.338 LM powder?

[Maht_g]

What are you guys using for .338 lapua? Seems half say H1000, other half say retumbo? Anyone try both and like one better?

[middleofnowhere]

Subscribed...

I’m leaning towards Ramshot Magnum though. It seems like it will be suitable for the lighter long range copper bullets like Hammers.

[Dave626]

it depends what grains of bullet you using. The heavier bullet use H1000,Retumbo,N570. The most consistent of fps/temp/group is N570 for me.

[Maht_g]

[Dave626]

N570 90.2gr

Hornady 285gr ELD-M

avg 2725fps, ES 15

Peterson brass 8x fired

seated at the land.

[Maht_g]

F me, Brownells has 1 cent hazmat today but OOS on h1000, retumbo, and n570... a guy on another board suggested reloader33, they have that... might have to try it first

[destrudo]

After lots of experimenting I went after US869 for my 300gr SMK loads. Seemed to behave a lot more consistent out of my handloads than any other, even after I went nuts individually performing H2O measurements for each reloaded case and ensuring all of the projectiles had the "right" ogive spec for seating. Average velocities were just super predictable based on average temp if I did everything correctly.

As an added benefit, it doesn't seem to heat up my barrel as much as Retumbo/RL33 after consecutive shots, but sample data was not performed at the exact same time, just similar weather, so take that with a grain of salt.

There are downsides to it though. You're not gonna be able to go above SAAMI with it easily (If you're daring enough for such ordeals) due to the volume. You're also using more by weight load for load.

Retumbo is a really good powder too, I had excellent results with it. Same with RL33.

If you start getting into the lighter projectiles, H1000 and V100 are great. I wasn't fond of my results though, and slower projectiles mean slightly longer lifespan, so I abandoned everything except the Lapua GB528 and the 300gr SMK's

[destrudo]

After lots of experimenting I went after US869 for my 300gr SMK loads. Seemed to behave a lot more consistent out of my handloads than any other, even after I went nuts individually performing H2O measurements for each reloaded case and ensuring all of the projectiles had the "right" ogive spec for seating. Average velocities were just super predictable based on average temp if I did everything correctly.

As an added benefit, it doesn't seem to heat up my barrel as much as Retumbo/RL33 after consecutive shots, but sample data was not performed at the exact same time, just similar weather, so take that with a grain of salt.

There are downsides to it though. You're not gonna be able to go above SAAMI with it easily (If you're daring enough for such ordeals) due to the volume. You're also using more by weight load for load.

Retumbo is a really good powder too, I had excellent results with it. Same with RL33.

If you start getting into the lighter projectiles, H1000 and V100 are great. I wasn't fond of my results though, and slower projectiles mean slightly longer lifespan, so I abandoned everything except the Lapua GB528 and the 300gr SMK's

[Maht_g]

After lots of experimenting I went after US869 for my 300gr SMK loads. Seemed to behave a lot more consistent out of my handloads than any other, even after I went nuts individually performing H2O measurements for each reloaded case and ensuring all of the projectiles had the "right" ogive spec for seating. Average velocities were just super predictable based on average temp if I did everything correctly.

As an added benefit, it doesn't seem to heat up my barrel as much as Retumbo/RL33 after consecutive shots, but sample data was not performed at the exact same time, just similar weather, so take that with a grain of salt.

There are downsides to it though. You're not gonna be able to go above SAAMI with it easily (If you're daring enough for such ordeals) due to the volume. You're also using more by weight load for load.

Retumbo is a really good powder too, I had excellent results with it. Same with RL33.

If you start getting into the lighter projectiles, H1000 and V100 are great. I wasn't fond of my results though, and slower projectiles mean slightly longer lifespan, so I abandoned everything except the Lapua GB528 and the 300gr SMK's

[LynnJr]

Start at 90 grains of H1000 with the 300 SMK seated right at the lands and go up in one grain increments.
Most guns like around 92 grains.
Easy chambering to load for just remember to always use Lapua brand brass.

[C.G.]

just remember to always use Lapua brand brass.

Yup, and in the long run it will end up cheaper than cheaper brass as you will get more reloads out of Lapua.

[kevins750]

[9mmrevolver]

Start at 90 grains of H1000 with the 300 SMK seated right at the lands and go up in one grain increments.
Most guns like around 92 grains.
Easy chambering to load for just remember to always use Lapua brand brass.

Mine does. I actually started at 87gr of h1000 with a Nosler 300gr and lapua brass. I thought I was going to have to eat the 8lb I bought. I was getting like 1.5-2 in groups at 100. Until I hit the sweet spot at 92.5. I will try to find a powder more temp friendly after I get done with this keg

[Maht_g]

Well, I didn’t buy lapua brass, but I’m sure I’ll manage...

I shot a few rounds of factory Ammo yesterday to start barrel break in, but looking forward to loading my own after my powder arrives

[bigdawg86]

I have and still use H1000 and Retumbo. I can't say much other than my rifle likes slightly lower loads than anticipated with Retumbo. This is with a stock Savage FCP HS Precision with 26 inch tube.

91g Retumbo was load I chose for 277g solids (2850fps)
90.5g Retumbo is what I chose with 285 AMAX (2780fps)
Both had intermittent heavy bolt at 92 grains.

I haven't played around much with 300g but I got heavy bolt lift with 92g Retumbo with a 300g SMK, so will likely be around 90 grains.

I have a decent H1000 load that is 94.6g under 250g Lapua Lockbase which is just over 3000FPS

I admittedly haven't put in much time for finding optimal loads or powder, just did a quick test to test 3 round groups and ran them up until got some early pressure signs. I did just find 1300 Federal 215M primers while visiting in laws in Washington, so I may tinker around with fine tuning the above loads now that I found the unicorn primers.