Hodgdon EXTREME powder.

phishroy

phishroy

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Hodgdon EXTREME powder.
i was reading on the hodgdon website and trying to sift through that data as i am planning on another load development for one of my rifles.
hodgdon is claiming to have the most consistent powder from one lot to another.
not only that, they also claim to have the most burn rate consistency under varying conditions such as temperature.
they have several graphs and charts comparing their extreme line of powders to other manufacturers .
with theirs having the least spread in variations according to the charts they publish.

i personally do not have much experience with the hodgdon powders and find myself using IMR powders more due to availability.

i wanted to find out from people that use any of the hodgdon extreme line of powders if they do notice or should i say do not notice any significant changes in their results using the same load in the summer and in the deep freeze of winter.
if you have data such as spread, rise and drop of POI etc ' that you can post that would be greatly appreciated.
 
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I, for one, feel that the temperature stability benefits are there with the Hodgdon "Extreme" line of powders
as well as the new IMR "Enduron" line. [I am hearing that some of the new Reloder numbers are also less temp sensitive]
Some powders have been quite stable since long before the "Extreme" line was advertised.

However, I also feel that it has been blown well out of proportion as to the real benefits of it for 99% of all
"hunting" situations.

That being said, certain powders have shown substantial differences in velocity between +20ºC and -30ºC [200 fps in some cases]
This does affect POI, particularly out past 300 meters.

If I am going to hunt in temps that are substantially different than those the load was developed in, I recheck my trajectory under the
changed conditions. This helps me avoid any "surprises".

Regards, Dave.
 
Agree with Dave that the benefits "advertised" may not actually do much for the reloader that is simply working up a hunting load or just loads to save money.

I load primarily with Varget (Extreme) and H414 (Ball). I'm not a bench accurate shooter, I'm a little shaky. I shoot most of the year round unless it's way too cold out and I don't notice much of a difference in accuracy, poi etc - but again, my personal accuracy in not in the 10ths of inches or less.

And for my purposes whether I load IMR, Hodgdon or Winchester powder, which are all the same company, I don't worry much. Yes, each one must be worked up and with the exception of W760 and H414 you can't simply load the same, but they are all quality powders and if you can't find IMR, Hodgdon will do just fine.
 
Not sure if this will help but here's the difference in the temp sensitivity in different powders, you will notice that it's not very much. This is the difference between very cold and very hot.

Kevin

HS-6 1.21fps per *
H110/W296 1.24 fps per *
Imr4227 1.17fps per *
Lil’ Gun 1.31 fps per *
RL10x .71 fps per*
Benchmark .44 fps per *
Imr3031 .73 fps per *
Imr8208xbr .59 fps per *
H4895 .23 fps per *
Alliant Varmint pro .89 fps per *
Alliant AR comp .77 fps per *
Varget .19 fps per *
W748 1.32 fps per *
Imr4064 .53 fps per *
Ramshot Tac .91 fps per *
Imr4895 .87 fps per *
AA4064 1.11 fps per *
AA2520 .98 fps per *
RL15 1.52 fps per * from 50* and up
PP2000MR .99 fps per *
Imr4320 1.32 fps per *
Ramshot Biggame .98 fps per *
H380 1.44 fps per *
VV N150 1.08 fps per *
H414/W760 1.42 fps per *
Imr4350 .64 fps per *
AA4350 .47 fps per *
H4350 .29 fps per *
RL17 1.42 fps per *
Hybrid 100v .78 fps per *
RL19 1.61 fps per *
VV N160 1.24 fps per *
Imr4831 1.19 fps per *
Ramshot Hunter .86 fps per *
H4831 .36 fps per *
RL22 1.71 fps per *
Imr7828 1.36 fps per *
Magpro 1.01 fps per *
H1000 .21 fps per *
RL25 1.59 fps per *
Ramshot Magnum .87 fps per *
Retumbo .49 fps per *
US869 1.68 fps per *
H50bmg 1.64 fps per *
 
I did a fair amount of -40 C testing of 30-06 loads. Extreme powders featured heavily, mostly because I was testing ammo in Canada at -40 that would be loaded and shot in Australia at +40. The "Extreme" feature was secondary to the made in Australia by ADI convenience.

What I found was that at -40, any thoughts of temperature insensitivity was a nice fantasy. 165 grain loads that should have been around 2900 fps and up were lucky to break 2600. Varget produced higher velocities than H4350. By the time things warmed up to a balmish -20 velocities started acting a little more sane, and speeds were only off 100 fps from what turned out to be the summer speeds. At 0 it was pretty close, close enough that the CDS dial I cut is the only one I need. It only took three tries.

We shoot year round at my little private range, but enthusiasm and frequency drop way off below -20C. Above that I've found that the difference in come-ups with some favorite extreme loads at the 650 yard targets ( ranges are set out by natural back stops, that coincidently work out rather close to metric distances) is little enough that it could be explained by heavy air. Observation has shown that a few favorite rifles can get those 3-4 clicks back with an extra grain of H1000 that they won't swallow in the summer. Which naturally leads to the next issue; pressure. An enthusiastic load developed in the winter might turn into an over enthusiastic load in the summer. I've lost track of how many loads I've had to back off when summer returns. Usually a grain, come to think of it.

To a hunter; and disregarding extremes of range and temperature "Extreme powders" may not make any real difference. Just sighting in at those temps and at the real distances will do a lot of self correcting.
 
Dogleg said:
I did a fair amount of -40 C testing of 30-06 loads. Extreme powders featured heavily, mostly because I was testing ammo in Canada at -40 that would be loaded and shot in Australia at +40. The "Extreme" feature was secondary to the made in Australia by ADI convenience.

What I found was that at -40, any thoughts of temperature insensitivity was a nice fantasy. 165 grain loads that should have been around 2900 fps and up were lucky to break 2600. Varget produced higher velocities than H4350. By the time things warmed up to a balmish -20 velocities started acting a little more sane, and speeds were only off 100 fps from what turned out to be the summer speeds. At 0 it was pretty close, close enough that the CDS dial I cut is the only one I need. It only took three tries.

We shoot year round at my little private range, but enthusiasm and frequency drop way off below -20C. Above that I've found that the difference in come-ups with some favorite extreme loads at the 650 yard targets ( ranges are set out by natural back stops, that coincidently work out rather close to metric distances) is little enough that it could be explained by heavy air. Observation has shown that a few favorite rifles can get those 3-4 clicks back with an extra grain of H1000 that they won't swallow in the summer. Which naturally leads to the next issue; pressure. An enthusiastic load developed in the winter might turn into an over enthusiastic load in the summer. I've lost track of how many loads I've had to back off when summer returns. Usually a grain, come to think of it.

To a hunter; and disregarding extremes of range and temperature "Extreme powders" may not make any real difference. Just sighting in at those temps and at the real distances will do a lot of self correcting.
Click to expand...

+1....This mirrors my personal experience exactly! Dave.
 
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