Today I shot 168 Barnes in my 7PRC
Getting SD of 7 and averaging 2980 out of a 22 in barrel.
Going to try 160 cx next. Bet I get 3000. Grouping was not the best but much of that was me.
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Thanks for the report. Should be super effective on game!
Ran some 160 CX with Grand. At max load pushing 3100 fps from my 22 in barrel. Only 3 shots at this charge but the lower charges were following along as well.
I’m new to Ramshot too with my new 7 PRC 24” Ruger AM GoWild. I tried out the LRT last weekend. Best group to date at .48.”I keep seeing the big YouTuber at Little Crow GW say that ball powder is no good. Got to go with extruded. Anyone have an opinion?
Yeah, I follow him also.
I purchased a Cooper rifle a few years ago and the company included a test Target with a specific recipe for a load using Hunter. I got excellent accuracy with their recommendation but quite slow velocity. I ended up switching over to a VV powder and settled on that.
How are you doing with velocities with grand?
Edit, never mind I didn’t look at the Target that closely to see the numbers
He also says that velocity is probably most important. I dont know but if you get a velocity irrespective of powder would it group the same. Not sure why against spherical powders. Meters better with my autocharge powder measure.
Yeah, one of the great mysteries of modern reloading.
I recently listened to a discussion with E Cortina. He said absolutely go ahead and do your load development on a brand new Barrel. You’ll find the velocity node it likes. Then as you wear the Barrel in and it speeds up all you have to do is drop your powder charge to bring you right back into the node. You should know from your initial testing roughly how much of a change of velocity you get per grain of powder.
I have tried, N570, H1000, Staball HD, H4831SC, Retumbo and LRT. The chrono was being finicky with H1000, but I think LRT blew everything out of the water in Velocity and so far in accuracy too. I did get .69” groups out of H1000 and H4831SC.
Depends…on what you are trying to do with the round.
Extruded powders are shown to be more consistent in burn rates, temp stable, etc., but also more expensive.
Ball powders are just the older technology in powders, but are less expensive.
I shoot both. Ball powders will allow you to develop loads that will consistently shoot 1 MOA or better at 100, and the velocity strings will be consistent enough also to allow good groups, especially good groups for hunting through 600 yards. Past that, SD/ES starts weighing in pretty heavy so then the super low SD/ES you can get with the extruded powder begins to shine.
I think (and use) the Ramshot powders offer a good product at a good price in todays market for centerfire shooting.
Ever run into any issues with temperature stability with the ball powders?
Well, I hunt in temps that run from 20 degrees to 55 degrees and within that range cant say I have had any trouble shooting deer. I switched because of the cost, pure and simple, but also ran across a research episode on Ultimate Reloader where they compared TAC to Varget. Based on what that data showed I could tell that any temp swing I would see in my area would not impact velocities to a level my downrange groups would be erratic. Hunting in the mountains out west or way up north where the temps are consistently below 25 may make a difference. Inside 400 yards I would say the ball powders will do anything needed to hunt. On the higher end of temps, same thing holds true, but then when I do go shoot in the warmer months 80 and up my groups hold true through 400 - 600 as well.
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Only reloading for 3.5 yrs, I have had some success with Ramshot Hunter in my 300 WSM and heavier bullets. Overall, I dislike ball powders because it just gets everywhere! Maybe its just me be messy… I have seen the Little Crow video recently and his opinion is the ball powders aren’t consistent enough. I don’t know enough to have an opinion. If I find it works well then I use it.
Reloaded 22 seems to be a good substitute for reloaded 26. I know you can’t find either powder right now but if you had some old 22 laying around it is worth a try.