What's the best powder for 284 win?

[jnm300ultra]

I'm going to set up a rifle for a friend in 284 Win and looking for a good power to start with. We shoot in summer and winter so I need a non temperature Sensitive power. I really like Hogdon powder and was thinking of H4831sc or H4350. H4350 is impossible to get most of the time. The bullet will be the Berger 180gr hybrid. The rifle will be a f class rifle 32 barrel 1-9 HV or speedy taper. Any advice would be appreciated.
Jason

 

[ShootDots]

H4831SC or RL-23>>> Both are very temp stable, they have nearly identical burn rates and both burn clean! You could not do better than either of these powders..

 

[brxbrad]

+1 on H4831SC.. been using it for 4 years now. Its easy on the gun, and easy on the brass.
Maybe this will help.. directly off the 7mm cartridge guide section .

.284 Winchester Load Map
Powder Grains Primer Bullet Velocity Comments
H4831sc 54.5 CCI BR2 180gr Berger VLD 2890 Lapua brass. Ballard (F-Class Champ) match load. 32″ bbl. Accurate. Single-digit ES/SD.
H4831sc 53.0 CCI BR2 180gr Berger VLD 2810 Lapua brass. Tierney data. 30″ bbl. Very accurate 0.3 MOA, SD=6. Soft seat Bergers into lands.
H4350 50.7 CCI BR2 180gr Berger VLD 2825 Winchester brass. Litz match load. Moderate. 2825 fps from a 30″ barrel. Very low SD.
RL 17 52.0 CCI BR2 180gr Berger VLD 2953 Winchester brass. Whitley test load. Not Max. Seated .010″ in lands.ES 19, SD 7.
H4350 51.0 CCI 200 175gr Sierra MK 2822 Lapua brass. 30″ bbl. Jumping .015″, .002″ neck tension.
VV N160 54.3 Rem 9.5 168gr Sierra MK 2800 Sierra Max Load. 2.800″ COAL.
H4350 50.5 CCI BR2 162gr Horn
A-Max 2910 Lapua Brass. 30″ bbl. Good F-Class load. Bullets worked best in lands.
Hybrid 100V 54.0C CCI 200 162gr Horn BTSP 2864 Hodgdon Max Load. 2.970″ COAL.
RL 19 53.0 Fed 210M 154gr Horn
Interbond 2900 Win Brass. Alan R. hunt load. Good vel in short barrels.
Varget 48.3 Rem 9.5 140gr Sierra SBT 2900 Sierra Hunting Load. 2.800″ COAL.
H414 55.0 CCI 200 139gr Horn SST 3075 Hodgdon Max Load. 2.915″ COAL.
WARNING: With all loads, ALWAYS START 10% LOW and work up incrementally.

 

[Laurie]

If you can get it, consider Viht N165 too. It won't give quite as high MVs as H4831sc, but is a very stable and low heat propellant that maximises barrel life. (Considerably lower specific energy than the ADI / Hodgdon powders.) It'll exceed 2,800 fps in a 30-inch barrel with mildly compressed loads. The faster burning N160 works well with 160-168gn bullets, but sees pressure spikes with 180s at below optimum MVs.

For high MVs, IMR-7828ssc shines with 180s.

A couple of the new IMR Enduron powders look possibles, but I've yet to see any reports on their use. We've not long received 7977 in the UK which may be a bit slow burning for the combination. I got good results trying it in 6.5-284 with 140s and may give it a try-out in the 7mm version. The more recently introduced 4955 which seems to be the nearest equivalent to IMR/H4831 may be a better bet, but AFAIK hasn't reached this side of the Atlantic yet.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

Yet, H4350 is the standard by which others are judged.

 

[Shrek]

Has anyone tried RL26 ?

 

[Tommie]

Yet, H4350 is the standard by which others are judged.

Agreed. And let's not forget Ramshot Hunter.

 

[FeMan]

Jason,

I have loads with both H4350 and H4831sc that shoot bug holes and single digit ES. My barrels are 28-inch and my H4350 load averages 2805 and the H4831sc averages 2825. I have found the that 4350 likes F210 primers and 4831 likes BR2s. Primers make all the difference in my 284s. Hope that helps.

 

[normmatzen]

I jumped from H4831sc to RL-17 then tried RL-16 and I am not finished with the tuning but it looks as good as RL-17 with better temp stability.

 

[alphapygmy]

Working with RL16 and 160 Nosler Accubonds for elk season. So far super accurate and low ES. I'll be tracking MV through the summer into the late fall to see how temp stable it is.

 

[FeMan]

My hunting load is 175 ELDX with Reloader 23.

 

[jr600yd]

R-26, 180 Berger HB. Shot the last two 1K matches in F Class and I'm impressed.

 

[jnm300ultra]

Thank you all for the good advice. I now have a few options for power now.
Jason

 

[earlcurtis67]

H4350 sucks!..... well
Ok, actually I haven't tried it because I can't find any and the unicorn hasn't pointed
Me in the right direction .
in all seriousness I have had good results w 4831SC, 54.6 .005 off lands, but it shoots just as good .025 off also. If I found a steady supply Of 4350 I would consider trying some, but wonder if it would be worth starting all over again only for the supply to dry up again
The load I have now was developed for the Berger 180 HY target and did not come easy but still is not what I would call a hummer.
I Briefly tried IMR 4155 but was seeing pretty much what the 4831SC load is doing.
Now I'm working with the 183 SMKs using 4831SC, with just starting an OCW I can clearly see a trend toward low verticle dispersion. 53.5 was the best group so I'll start tuning from there
E

 

[Clavius-Walker]

Trailboss!!!

Best powder in anything.