise with factory Federal 55 gr TBBC load.

Started with IMR 4064 w/55 gr TBBC, 45 TSX and 53 TSX. Nothing really cooked with 1"-3/4" best groups while the factory was doing 3/4" all day. Would continully get groups with two touching and two an inch up or down touching.

Moved to H380 and same deal. Finally had enough of using regular 210 Fed primers and took the advice of 'the lone ranger" Speer who recommended mag primers with the H380 and whollas first day out the 1" between two touching turned into !/2 or better groups with the H380. Don't be hard headed try the mag primers with the H380!

worked for me and will for you - MAYBE!

.

The story is that Bruce Hodgdon got the new powder and was trying different loads in his 22-250. Found the most accurate load to be 38.0 grains so he named it 380 or H-380. Many ball powders work better with Mag primers.

Maybe even moreso at 41-42 gr which is getting about half the way up the neck. Pretty dense stuff. Speer the only one of five books that I reference that recommends the mag primers and the higher load. In fact I was beginning to feel heavy bolt lift at the 42 grain level. Dropping back to 41 for now.

One thing to watch with your new found combo is what will happen in the summer, H380 works great in some applications but is one of the most temp sensitive powders made. keep an eye on it as the temp goes up.

RC thanks for the headsup and had read about the sensitivity hense dropping down the grain from the higher load. Read one post who had done extensive temp testing and he said it was not evident BUT had swithched away from H380 due to batch to batch differences in 'quality".

It does get hot down here in S. Texas and the load was at 55 degrees so I will be watchful in any event.

H380 is good but the best powder i have found in the 22-250 is H4895 OR IMR 4895

Very true statement. If the testing was done at 55 degrees, watch out at 85. The pressure will definately go up. Good velocity to be had for cooler weather. Might wanna check out out AA 2700, burns cleaner, gets great velocity, and no mag primer needed. Works real well in both my 250 and swift.

Swifty

Actually more like 105 that I will check out the stability of the H380 but I get your drift for certain.

I've used H-380 for a whole lot of years in the 22-250 without a problem. And I did a lot of my loading in OK which can get warm for a day or two in the summer. And my load was on the + side of 38grs. I kept the ammo in a box on the bench and while Pdog shooting. Once a friend and I laid a round out on the bench in the sun for an hour and was able to get a pierced primer (we pulled the trigger with a string)but I thought that was pretty extreme. I always used standard primers.
There might be other powders that will give you slightly better accuracy but when you're loading up 1K of cartridges for a Pdog shoot, you don't want to be weighing every charge. H-380 is hard to beat when you're dumping loads straight from the hopper.

same here

.

Hot weather can make ammo a gun killer. A fellow in my area had some 45-70 loads that worked fine all winter. He went to the range in August to practice for fall hunting. Stored his ammo on the dash of his pick-up in the hot sun. The first shot customized his gun.



Some powders are heat sensitive. I don't know the powder or load that did this, the point is Be Careful.

.

Storing your ammo on the dash in the sun ought to get you a Darwins nomination as well as a blown rifle. FWIW, all powder is heat sensitive and using the ones that are less sensitive doesn't absolve you of using a little common sense.

One reason I don't like H380. I was shooting it in hot temps and got some pressure signs, same with w760...