H4831 in .270 win for newbie

Jager

Jager

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I'm getting very close to embarking in the world of reloading. I've assembled most of the necessary equipment and have done numerous searches for recipies for the .270 win (my starter cartridge) and it seems most suggest 52-60 grains of H4831 as the "old stand by". I know this is just one recipie but it seems to come up the most. My dilemma is that I have a #12 Speer Reloading Manual and it doesn't mention H4831...only IMR4831. It is my understanding that these powders have different burn rates and are not interchangable??? Please correct me if I'm wrong as I just want to start with a load that is relatively fool proof.

Other recipies will be considered.

I was going o start with 130 grain speer spitzers or similar.
 
The famous load publicized by Jack O'Connor was 60 grs of H4831 and a 130gr bullet. It's as good today as it ever was. Just workup to it, it should give you a bit over 3000 fps.
 
When Hodgdon came out after the war with the war surplus powder they called 4831, it was known as, "4350 data powder." That was because they knew it was safe to use the powder with load data for 4350.
Jack O'Connor first published the load of 60 grains of 4831 with a 130 grain bullet in the 270. He admits it was a completely hapanchance loading, but it worked great! Because Outdoor Life magazine, where Jack O'Connor was the shooting editor, was so widely read, and Jack had such a good reputation, the loading companies simply adopted his loading of the 270 with 4831. Even in Canada, and as late as the mid 1960s, we could buy the powder for about $20. for a 50 pound keg. I still have some of the original powder.
60 grains will completely fill a 270 case. If it is funneled in and the case tapped as it fills, there may be a bit of space under the lip of the case. But not to worry, just seat the bullet, forcing the powder into compression.
About twenty years ago when Hodgdon finally ran out of surplus powder, they started to make it new. They stated that the same loading data could be used for the new powder, as was used for the surplus. To test it, I loaded five rounds of 60 grains of the old powder with a 130 grain bullet. I then used the same components, except I used 60 grains of the new Hodgdon powder, and loaded five.
The loads with the old 4831 powder chronographed 100 fps faster than did the loads with the new 4831 powder. Also, the spread was about half for the old powder, as compared to the new.
Hodgdon had played it safe, by making the new powder a bit slower than the old!
 
Jack's scale was out a grain or so when it was tested from what I read somewhere.No matter as you can't get enough H-4831 in an 06 sized case to get an serious overload provided the C.O.A.L. is maintained.Harold
 
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