Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .280 Rem Loads

I know that this has been done before, but I can't find it. I have H4350 and IMR4831 to work with, also Varget. Looking at the 140 Barnes TSX and the 160 NP. I'll let the gun make the decision, but what have you tried?

Tried H4831, IMR4831, H4350, Re19, Re22, Ramshot Magnum, H1000, and used some IMR4320 for fouling loads a few times. The heck of it was that some of the best groups I ever got were the fouling loads charged with a starting loads of IMR4320. Flat pissed me off because I knew the velocity must have been down around 2600 fps.

I got really nice results with Re22, but because of its reputation for inconsistent performance due to temperature extremes I dropped it. H1000 almost came around, but you can't quite get enough in the case to make it work like it should. Of all the rest, H4831 became my standard .280 powder which is funny because that was the one I started out with.

One powder I never tried was IMR7828, and I think I'd like to play with it one day.

I generally shoot 150-grain Partitions these days, but during all the chasing around looking for "the" powder I tried Hornady 139s and 154s, 150 BTs, 140 & 150 Sierras, and 140 Accubonds more recently. The 150 Partition is the one that works for me.

I've always had good luck with H4831, RL19 ad Hunter--and they're all about the same burn-rate.

Here's a vote for RL19 in my .280. Used with 140 grain Accubonds, 140 Sierra Spitzers and 140 BT's.

Another vote for RL-19. It's been superb with 150s in my 280 Rem.

RL-19 & 140gr TTSX

This is what I use at about 2960 fps 22 inch barrel.

My .280 shoots IMR4350 and Barnes 140 gr. TSX bullets with great accuracy, and 3050 fps mv out of its 22" barrel.

I've tried IMR4350 & R22 with both the TSX & TTSX. Both gave darn good accuracy, but R22 was a little better on velocity with no drop off in accuracy.

Care to share your load data? I would think that you would need 55-57gr to reach 3050. I am interested as I hope to use the 140TSX if my rifle cooperates.
Cheers,

The load I shot, I copied right out of the nosler reloading manual:

58.5g of IMR 7828 with a 160g Sierra BTSP and it clocked 2950 out of my 24" barrel. Deer never took a step with this load as a general rule.

I shot this one load and never tried another.

Try this site for good loads reported by shooters:

http://www.centerfirecentral.com/viewer.html

My load uses 55.0 gr. of IMR4350.

Are the burn rates of IMR and H-4350 closer these days? I ask this as, at least in the case of the .280Rem, there seems to be little difference in the suggested loads for H and IMR. If you look at the burn rate chart you would think that you would need a few more grains of H to equal the velocity of IMR.

Now that Hodgdon owns IMR and Winchester propellants, I wouldn't be surprised to see the differences all evaporate. I kinda hate to see that, though.

BigBearguy,

First, burn-rate charts are on approximations. ALL powders can actually change burn rates considerably when used in different loads.

Second, all powder vary somewhat from lot to lot, due to both humidity, precise composition, temperature and whether or not the container's been left open for a while.

As a result, sometimes IMR4350 will be faster or slower than H4350. And people who believe implicitly in burn-rate charts (or consider some more "accurate" than others) are open to trouble.

RiverRider,

What does Hodgdon owning the Winchester brand have to do with this discussion?

H414 and W760, as an example, have ALWAYS been the same powder. The only way they differed was from lot to lot, but they were made by the same company. Otherwise the "difference" was the label on the container.

IMR4350 and H4350 have always been made by different factories, on different continents. They're different powders, in composition and shape.

Well that's exactly what I mean, John. My memory's not the best, but I'll bet if you look at data from years past (depending who published it, of course) you'd see differences between H414 and W760, H335 and W748, W231 and HP38, etc. and they suggest that the powders were not the same regardless of reality (and I'd say that's because they didn't WANT us to know).

I've read recently that Hodgdon will be doing some "realignment," if that's the proper term, and certain IMR products will be disappearing...I suspect some will be morphing into Hodgdon offerings. As an example, IMR Trail Boss will become Hodgdon Trail Boss. I can't say I've seen that myself as of yet but I think there's going to be more examples.

I expect IMR4350 and maybe a few other IMR offerings to disappear because Hodgdon has such near equivalents which are a little better (IMO) and I expect to see other things happen as well, and pretty soon. In years past getting someone to officially admit that HP38 and W231 were the same powder seemed like prying nuclear secrets out of governments but things seem to be changing a bit, for one reason or another.

Do you know of any specific changes coming??

...and NO, I am not suggesting that IMR4350 and H4350 are the same powder. If they DO become the same powder, I think the ADI product will live on and the original IMR4350 will either disappear or become known as something else all together.

Mule Deer,
So I guess the answer is as always; start low and work up. It appears that apx 55 gr of H4350 should be good for 3000fps or there abouts.
Cheers,