re-creating factory loads. (leverevolution specific)

kylegood

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been googling this, tried search our forums and i am not coming up with much... (maybe my key words aren't correct)

anyways.
bought to load up some 30.30 with hornady ftx 160grs. and lever evolution powder.. i was trying to find out what the factory rounds had for grains of powder used as they shot real good in my rifle... i didn't think to pop the tops on a few and weigh the charge before i got to this point....

has anyone weighed hornadys factory charge for this round?

thanks!
 
As much as their lawyers said was safe for liability.

There is load data available for this combination. Hodgdon data site says 32.0 to 35.5 grains but the max charge is compressed. The standard method is to start low and work up. If you chronied the factory ammo in your rifle (don't believe what's printed on the box) you could use that as a goal for load development.

Remember that different brands of cases have different volumes, primers have different intensities, different lots of powder will have slightly different burn rates, and various other factors that all change the pressure and thus velocity of the bullet in your rifle.
 
i have all major manufacturers load data manuals....and have a thorough experience working up loads. that isn't the question i asked tho. i specifically asked if anyone had weighed an actual charge from this specific factory round to determine what charge hornady is using...
 
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Factory ammo is loaded for a certain pressure, not amount of powder. Last I checked, factories do load testing and adjusting for each new lot of powder to test the pressure before okaying the lot, so how much of the "same" powder Hornady puts in could be different between two lots. I have no idea how consistent the Leverevolution powder is to know how consistent their lot-to-lot amounts are. Either way I would be hesitant to trust measured powder from a factory case because of this.

I do know the Hornady 30-30 brass isn't too consistent. Brass from one lot of Leverevolution I shot had extra loose primer pockets of the proper depth. A second lot had incredibly tight primer pockets that were significantly too shallow (they were barely deep enough for pistol primers). I just toss Hornady 30-30 brass in my scrap bucket now. The two different lots used a different font for the headstamps (but the said the same thing). Not all their brass is bad and I believe a lot of their brass is made by different subcontractors. Their 308 Win match brass is great in my experience.
 
I do know the Hornady 30-30 brass isn't too consistent.

funny you say that... i was just prepping brass (removing primers) and notice that on a bunch of 30-30 winchester cases, the primers were all over the place... some a couple thousandths in, some a couple thousandths out. they were factory loads as well. no variation in any of the RP stamped brass.
 
Not sure if this helps or not but to answer this question I pulled three factory cases and measured the powder..... I averaged (on the conservative side) it to 35 grs an called it good. I haven't had any pressure issues myself at 35.0 grs but always good advice to work up your own. I actually believe the factory load is 35.5 grs
 
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Hogdon on line states 36.3 as max for LVR with 170 grain bullets in a 30-30 and shows a velocity of 2332.

I chronied this load in a Savage bolt action and got a velocity of 2256, which is good. However, as Hodgdon lists 2332, they must consider that a safe speed.
 
Don't assume that the powder blend used by the ammunition manufacturer is identical to the powder sold for reloading.

Powders might say lever revolution or superformance but is not the same as the factory stuff. These blended powders are how they get the velocity and unlikely to be released to the public or sales in new proprietary ammo or calibers like the WSM family would suffer.
 
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