Tag Archives: Hodgdon Powder

Could your choice of powder be causing unexpected misses? We’ve all heard about powder temperature sensitivity, but how much does it really matter? I put two of the most trusted powders—Varget and H4350—to the test across a 100° temperature range to find out. The results? Not what I expected! I also share a list of the most temperature-stable powders from a team of engineers that has fired 100,000+ rounds testing in a lab. Check out the results and see what they mean for your shooting.

Your rifle powder could be sabotaging your groups—and you might not even realize it. A retired ballistic engineer exposes hidden performance killers and shares three critical factors that impact group size. Learn key insights (including a surprising tip about baby cereal?!) that could help you streamline your load development and get match-winning precision faster.

Want to know what 88% of the best precision rifle competitors trust for their match ammo? We analyzed the rifle powder the top 200 PRS shooters are loading in their match ammo, and the results were overwhelming. After a dramatic shift in powder preference over the last decade, is your go-to powder still the best choice for long-range? Click to find out which powders are the best for long-range precision.

I interviewed the reigning PRS Champion, Austin Buschman, and he shared every detail of his current match ammo load and entire reloading process. Austin has a very pragmatic approach to reloading that I promise will surprise (and challenge) you! Clearly, his ammo is capable of precision that can win on the biggest stage – so get a behind-the-scenes view of how he makes it and hear about all the reloading steps that are on his long “list of things that don’t matter!”

I’m sharing a series of posts on ELR shooting, but I didn’t want to jump from the long-range rifles in mid-size 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges that I normally talk about straight into the extreme, super-high-performance 375+ caliber rifles used to engage targets at 2+ miles. Instead of just presenting the extremes, I thought it’d be helpful to first share a rifle setup that is somewhere in between. Then in later posts I’ll get into the more specialized setups used to push the boundaries of what is possible with shoulder-fired rifles. In this post, I’ll share the details of a rifle ...

This post reviews the reloading components (bullets, brass, and gun powder) the best precision rifle shooters were using in 2014. The data is based on a survey of the top 50 shooters in the Precision Rifle Series (PRS). The PRS tracks how top competitors place in major rifle matches across the country. These are the major leagues of sniper-style competitions, with targets typically in the 300-1000 yard range. This is the 3rd year we’ve collected this data. For more info on the Precision Rifle Series and who these guys are scroll to the bottom of this article. Long-Range Bullets Here ...

This post is about the bullets, powder, and brass the best precision rifle shooters are using. It is based on what the top 50 long-range shooters nationwide brought with them to the Precision Rifle Series (PRS) Finale a couple weeks ago. Target engagements for a PRS match can range from 25 to 1,200+ yards, but there is definitely a focus on the “precision” rifle part regardless of the range. For more info on who these guys are, and why you should care what they think scroll to the bottom of this article. Update: These are results from the 2013 PRS Season. The ...

Meet The Pros The Precision Rifle Series (PRS) is a championship style point series race based on the best precision rifle matches nationwide. PRS matches are recognized as the major league of sniper-style rifle matches. At the end of each year, the scores from 15 different matches are evaluated and the top 50 shooters nationwide are invited to compete head to head in the PRS Finale Match. The info below is based on the equipment those pros brought with them to the most recent finale. This is a great set of data, because 50 shooters is a significant sample size, ...

These are all of my pet loads. They were what I found to be the most precise in my rifles after extensive and tedious load development. I may tweak the loads slightly as the throat of a barrel erodes, but I don’t typically vary too far from what is shown here. In fact, this is the page that I personally reference when I need to remember the details of one of my loads. You should always reference a quality reloading manual and start with the minimum recommended loads, and work your way up. Just because these have proven safe in ...

After I identified a promising range of powder weights using Audetter’s ladder test, my next step was to use Dan Newberry’s Optimal Charge Weight (OCW) Method to offset the “scatter node” drawback inherently present in the ladder test.  To learn more about that, read this article comparing the OCW method with the ladder test. The OCW method is based on the observation that there are some loads out there (like Federal’s match ammo for the 308) that shoot really well out of just about any rifle.  How can one recipe shoot so well out of so many different rifles?  Dan Newberry believes accuracy of ...