H335 in 303 Br.

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Hi, I am blessed with a supply of H335, as well as some 180 gr KKSP RN bullets. I have a Ross sporter, and am wondering if anyone has made a load for their rifle with this powder and bullet weight combination. I am thinking a bit less than 40 gr is a starting load. I have seen a few posts on other sites about H335 not providing any acceptable accuracy in the 303, while I do not know why that might be, my only guess is poor ignition due to low pressure, perhaps they did not use enough powder to make it work. I have lots of magnum primers, and will use them. Anyway, I would like to hear about your experience.
Thanks.
 
I just looked on Hodgdons site, and they seem to be of the opinion that 39 gr is a max load, at 42,000 psi and 2449 fps. I will look for slightly higher velocity, as the ross will take the pressure, and perhaps the powder will be more accurate under hotter load.
 
I did a fair bit of reloading for the 303 British about 20 yrs ago. And it worked fairly well as long as you stayed within the book specs. Even at that the brass life was limited to 3-5 rounds per piece, depending on the load you subjected it to. And that was with a rear locking bolt. Not sure if yours is rear locking, but if it is, you will likely run into the same problem, especially if you go higher on the pressures. When I went much over book powder charge, the cases would separate, because the headspace is affected by the flex in the bolt and the breech, causing the case to have to stretch much more than in a front locking bolt such as in most modern bolt actions of today.
 
I made up a couple of test loads using 39.0gr of WC844 and the load density was pretty low, maybe 70%. Thats pretty low if we are looking for accuracy and consistency. I'm gonna rule out this powder for 303 Br use. There are better choices.

H335 should be good for something like 223 or 308, although I haven't tried it in 308 yet.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
I made up a couple of test loads using 39.0gr of WC844 and the load density was pretty low, maybe 70%. Thats pretty low if we are looking for accuracy and consistency. I'm gonna rule out this powder for 303 Br use. There are better choices.

H335 should be good for something like 223 or 308, although I haven't tried it in 308 yet.
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Just add a half inch square of Dacron fibre on top of that load and it will do very well. NO, the Dacron filler doesn't increase pressures or cause extra fouling.

One centimeter thick Dacron fibre matte cloth runs around $5/sq meter and will load thousands of rounds. Takes less than five minutes to cut up 100 squares with a scissor.

Back in the day when 303 surplus ammo was dirt cheap and available everywhere ammo was sold, I purchased a half pallet of 44 datet Winchester manufactured ball ammo with 174 grain bullets.

It was great stuff, yes, the primers were corrosive but it was loaded with a BALL TYPE POWDER that Bruce Hodgdon said "MIGHT BE BLC" which is very close to BLC2 burn rate, which is quite a bit slower than H335.

H335 is IMHO to fast for bullets in the 303Brit over 150 grains.

I don't care about you is correct when he states there is to much empty space in the case when it's loaded, which can cause all sorts of issues.

I've used H335 to handload 303Brit cases with 150 grain bullets and 174 grain bullets but I've also used a Dacron fibre filler, which weighs less than a tenth of a grain and isn't even noticeable when weighed with the powder charge.

By keeping the powder towards the back of the case, against the primer flash hole, you will get uniform combustion and reasonably consistent accuracy.

You can get away with this powder but don't expect any results more than ''adequate'' results and watch closely for pressure signs.

H335 is intended for cartridges with larger bores or less case capacity than the 303Brit, especially with heavy bullets.
 
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Whenever I use H335 it is for jacketed
150 grain bullets only, I don't think I have ever loaded it with anything heavier, and my favorite is 4895.
However for cast bullets I have found 4227 works super, I use wasp nest these days instead of Dacron.
Cat
 
I Dont Care About You said:
H335 is also know as: WC844 and AA2230 and D073.4

This loading guide from Explosia.cz contains load data for 303 Br for D073.4 powder.

https://explosia.cz/app/uploads/2020/01/EXPLOSIA_reloading2020_en.pdf
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You need to be careful with using H335 data with WC844 powder.

WC844 is not a canister grade powder. It's made up to proprietary orders for burn rates that are approximately within 5% of H335. Depending on which lot you have, you could easily get into trouble.

I did a lot of load development for Tom Higginson when his company released WC844 surplus powder onto the Canadian market.

He had four different lots which were approximately 800 pounds each. One of them was very fast and one was quite slow, the other two were almost identical in the middle, very close to H335.

Tom had his people ''blend'' the four lots together to make one large consistent lot that could be tested in different rifles. This was what I tested, after ascertaining that his lots were different enough from each other that he couldn't sell them as being close to H335 without incurring liability issues.

Your information is good, just not detailed enough.

Several outlets in the US sold that powder with similar information, but they only had one lot and usually supplied their own proprietary loads for the lot they had.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
As mentioned above, I don't like the WC844 for 303Br. It didn't fill the case enough for my liking. I'm only using that powder for 223 Rem.
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H335 and BLC2 are very close in burn rate.

When the original BLC powder was developed, one of the cartridges it was used in was 303 Brit.

This is the load data from my personal manual for H335.

150gr bullet
min. 37gr, 2430fps
max. 42gr, 2706fps

174gr bullet
min. 36gr, 2340fps
max. 39.5gr, 2503fps

I use a charge of 38.0 grains of H335 under 150 grain bullets with magnum primers.

As mentioned, this powder, even with the max load doesn't fill the case to preferred levels so a dab of Dacron fibre on top of the powder.
 
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I agree, BLC2 is a better choice for the 303British.

The question asked by the OP was whether H335 would be suitable. Not if it would be the best option.

The answer, is YES, H335 is suitable but it isn't the best choice.
 
Yes this is 2 years later. 46 gr of H335 under a moly coated 180 gr kksp gave 2450 fps, and no signs of pressure, I also tried 44 gr, which gave 2335. Barrel is 20" long on a Ross Mk3, which is a 7 lug front locking rifle for those of you who do not know. Velocities were consistent for 5 shots at each load level.
 
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