After a lot of reading and conferring to my Sierra 5th edition manual I finally bought some H322 today. I've noticed that Brian Pearce highly recomends this powder with both 150gr & 170gr bullets. He has made mention of 31.5gr in several articles, according to him it has always performed very well in several rifles over the years giving both great accuracy and performance. My Sierra manual also listed this as either the powder to use for accuracy and for hunting loads. So does anyone here use this powder in their 30-30? If so how has it performed for you?
H322 for the 30-30
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NCsmitty
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It should work for lighter bullets in the 30-30, but it's strange that Hodgdon does not show even one load for any bullet in rifle or pistol loads at their load site.
NCsmitty
NCsmitty
Marlin 45 carbine
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yes I use it for 150gr and lighter slugs with great results. meters good too.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this powder works better than W748 and RL15 has for me. I've noticed that Brian Pearce always mentions 31.5gr of this powder with a 150gr bullet. In fact he wrote an article on the Bicentenial Win 1894 in the last Rifle magazine. He used some handloads using H322, W748, H335, and H4895. The H322 load shot a group of 1.45", W748 2.00", H335 1.85", and H4895 was 2.10". He stated that all shooting was done from the bench at 75yd with the iron sights.
It is this kind of performance that made me decide on this powder. He did another piece on the 30-30 back in 2002 also. H322 is listed in the load table for that article as being very accurate with both 150gr and 170gr bullets. It was this article that made me really sit up and take notice of this powder. It was the only powder that was listed as being very accurate with both bullet weights as well as giving acceptable velocities.
It is this kind of performance that made me decide on this powder. He did another piece on the 30-30 back in 2002 also. H322 is listed in the load table for that article as being very accurate with both 150gr and 170gr bullets. It was this article that made me really sit up and take notice of this powder. It was the only powder that was listed as being very accurate with both bullet weights as well as giving acceptable velocities.
Mike Kerr
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I have used H322 for 30-30 loads with 125 gr, & 150gr bullets in a Winchester Model 94 with open sigts with very pleasing results. I started using it about 10 years ago and for a long time I figured I had found a secret load no one else had tried yet because " Like one poster reported" it is not on any of Hodgens load listings for 30-30 and its one of their long standing powders.
I got my initial load data from an older Speer's manual and could not figure why Hodgen didn't list it in 30-30. Then I found several other independent but usually relaible sources who mentioned H 322 for calibers as small as 222 and as large as 45-70. So that being said I have used H322 for well over 1,000 rounds of 30-30 and have found it is efficient, meters well and provides very consistent loadings based on target results.
H322 is, or was, a staple powder for many old line bench rest shooters but I have not been concerned with that since I shoot Irons in 30-30. Considering my modest, but workmanlike shooting skills I think I can tell you that the powder " is very consistent" - Hope you like it.
Regards,
I got my initial load data from an older Speer's manual and could not figure why Hodgen didn't list it in 30-30. Then I found several other independent but usually relaible sources who mentioned H 322 for calibers as small as 222 and as large as 45-70. So that being said I have used H322 for well over 1,000 rounds of 30-30 and have found it is efficient, meters well and provides very consistent loadings based on target results.
H322 is, or was, a staple powder for many old line bench rest shooters but I have not been concerned with that since I shoot Irons in 30-30. Considering my modest, but workmanlike shooting skills I think I can tell you that the powder " is very consistent" - Hope you like it.
Regards,
Mike Kerr
Member
Forgot to mention that this powder should be worked up from manual starting loads in lever actions. When you get near manual maximum loads you may see pressure signs either in the fired cases or " tightness in the action" on extraction. Like many powders if you push the load it gets too hot in a hurry.
Regards,
Regards,
HOWARD J
Member
I used it in my last loads--worked good.
Won't buy it again---around here $26 per #--ouch...............
Also used it in .223 w/ 55 gr. bullet
Won't buy it again---around here $26 per #--ouch...............
Also used it in .223 w/ 55 gr. bullet
birdshot8's
Member
i am shooting h322 w/170's. (load from sierra manual). i am at max from the manual and shooting it from two different marlin 336. accuracy is great. i have not noticed any pressure signs. i emailed hodgdon as to why they did not list this powder for 30-30, but they never responded. also i think i read on forum that h322 was the same as the new imr8208xbr. does anyone know if this is true?
NCsmitty
Member
birdshot8's, here's a link to some information on the question "Is imr8208xbr the same as H322". Scan down the link for some good info from Hodgdon.
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/tag/powder/
NCsmitty
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/tag/powder/
NCsmitty
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birdshot8's
Member
thanks NCsmitty, your link pretty much puts that rumor to rest. I think i'll get a can of that 8208 next time i see one.
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