powders in hot and cold weather?

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r106

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Is there a list anywere that says what powders are more stable to extreme tempiture change? I'm never thought to much about it before. I'm using varget, imr 4350 and h414. Wondering more so about h414

What are your thoughts on develpoing a load in 25 degree weather then use it for hunting in -10 to -20
 
Your H414 will drop some velocity in very cold weather.
If you plan to hunt it in the cold, you should shoot it in the cold to see what actual effect it will have.
This business of temperature stable powders is given far more exposure than it should get.
We shot all kinds of powders before the term was even thought of, and had great success.
Any load developed in warm weather should be checked in cold weather if it will be used in the cold.
Regards, Eagleye.
 
There are temp stable powders out there so check the manufacturer's website for which ones. I use both H4895 and H4350 and they are temperature stable which means that velocities should vary minimally between hot and cold.
 
Another factor to consider is that some powders (typically slower powders, and ball powders - which for H414 is a double-hit) are more difficult to ignite in very cold conditions. So you'd probably want to develop your ammo with some good hot primers (for example Federal 215M) if you aren't already doing so.

All other things being equal I would choose the stick powders you mention rather than the H414, but if you have good reasons for wanting to use H414 then go ahead and work up a load with it. When you think you have a load worked out you can do some final temp testing, even in summer. The night before you shoot, put your ammo plus a few "ice packs" and also (separately) a small cooler box into your deep freezer (a real deep freezer that goes to -15C or -20C, not the freezer on top of your fridge that is probably at -5C). When you go to the range, pack your ammo into your cooler box and your ice packs on top). Only open this when you are at the range ready to shoot. Verify in this manner that your -15..-20C cold soaked ammo gives you reliable (as in 100%) ignition, good enough accuracy, and sensible velocities.
 
So do you get higher pressure in the hot weather or cold? As far as the h414 being hard to ignite in the cold, i'm using winchester LR Magnum primers???
 
H414 , which is the same powder as W760 , I use for various things , does seem to see a consistency difference with temperature variations in my testing.

That being said, the deviation I found was insignificant for hunting load purposes.I use it for a few different chamberings and it is totally acceptable for hunting accuracy,more than the shooter is usually capable of.

When getting into accuracy and target shooting I found that Hodgdon powders were more consistent with temperature changes.Pretty fine differences but they were there.Taking a .7 or .8 MOA load and turning it into a .4 to .5 MOA or better group.Certainly important for target shooting but not at all for hunting purposes.

I still use the 760(H414) for all my hunting loads, I like how it meters and measures.

I use H4350 for my target stuff(over pours/measures are 50% of the time).

No magnum primers used in either application.
 
I have tested H4350 and Retumbo and compared summer and winter (-25C) temps and there was minimal difference. I'm a big fan of those two.
 
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