Bought a couple cans of SUPERFORMANCE

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Float Pilot

Float Pilot

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I tried their supposed max load in my 22-250.

Well that was UNIMPRESSIVE!!!

I used a HOWA 22-250 stainless with a 24 inch barrel. This rifle has previously shot very good groups with H-380 and 52 grain match bullets. (less than half inch)

With this new can of Superformance powder I went right to the max load listed by Hodgdon. 43.0 grains which is right up to the bottom of the neck. I used Remington once fired brass and Federal 210 primers.

I used three bullet types today. Sierra 60 grain hollow point flat base. Hornady 55 grain soft point spitzer flat base and Remington 55 grain FMJ-BT . ALL loads had 43.0 grains of this new powder.

I used a COL from previous loads that this rifle has liked in the past.

60gr HP (col 2.380 in) Vel: 3,521- 3,499 - 3,590 - 3,521 - 3,560 - 3,546 - 3,511 - 3,547 - 3,535 fps (2 inch group)

55gr SP (col 2.350 in) Vel: 3,493 - 3,544 - 3,589 - 3,549 - 3,516 (I inch group with a flyer out to 2 inch)

55grfmj (col 2.370 in) Vel: 3,616 - 3,535 - 3,555 - 3,533 - 3,563 ( FOUR INCH GROUP )

All cases had ringed primer strikes and sooty case necks. The bore was also pretty dirty.

Hodgdon claims they obtained 3,700 fps with this same load.... I call B.S.
 
Any prudent reloader knows that you are comparing apples to oranges so you have no bitch at all. Their platform bbl may be a better quality then yours? Did you use Winchester Brass? They Did! Did you do a proper load work up? NOPE! Their data is only based on heavier bullets then what you used, so you really have NO BITCH AT ALL!
At least compare the same bullets! Sheesh!

Cartridge Information
Case: Winchester Barrel Length: 24"
Twist: 1:14" Trim Length: 1.902"
Primer: WINCHESTER LR

22-250 Remington
Cartridge Load Data Starting Loads

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum Loads

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bullet Weight (Gr.) Powder Bullet Diam. C.O.L. Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure
60 GR. HDY V-MAX Suprform .224" 2.350" 39.0 3390 45,500 PSI 43.0C 3738 60,000 PSI
63 GR. SIE SP Suprform .224" 2.350" 38.0 3294 44,600 PSI 42.7C 3674 61,400 PSI
70 GR. SPR SP Suprform .224" 2.330" 37.0 3206 50,500 PSI 40.8C 3499 63,700 PSI
 
I believe that out will find that Lane Pearce also tried to duplicate their advertised max loads in the 2011 Hodgdon reloading magazine type manual and he also came out with about the same velocity that I did for the 60 grain bullets. about 175 fps slower than Hodgdon claimed.
I know some folks at Winchester / Browning R&D who are playing with the Hornady factory loads using this powder, but I do not know yet what they are obtaining velocity wise. The only comment I have from them so far is mediocre accuracy.
 
When did anyone ever safely duplicate the velocities claimed in a load manual or load data site? (especially Hodgdon) We all know there's no way to safely match their numbers even with some new "magic" powder! :rolleyes:
 
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Dude, seriously? :scrutiny:

You started at the maximum with a different bullet and are complaining?!

Did you think it might be the bullets, or the maxxed out charge?!

I think your complaint has no merit whatsoever at this point.
 
Not The Same Load

I used three bullet types today. Sierra 60 grain hollow point flat base. Hornady 55 grain soft point spitzer flat base and Remington 55 grain FMJ-BT . ALL loads had 43.0 grains of this new powder. Hodgdon claims they obtained 3,700 fps with this same load
Click to expand...
Not the same load. Retest with the bullets Hodgdon used. 60 GR. HDY V-MAX,
63 GR. SIE SP, 70 GR. SPR SP along with there data and components. :)
 
First of all, thanks for sharing.
This is interesting... I have been trying with the new Superformance ball powder and I was not able to move the bullets any faster. Sometimes even slower than Varget.
My concern has been to go longer with the AR and the .308Win but if others are not getting the extra fps even with the factory loads I am thinking why to even try longer barrels?
I love hornady, they have many quality products and they advertise this like the next great drug for your rifle but to be honest this might be a little of marketing BS too.
Most of their advertised superformance speeds in the popular calibers are published they were tested with 24" barrels.
Maybe they use barrels w/o rifling? LOL!

Any other ideas?
 
It worked well for me in 243 Win. I worked up from 46 - 49gr max with the Hornady 75gr Vmax and got an average of 3411 fps with an ES of 35 fps. This is out of a 22" Marlin XS7. Hodgdon claims 3510 fps out of a 24" barrel. So, I'll give them 30 fps/inch, so I'm within 40 fps of advertised. Not too bad, when you factor in different primers, brass, etc.

Note: I adjusted my OAL, since Hodgdon used a Hornady 75gr HP instead of Vmax. So not a 100% apples to apples comparison, but darn close.

I found it to be very accurate at 48 - 49gr. Approx 1 MOA
 
Yes I know that I did not use the exact same bullet as Hodgdon claimed they used. Mine being a flat base 60 grain bullet that would work better in my rifle. {60gr HP (col 2.380 in) Vel: 3,521- 3,499 - 3,590 - 3,521 - 3,560 - 3,546 - 3,511 - 3,547 - 3,535 fps (2 inch group)}
And yes I would expect some difference in muzzle velocity due to the different bullet type. ie different barrel friction drag and different gilding/jacket materials. BUT, not 200 fps difference. In fact mine is a 1 in 14 twist so it should have shot faster. That rifling twist is also why I did not have any heavier bullets in .224 to try.

I was going to try some of this superformance powder in a 6.5x55mm today, (model 70 action) but business got in the way.. Maybe this coming weekend. Since there is no publish data, it will be working them up slowly with sandbags around the action. It certainly is different looking, it looks more like a pistol powder.
 
The Factory Hornady 308 Superformance 165-SST was interesting to me since I load that exact 165-SST and Varget. What I found was the SST chronoed at around 2750 fps... my Varget loads run right around 2700 fps, and the Superformance loads had cratered primers. This is a 26" barrel Rem 700 PSS. Based on that I decided not to buy any more Superformance ammo or bother with the powder. I was hoping for a boost in fps and thought maybe they'd hit on a better formula...guess it's hype.
 
Superformance powder

In fact mine is a 1 in 14 twist so it should have shot faster.
Click to expand...
Hodgdon test data shows a 1-14 twist-24" bbl. Click "print" to see it. Plus muzzle velocity would be higher at the muzzle, compared to 15ft out at the chronograph. So if Hornady & Hodgdon corrected the chronograph data to show "muzzle" velocity this would make a difference. But as you say, not a 200 fps difference. Different rifles may produce different results. The extra 100fps advertised by Hornady is just a Marketing Ploy that seems to work well. And in there test labs, it works for them.
 
All I have to say to the OP is you're not allowed to feel sorry for your dog. That fact that the ex ran him down when she stole your truck is no excuse.

:neener:
 
I have been playing with Superformance in a 7x57 and a 6.5x55 M-70. I still have a bunch more working up to do and time is limited this time of year. So far I have only worked up fairly dirty loads that are slower than H-4831 loads.

So back to the 22-250

I tried it again with new Winchester brass, WLR primers and a 60 grain Hornady V max, loaded to 2.350 col. They averaged 3,565 fps with the max listed load of 43.0 grains. 2.0 inch group.

Then I tried a CCI-250 magnum primer, Win brass 43.0 grains of Superformance and a medium Lee Crimp just to see what would happen if I jacked up the pressure. Out of ten shots the low was 3,484 fps and the high was 3,547 fps. With a 1.07 inch group.

Then I tried some 60 grain Sierra flat base hollow points and the same load of 43.0 grains, a CCI 250 and a COL of 2.475 inches, which is closer to my rifling.
I ended up with 3,538 fps as an average and just under an inch for a group at 100.

So the mag primers actually averaged slower than the non-crimped standard primers. ALTHOUGH, the mag primers did clean up the dirty necks.

It could be that this rifle shoots slow. So just for comparison, (and chuckles) I loaded some 40 grain V-max bullets with 35.5 grains of RL-10x. New Win brass and CCI-200 primers, COL of 2.450.
My average velocity with that load was 4,056 fps. and a 3/4 inch group at 100. That is about what the book claims it should be.
 
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