I recently talked to elderly gentlemen who have a long history in reloading and experimenting with all kinds of propellants, loads and cartridges.
What really caught my attention is that they had stumbled across a small amount of original German Nipolite, the infamous 8x57 WW2 aircraft machine gun powder decades ago. Their experiments with .308 resulted in rather spectacular figures, up to 3100fps+ for a 180gr bullet with no overpressure signs whatsoever. They were positive that the load could've been increased from there but they ran out of powder and could never find more anywhere again.
That's not just hot, that's solidly in .300WinMag territory.
According to my very superficial research, it seems that Nipolite or equivalent has never been manufactured for civilian market. Nor have I found more reliable information than its basic components, smokeless powder aka. nitrocellulose and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN).
I'm not really interested in blowing myself up experimenting, but any pointers to percentages, mixing ratios and details would be highly interesting. On the other hand, I don't mind blowing up a spare .308 barreled action as long as I'm at least 15 yards from the bench, behind a concrete barrier and pulling the trigger with a string.
What really caught my attention is that they had stumbled across a small amount of original German Nipolite, the infamous 8x57 WW2 aircraft machine gun powder decades ago. Their experiments with .308 resulted in rather spectacular figures, up to 3100fps+ for a 180gr bullet with no overpressure signs whatsoever. They were positive that the load could've been increased from there but they ran out of powder and could never find more anywhere again.
That's not just hot, that's solidly in .300WinMag territory.
According to my very superficial research, it seems that Nipolite or equivalent has never been manufactured for civilian market. Nor have I found more reliable information than its basic components, smokeless powder aka. nitrocellulose and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN).
I'm not really interested in blowing myself up experimenting, but any pointers to percentages, mixing ratios and details would be highly interesting. On the other hand, I don't mind blowing up a spare .308 barreled action as long as I'm at least 15 yards from the bench, behind a concrete barrier and pulling the trigger with a string.