77 Ruger Hawk Eye Sporter,First range session

[rks1949]

After having the gun "set up" for a couple of days,I finally got to take it to the range yesterday! I set it up with the bore sighter the night before,and had a good idea that it would be "on paper" @ 100yds. The ammo is the Hornady Superformance Varmit. I got 2 boxes of this ammo in the deal,so I thought I would get it sighted in with it for now. First let me say,it's 30.00 a box! That comes out @ 1.50 per shot. I shot 4 shots,and the gun was "basically "in" at a 100yds. I need to get it set at .7 high @ 100yds,but ran out of time. (too many arms in the fire) The barrel is a 1:9 twist,and the bullets were 58gr. V Max. Hornady claims this is a high velocity round, with low report,and cool burning powder. Supposed to not cause any more barrel wear,than a "normal" 243 factory load. Hornady claims the powder is not available to the "public",and you cannot duplicate the factory load. Talked to a Tech. at Sierra,and he informed me he had some powder from Hogdon,that is comming out in the near future,that will indeed duplicate the factory load. I was really impressed with the accuracy,of either, the ammo,or gun(not sure until I shoot it more)? I'll post more results as I get more range time with the gun,if anyone is intrested. Ron

 

[rks1949]

More pics.

 

[effendude]

Nice shooting rifle. That $1.50 per round ammo would make me re-think those 1000 shot prairie dog trips though..... ;D
Scott

 

[15Tango]

When those Rugers are shot by people that can shoot, they surprise. You can get that Superformance powder now if you really want to duplicate the load. http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2010/12/superformance-leverevolution-powders-in-stock-at-grafs-com/

I imagine you'll be getting about 160 rounds to a pound of powder (about $22 per Lb, $13.75 per 100 loaded assuming 44 grains per round) and powdervalleyinc.com has those 58 grain Vmaxes for $16.96 per 100. Assume $3 per 100 of primers and you get a grand total of $33.71 per 100 or 33 cents per round.

Wayne

 

[rks1949]

Yeah, Wayne! That would be alot cheaper at .33 per round. I called Hogdon,and talked to a teck. The data they supply (on their web/site) is for the 70GR. SPR HP,and a 75gr. HDY HP bullets only? ??? He said he would have to talk to his supervisor about the wrong info being on the web site! He "thinks" Hornady uses a diffrent formula,or blend with the 58 GR. V-Max bullets? I don't know if the velocity would be as fast with a 58 gr. bullet,or not? He seemed to think it wouldn't. So much for their advertizing,that you can duplicate the factory ammo! At a 1.50 per round,it will get into the savings account pretty fast! LOL! Ron

 

[LRPV]

For what it's worth, Hornady's new load book does not list any information to duplicate any of it's Superformance Ammo. Superformance powder is not listed at all in the 243. In fact there is no "new" data for 243 with the 58gr bullet. NO superformance powder listed in 222 or 223 either. Superformance IS listed in 22-250 but starts at the 60gr and stops at the 75gr bullets. According to the book, superformance might run at top velocities with the 68gr bullets but is lacking with the 60 and 75.

I have gotten good accuracy from the 223 superformance ammo especially for factory ammo. Shot about 1" 3 shot @ 200yd from an AR and .5" 5shot @ 100 out of another AR and that is about as good as it gets for both rifles.

 

[rks1949]

Really? Go to this site,and click on the data tab by the superperformance powder. Ron http://hodgdon.com/new_prod.html

 

[15Tango]

There's an easy solution to there not being any data for the 58 - pull a bullet on one of those loaded rounds and weigh it. The only thing risky about it would be if they're lying and the powder really isn't the same as the Superformance powder.

To tell you the truth, I wouldn't want a bullet running nearly 4000 FPS in a .243, they eat barrels fast enough and if you go to a heavier bullet with a better BC it'll shoot just as flat and buck the wind better. You've got a 9 twist, you might as well utilize it and take full advantage with a heavier bullet.

Wayne

 

[rks1949]

Wayne,your right! I've been running my Infinity program,and a 75gr. V-Max has a "almost identical" trajectory,plus much more energy down range. The factory load is supposed to burn cooler than the velocity indicates,but I have a hard time believing it! ;D Ron

 

[LRPV]

Forgot to mention the book lists superformance right between H414 and A4350 in the burn rate chart.

 

[rks1949]

Forgot to mention the book lists superformance right between H414 and A4350 in the burn rate chart.

Thanks,LRPV! That will give me a "ball park" burn rate to work with! Ron

 

[LRPV]

The Hornady book info on burn rate is different than Hodgdons.

http://www.hodgdon.com/burn-rate.html

Hodgdon has it between H4831 and Win780

 

[harry.hacking@kiewit.com]

Looking at the Hodgdon reloading center at this new super performance powder data, they don't have it for too many calibers yet. They do have it for a 300 wsm ; 150 gr max load 74 gr @ 3410 fps and 63,500 psi. That's smokin 200 fps faster than anything else listed, giving a 300 wsm 300 win mag performance. Seeing that kind of data makes me want to try it for a 270 wsm or at least find out more about it. Anybody out there actually using this stuff?