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Post by Richard on Jul 7, 2020 9:38:12 GMT -5
Monday 7-6-2020 started out foggy and calm at 7 a.m. but turned into a good morning for shooting with fellow member Herman. Last week I was testing 99.5 gr. of H-4895 with the 350 AeroMax and 102.5 of the same powder with the 325 AeroMax….Mixed, but not all bad results. I was looking to drop the speed of the 325’s down to around 3080, where the “Ultimatepredator” Steve was getting some good results. ( I loaded down to 101.5) I had dropped the 99.5 down to 99 last week and was not impressed……..so, I upped it to 100 gr. to see what would happen! Being in short supply (H-4895) I did some checking with friends and came up with a pound and half of IMR-4895 and a pound of IMR-4166. So the main thrust of my shooting was going to be: 100 gr. of each----IMR-4166, IMR-4985 and H-4985 (250 gr. bullets) and 101.5 with the 325’s! Shooting at 100 yards with the 4166 (3 MOA dialed in) I put two bullets side by side some 3” high at 2961 fps. I then added a grain and shot a third shot at 3003 fps just a bit low and left. Moving to my 300 yard target (no change in the scope setting) I put four shots down range that impacted 4” low and left in 2.77”. Not where I expected and not so good! These four shots averaged 2954 fps with a 38 fps ES. Next I switched to the 100 gr. of IMR 4895. Here, five shots averaged 2895 with a 24 fps ES. The first three shots landed in .550” and the remaining two brought it one inch! Neither vertical nor horizontal! This was what I was looking for. So, here is where it gets interesting! The same 100 gr. of H-4895 gave a six shot velocity of 3018 fps with a 52 fps ES. No reason why two of the shots (2 and 4) were so much higher than the other four. Looking at shots 1, 3, 5 and 6, their ES was only 13 fps? While shot one was somewhat low and #2 was way high, the last four kind of settled into a fairly round 2.1” group with three being 1.7”. So, the question I have is did this load need more shooting with the same powder? I have noticed in the past that changing powder and/or bullet can effect the initial group? Not always, but sometimes? Obviously switching from 4199 to IMR 4895 in group 3 was not an issue? For the last group, I used the downsized 101.5 gr. H-4895 and the 325 AeroMax which did move the velocity down closer to the range Steve was shooting at. (I did put two 1/8 clicks right, into the scope). Here again, notice shots one and two, both within 8 fps grouping together, then the remaining seven shots coming in somewhat higher in velocity (with the exception of one). It almost seemed like the barrel (or scope) wanted a couple of shots to settle before starting to group? Based on all of the above, it looks like I will be doing more testing with the IMR version of 4895 and hope the results will repeat!   |
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Post by Richard on Jul 7, 2020 14:08:12 GMT -5
Please take note in the difference in velocity between IMR and Hodgedon. Should you be using IMR and then switch to Hodgedon 4895? You would see a large spike in velocity/(pressure)....over 100 fps! The difference has not be as large with IMR-4198 and H-4198 (with Hodgedon be somewhat higher). I was amazed at how much slower IMR 4895 was when the numbers first showed up on the LabRadar. With the results I got (and hope to get in the future) I don't know that I want to increase the load? I can just put an extra click or two on the scope as the range increases!
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Post by elkman1310 on Jul 7, 2020 14:56:38 GMT -5
Well the IMR4166 turned up good velocity with that heavy bullet. That's were I think it will work best with heavy bullets. It does look like it could have used a little more powder than what you used. At any rate it can be used as a substitute powder if a person can't find any H4895 or IMR 4895. I am surprised at the velocity difference between those to powders.
The gun your shooting has a benchrest style stock but have you ever checked it to see just how much flex it actually has. When your sending a 350gr bullet down a barrel at 2900fps things really start whipping around even though you have a good bedding job the stock will flex under recoil. I am chasing that problem around right now with a light weight benchrest stock I made for a Dasher. I put the whole setup in my mill vice and put a indicator on the muzzle end of the barrel the bedding job checks out good but you can really flex this stock around I have to shoot it free recoil or you will get vertical groups. Since you shoot off a sled you might be getting enough flex to keep getting vertical groups. But I have to say a 2 inch group at 300 yards is still very good for a muzzleloader.
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Post by Richard on Jul 7, 2020 18:42:53 GMT -5
That's a one inch five shot group! No vertical!
Found a vendor on line with a #8 of IMR 4895 and it's on its way!
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Post by jlowry on Jul 8, 2020 6:31:23 GMT -5
Richard
Have you ever experienced a velocity/pressure difference between the H and IMR powders with any other bullet, such as the 300 grain?
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Post by Richard on Jul 8, 2020 10:58:46 GMT -5
Yes..........but not as drastic as in this instance. I have tested H and IMR 4198 numerous times with 300 gr. bullets and have only seen small differences in velocities with H always producing maybe 10 to 15 fps faster. Unknown what the pressure is but probably slightly higher.
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Post by jlowry on Jul 8, 2020 13:26:31 GMT -5
I should have been more specific. I was thinking about the IMR 4895 vs. the H 4895 with a 300 grain bullet. I think I had read where you had tested both but can't remember the results?
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Post by Richard on Jul 8, 2020 14:50:38 GMT -5
What I found was I needed too much 4895 to get the same velocity I could get with 20 gr. Less powder like N120 or 4198. So I abandoned further testing with H4895. Don't think I ever tested IMR with the 300 gr bullets. It
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Post by jlowry on Jul 9, 2020 8:54:15 GMT -5
Thanks
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