.264 Win Mag 100gr Sierra HP reloads

[IH 1026]

About 20 years ago my Grandfather sold me his custom made .264 Win Magnum for the hefty sum of one dollar. He had it custom made with a Bishop stock, Hart Barrel, FN Mauser action, high luster blue finish and topped it off with a 15x Unertl Ultra Varmint scope. At the time, I was too young for reloading, and his health was not good, so he couldn't safely do so either.

All of the ammunition that he loaded was unwisely shot up in my younger years without saving any for examination, and I've not been able to find any of his load recipes except for one which calls for 70 Grains of IMR 4831 behind the Sierra hollow point. This exceeded the maximum listed in my Sierra manual by 7 or 8 grains. Would I be foolish to try working up to this load? Does anyone else shoot 100gr Sierra's in their .264 Win Mag?

 

[JimKirk]

There is plenty of suitable reloading data out there for 100 grain bullets including the Sierra 100 gr HP ... If you will start out with the "starting" load for pretty much any cup and core lead 100 gr in .264 ... start low ... work your way up carefully until you get pressure signs or a listed velocity for that load ...

I load for the .264 Magnum ... just don't load for 100 gr ... 120 gr to 140 gr is in my load area ...

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle

Email Sierra they will give you data also...

 

[JimKirk]

I searched all my Manuals and quite a lot of online data .... I found no loads listing 70 grs of IMR 4831 ...

I did find some old data in a Sierra #3 that lists 70 grs of H4831 ... it is old and I would start 10% low or 63 gr and work upwards ... no way would I jump straight to 70 grs.

 

[IH 1026]

Thanks for the replies Jim.

The load my Grandfather developed for this rifle was really quite phenomenal, and devastating to any varmint. My longest shot was over 470 yards ( range finder we had at the time only went to 400 yards), and even at that range the unfortunate groundhog was almost torn in 2 pieces.

I'm positive that powder recipes have changed since 1968 when his load was developed, so, I'll start 15% below the max listing in my Sierra manual and work up from there. Pretty sure this is going to take alot of powder! If and when I find a great load of my own, I'll report back with some pictures and info.

 

[JimKirk]

What edition is your Sierra Manual ... ??

What you need be careful about is mixing up the two 4831 powders ... there is IMR 4831(faster burning) and H4831(slower burning) ... back in the early days folks would say I load with 4831 not telling "which" 4831 ...

I have found that you can use H4831 in place of data for IMR 4831 ... but not the other way around .... do not use IMR 4831 with H4831 data....

15% is too much reduction ... 10% is plenty and will give you safe room to build ...

But why don't you use modern data ... there is enough out there to give you lots of loads ...

 

[FLIGHT762]

If your Grandfather developed his loads before 1971, he would have been using the older, slower Hodgdon WWll surplus 4831. IMR introduced their 4831 for the reloading market in 1971.

After Hodgdon ran out of the WWll 4831, they obtained the powder with the same burn rate from other sources. I have a can of H-4831 from the 1990's that was produced in Scotland. The latest H-4831 is produced in Australia.

As everyone else has said, IMR 4831 is slightly faster than H-4831 and loading data is different by a few grains.

 

[Garrobo]

The .264 was quite an animal. Back around 1960 I shot a rabbit with one of these rifles which belonged to a friend from about 50 feet to see what it would do. All I could find was one foot. The rest of the thing sort of disappeared. I guess they were somewhat tough on barrels and didn't really make the grade or there really wasn't much use for this caliber when it came to sales so you don't see many of them around. They certainly made a big bang though.

 

[IH 1026]

JimKirk... sorry for the slow reply, but the stomach bug finally met up with me. Reloading manuals I'm using are the 5th Edition Sierra, 8th Edition Hornady, and the new Nosler.

Flight762... thanks for the info on 4831 powders. I know some of what he used to reload with was some of the old surplus powder and would explain why the cans are only marked "4831". Since I don't know exactly what it is, it won't be used. I'll have to get some H4831 and experiment with it too see how it compares to the IMR.

Garrobo... I once vaporized a chipmunk that was more then just a little bit annoying. All I could find was a tail.

Thanks all for the replies... time to go back to bed.

 

[JimKirk]

IH 1026... my Sierra #3 is dated 1989 ... here is the data listed for 4831 ... 100 gr HP

IMR 4831 Max 64.4 grs ... Velocity 3500 fps

H 4831 Max 70.0 grs ... velocity 3600 fps

Model 70 Winchester 24" barrel ... 1 in 9" twist

All my manuals earlier than 1989 only listed "4831" and did not list it as IMR or H ... I do believe that the H version was being listed as it was slower burning by about "4" grains over the IMR of the '89 manual...

Hope this helps understand .... this info with the info from Flight762 ... should make you want too use new data for the most likey new powder you would be able to get today ... unless grandpa had a barn full of old powder then you would want to load using data of that day ...