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Reloading: Centerfire Rifle

Hodgdon Powder has decided to release their SUPERFORMANCE Powder to the public. This is great news because we reloaders will now be able to duplicate the performance of Hornady's Superformance ammunition. That stuff is GOOD! Since this powder was developed it has been a Hornady exclusive to use in their Superformance Ammunition line and not available to other ammo manufacturers or the public.

I've been able to come close to the 'foot per second' perfomance of Hornady's Superformance ammo in some calibers in the past with a variety of available and applicable powders but not without pushing the absolute limits of pressure. Pushing the limits always makes me a little nervous for all of the obvious reasons such as temperature differentials, case differentials and differences in chambers and throats. A hot load that works fine on a nice 40 degree day here in Arkansas at the range can become a dangerously hot load on a 100 degree day in a South Dakota prairie dog town. One hot load that works fine in my 4x4 might be the one that could disintegrate my 700 Rem. These are just a couple of reasons why I don't like to push the limits.

I want to get all of the performance, accuracy and velocity possible in a load while keeping everything safe to shoot in any firearm chambered for that particular caliber. Having access to this 'super powder' will sure make my job a lot easier and safer. I'll be able to pull some bullets out of some factory 'SUPERS', weigh the charge, use the same primer and case and seat the same bullet at Hornady's designated C.O.L. and presto, I'll have brand new, home made Superformance ammo! OK, before I get any hate mail, I'll back off the charge a grain or so and work up the load to Hornady's charge weight to be on the safe side. One of the greatest reasons that I'm excited about this powder is that it is all most completely insensitive to temperature changes. It performs the same on a -10 degree day chasing coyotes as it does on a 103 degree day busting prairie dogs. That's a pretty neat trick, I must say!

I've used quite a bit of Superformance ammo in several calibers and always found it to be exceptional ammo. In my 25.06 4x4 I chronographed several rounds. The average FPS out of my piece is actually 65 FPS higher than Hornady's advertised velocity, with no signs of excess pressure, and with only a 19 FPS extreme spread from fastest to slowest. This is impressive to actually get more fps than advertised with hardly any velocity spread and trust me, this is not the norm. In most of my tests, actual FPS on factory ammo is significantly lower than advertised. FYI; My M700V Rem, with the same barrel length, shoots this same load well over 100 FPS slower than my 4x4. Go figure!

I just thought that you 'loaders' would want to hear this 'news'.

Ol' Fussy
 
That is good news! Though I dont personally reload, I've been thinkin bout doin it with SG shells. I wonder if the Hornady powder used in the shot shells is available?
 
Superformance powder is designed for a select group of centerfire rifle cartridges and is not applicable to reloading shot shells. All of the powders used by shot shell manufacturers are available to the public so you can easily duplicate the performance of factory fodder. Winchester will even give you the formulas, powder & charge weight, wad type, primer type, shot size & weight, etc. to duplicate several of their loads. While you can't really better the performance of factory shot shells, like you can do by reloading metallic cartridges, you can duplicate the performance of the factory loads and save quite a bit of money.

The hobby of reloading shot shells is very inexpensive to get in to, compared to reloading metallic cartridges, and any investment made will come back to you very quickly in the form of savings. A Lee Load All shot shell reloader is very inexpensive and work great, last forever and pretty much idiot proof. Get one of these, a can of the right powder, a bag of the right wads, a box of the right primers, an old table or work bench and a comfortable work chair, read the handbook that comes with the Load All and you're in business loading your favorite shot shell load. All this will probably run you less than $150. A Load All will handle all of the average shot gun hunters needs and last forever. Mine is over 30 years old and has seen thousands of loads and still looks and works like it did when it was brand new. I also have a high dollar progressive rig for loading trap and skeet loads by the thousands, but this is a whole different ball of wax. I use the Load All for field loads because it just takes a few seconds to change out powder and shot bushings when I want to change loads for different kinds of shot guning. Loading shot shells is easy and fun. It also will pay for itself in savings. This means you can shoot more for the same dollar and everyone needs as much trigger time as they can afford!

Loading and working up metallic cartridges loads gets substantially more complicated and scientific with much higher start up costs. The savings are still there in the long run, especially if you are a high volume shooter, but the true joy is in producing better ammo than factory fodder that is custom tuned for your individual firearm.

Let me know if you need any advise.
 
Wow and thank you, thats informative and sounds more reasonable that I had thought! This is somethin I can definitely do, thank you, and I'll take you up on the advise for sure when the time comes!
 
Rossignol said:
Wow and thank you, thats informative and sounds more reasonable that I had thought! This is somethin I can definitely do, thank you, and I'll take you up on the advise for sure when the time comes!

Yessir. It's the truth.

The Zen of Reloading is a healing time for the soul..............
 
That is GREAT news! Thanks for sharing Ol' Fussy. I haven't gotten into reloading yet but plan to make the jump soon.
 
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