JackTheRipper
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anyone use this powder yet? any reviews?
I'm looking for a new powder for my 30-06...
thanks!
I'm looking for a new powder for my 30-06...
thanks!
New Superformance Powder...
- Thread starter JackTheRipper
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Funshooter45
Member
They have only announced load data for a very few cartridges.
http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/SuperLever.pdf
So far they have not published data for the most popular cartridges out there. I'm not sure it's appropriate for every cartridge either. It appears to be a slow burning spherical powder made for very high velocities with compressed loads.
Interestingly when I compare the data to other powders in their tables, yes, they claim higher velocities, but they also show some pretty high pressures as well. I'm not sure this is the powder for me so far. I'll wait for others to talk about the accuracy potential.
http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/SuperLever.pdf
So far they have not published data for the most popular cartridges out there. I'm not sure it's appropriate for every cartridge either. It appears to be a slow burning spherical powder made for very high velocities with compressed loads.
Interestingly when I compare the data to other powders in their tables, yes, they claim higher velocities, but they also show some pretty high pressures as well. I'm not sure this is the powder for me so far. I'll wait for others to talk about the accuracy potential.
From the PDF linked to at Hodgdon
Just the other day 38.0 Grs Grs of H335 and a WLR primer and that bullet @ 2.466 O.A.L. gave me 2263 FPS from a cold 20" barrel in mid 50's weather with no pressure signs. Shoulder is not blown forward any more than lesser loads. The primers are still well rounded on the edges and are backed out a hair.
I don't see the big deal, at least in .35 Remington.
38.0 Grs H335 is over the 37.5 Max Hodgdon shows on their website. It is max in the Speer #13 manual. Start low and work up.
Just the other day 38.0 Grs Grs of H335 and a WLR primer and that bullet @ 2.466 O.A.L. gave me 2263 FPS from a cold 20" barrel in mid 50's weather with no pressure signs. Shoulder is not blown forward any more than lesser loads. The primers are still well rounded on the edges and are backed out a hair.
I don't see the big deal, at least in .35 Remington.
38.0 Grs H335 is over the 37.5 Max Hodgdon shows on their website. It is max in the Speer #13 manual. Start low and work up.
Xfire68
Member
The pressures sure do look a lot higher then other data on the same bullets for a few hundred fps? Not worth it in my opinion.
jlee91w
Member
Not blown away with the Superformance in 300wsm, it is working for me but not to the extent to move from any other powder. The other thing is that Hornady is using different Superformance powders specific to a certain load and bullet. At least that is the way I understood it. The Superformance powder that is available to the public is only listed for a few calibers that this specific powder will benefit. The Leverevolution on the other hand is amazing. If you have a 30-30 I would highly recommend it. Jared
ArchAngelCD
Member.
IMO they are pushing the load data more than other powders. Most loads are compressed and the pressures are VERY high on most loads. If you pushed existing powders that hare I'm guessing you will achieve similar results.
I thought the idea behind Superformance was to get away from compressed loads...
I thought the idea behind Superformance was to get away from compressed loads...
Funshooter45
Member
Keep in mind when looking at those pressures on the Hodgdon website that the vast majority of all the pressures for other powders is listed in CUP units. For the Superformance powder, it is given in PSI. They are not the same. But, yeah, they are some high pressures.
All the data for .30-30 and .35 Rem is listed as CUP on the Hodgdon reloading Data Center, including the LVR powder, which gives a good comparison.
For .30-06 they mix it up with both CUP and PSI. It can be confusing.
For .30-06 they mix it up with both CUP and PSI. It can be confusing.
ilove2shoot
Member
been wanting to try this stuff in 308.......may have to go get some real soon.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
That fact was not lost on me and even though we are looking at apples and oranges those apples are about to burst from the pressure! LOL
ArchAngelCD
Member.
The current issue of Rifle Magazine talks about Superformance and Leverevolution ammo and powders and not all is rosie and great!!
They did some tests and Superformance DOES NOT increase velocities in calibers across the board. It's more of a designer powder with a narrow focus. (basically the 6mm) In the 30-06 which I'm most interested Superformance powder performed below all other powders usually used in that caliber and in some cases it generated as much as 75 fps less, not more velocity!!
Leverevolution is another possible disappointment. Leverevolution ammo is made by custom mixing powder for each lever gun caliber they make. It is not one powder for all the calibers so not all calibers will benefit greatly from the commercial release of Leverevolution powder. Unlike my bad luck with the Superformance powder and the 30-06 Hodgdon had to choose which blend of Leverevolution powder to release. They released the formulation they use in their factory 30-30 ammo which is great for me because that's the caliber I'm looking to load. If you're looking to load the 35 Remington you won't get nearly the velocity you will from Hornady Factory 35 Rem Leverevolution ammo. With the 30-30 you will come close because it's the correct powder blend.
This information is in the January 2011 Rifle Magazine, issue No. 254 on page 74. The article is titled "Designer Powders" and also covers Alliant's new RL-17 powder.
They did some tests and Superformance DOES NOT increase velocities in calibers across the board. It's more of a designer powder with a narrow focus. (basically the 6mm) In the 30-06 which I'm most interested Superformance powder performed below all other powders usually used in that caliber and in some cases it generated as much as 75 fps less, not more velocity!!
Leverevolution is another possible disappointment. Leverevolution ammo is made by custom mixing powder for each lever gun caliber they make. It is not one powder for all the calibers so not all calibers will benefit greatly from the commercial release of Leverevolution powder. Unlike my bad luck with the Superformance powder and the 30-06 Hodgdon had to choose which blend of Leverevolution powder to release. They released the formulation they use in their factory 30-30 ammo which is great for me because that's the caliber I'm looking to load. If you're looking to load the 35 Remington you won't get nearly the velocity you will from Hornady Factory 35 Rem Leverevolution ammo. With the 30-30 you will come close because it's the correct powder blend.
This information is in the January 2011 Rifle Magazine, issue No. 254 on page 74. The article is titled "Designer Powders" and also covers Alliant's new RL-17 powder.
i figure i am going to play wait and see with this powder. first, there is not a lot of load data for it. second, anything new, can be trouble. and the kind of trouble that can destroy things is not something i want anything to do with.
Funshooter45
Member
It sounds like most of us here are taking the same approach. We realize that there's always a way to get a bit more velocity from a given cartridge, but there's always a catch somewhere. An extra 100 fps isn't worth poor accuracy.
I see the Superformance thing as a marketing tool (and a good one) that was first aimed at non-reloaders. For a lot of folks that buy one or two boxes of rifle ammo a year, it sounds great to get an extra 100 or 200 fps. Their accuracy is a crap shoot anyway, mostly they just try various factory ammo and see what works (if they are even that thorough about it). From what I see and hear, the stores are selling Superformance factory ammo pretty well. Shoot, when I was 20-25 years old, I would have been waiting in line to get the newest fastest ammo for my 7 mm mag. So, it's only natural that they test the waters to see how many reloaders want to to try the newest miracle powder. Quite a few will probably give it a try, just because we are naturally curious. But most of us sit back and think about it and realize that even with existing powder choices, we are very rarely loading the maximum loads. We might try one during load testing, but typically we are running our rifles a bit below maximum attainable velocity because they work better that way.
Time will tell. If experienced shooters start telling me they are getting phenomenal performance, then yeah, I'll eventually buy a can of it to try out.
I see the Superformance thing as a marketing tool (and a good one) that was first aimed at non-reloaders. For a lot of folks that buy one or two boxes of rifle ammo a year, it sounds great to get an extra 100 or 200 fps. Their accuracy is a crap shoot anyway, mostly they just try various factory ammo and see what works (if they are even that thorough about it). From what I see and hear, the stores are selling Superformance factory ammo pretty well. Shoot, when I was 20-25 years old, I would have been waiting in line to get the newest fastest ammo for my 7 mm mag. So, it's only natural that they test the waters to see how many reloaders want to to try the newest miracle powder. Quite a few will probably give it a try, just because we are naturally curious. But most of us sit back and think about it and realize that even with existing powder choices, we are very rarely loading the maximum loads. We might try one during load testing, but typically we are running our rifles a bit below maximum attainable velocity because they work better that way.
Time will tell. If experienced shooters start telling me they are getting phenomenal performance, then yeah, I'll eventually buy a can of it to try out.
There was an article in the Feb 2010 edition of shooting times on the superformane 30-06 ammo. They compared it with the Hornady Custom,Light Magnum,Federal PSP,Remington CL and Winchester Ballistic Silvertip. All loads used a 150 grain bullet.The Superformance ammo did get the highest velocity avg 3077 fps with pressure at 57,600 psi but it also had the worst ES and SD of all the loads tested.The highest average pressure recorded was for the 150 Ggrain Core Lokt load 63,500 psi. Interesting.
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