Hi-Skor 800X for .30-06 and others

[Vaquerojoel]

Howdy all, I am looking for some help with a starting load for Hi-Skor 800X with a Lyman 311672 boolit in a .30-06. From what I have read and researched I am thinking that 10 grains would be a safe place to start and work my way up from there. I will be using this load in an M1 Garand; it won't cycle the action but will function like a bolt action M1. I am also planing on using the powder in other military cartridges such as .303 Brit, 7.62x54r, and 7.5x55 Swiss. I have read a few people here are using this powder in the listed cartridges but have not seen anyone mention their load data. Thanks for the Help,

Joel

[JeffinNZ]

I was given 5lb of 800X many years ago. I use to load it using Blue Dot type data. 13gr used to go well in the .303 Brit and 8X57 from memory. 5gr in the .32-20 and .22 Hornet was good load too.

[Vaquerojoel]

Thanks Jeff, did you use any filler with that load?

Joel

[JeffinNZ]

Generally I use a tuft of wool just to hold the charge against the primer.

[bruce drake]

Do all Kiwis use tufts of wool for filler material...Now that's a stereotype!

[rsrocket1]

I use 800X with the Lee C309-200-R bullet plain based or GC and no filler. 10.6g gives me about 1350 fps in a 24" Remington 788 24" barrel. Gas checked gives me 1" groups and plain based opened the group up closer to 2" at 50 yards. 12.7g 800X GC gave me about 1494 fps averaged and closed the groups up nicely to under 1" at 50 yards.

Just remember that the 800X corn flakes meter terribly through a narrow powder meter. A short wide cavity seems to work better than a long skinny one. 800X was meant to be dropped in quantities of 20-25g through shotshell powder bushings where 1/2 grain variance doesn't make a big difference in performance. My test rounds were dropped light and trickled up on a scale to make sure I was within a tenth or two of my target load.

The loads are very low recoiling and pleasant to shoot. Great plinker for kids and others who don't like full power rifles.

Here are some pics of the test shots along with other test loads

[Vaquerojoel]

Thanks for the replys. I am not worried about throwing the charges as my only powder measure I have at this time is an old Bedling & Mull that I use for Black Powder only. For smokeless, I weigh every charge. I don't do a lot of high volume smokeless shooting and this is working for me for now.

RS Rocket, those are some nice groups.

Joel

[JeffinNZ]

Yes, Rocket is right about the large flakes and poor metering but 5lb of free powder is a good reason to learn to live with weighing charges.

Bruce: you worry me.

[JRR]

I have used 800X in the 8mm Mauser with 245 gr. boolits from a NOE mold. 13 grains plus seating the base to the very bottom of the neck gives me fantastic accuracy with low recoil and almost no sooting.
Jeff

[rsrocket1]

Thank you Vaquerojoel. I've gone to loading the low recoil stuff on my LnL AP. No big deal to hand weigh each charge and with the fun my boys have with these light loads, you really do need a progressive. At 7 cents a shot, these rounds are cheaper nowadays than 22LR and a whole lot more fun to shoot.

JeffinNZ, I would never turn down 5 pounds of such good shooting powder either

[Vaquerojoel]

Thanks all for the help. I will load up some rounds and report back with my results. It won't be until the middle of next month before I will get a chance to shoot them but will post my results as soon as I can.

Joel

P.S. Here is what they will look like when I get them loaded.

[Vaquerojoel]

Howdy all, I finally made it to the range today to try some of my reduced velocity loads. This is new territory for me but I am loving it. Most of my cast boolit experience has been with black powder cartridge guns but I am enjoying playing with these cat sneeze loads. I tried two loads today, both in .30-06 fired from a M1 Garand. First was 110gr. boolit over 6gr. W321. Second was 160gr. boolit over 12gr. of Hi-Skor 800. I fired 10 rounds of each at 25 yards. The vertical stringing was my fault; I was not paying as close attention as I should have to my front sight and I tried raising the rear sight several notches after I started shooting my groups. Overall I am very pleased with the results and am looking forward to developing these loads more.

Joel



P.S. each square on the target is 1/2 inch.

[Frank V]

Joel
Welcome to the forum, that is a nice group.
I'm going to have to explore powder coating more.
Thanks.

Frank

[Vaquerojoel]

Howdy Frank,
I used the "Shake an' Bake" method to powder coat my boolits. It was very easy. I just put a small amount of powder coat in a sandwich bag and shook them up until well coated then spread them out on a cooky sheet lined with parchment paper and baked. Once they where done I GCed them and sized with a lee push through sizer.

Joel

[Frank V]

Howdy Frank,
I used the "Shake an' Bake" method to powder coat my boolits. It was very easy. I just put a small amount of powder coat in a sandwich bag and shook them up until well coated then spread them out on a cooky sheet lined with parchment paper and baked. Once they where done I GCed them and sized with a lee push through sizer.

Joel

Thanks Joel, it seems pretty simple.
I'm staying tuned to find out more!