Hornady reloading manual.

patjack

Well-Known Member
Could someone have a look in the Hornady reloading manual and give me the lowest and maximum load for Hornady Interloct 100gn .243 bullets using IMR 4064 powder, I was unable to purchase my usual sierra 100gn bullets and came away with hornady instead, I know that sierra state for hunting a max load of 4064 @ 36.2 but want to check with the hornady manual to see if it worth keeping the hornady or exchanging them when they get sierra in stock, Many Thanks.
 
You could look on the Hornady web pages which should tell you what to look for but the best way is to slightly reduce the load and shoot them there are no short cuts in loading only big bangs.
 
The maximum in the #7 Hornady Handbook is 34.2, but you can use the Sierra data. I'd be surprised if the Hornady load makes 2700 FPS. In which case it'll be below 1700 ft./lbs.

I say this because the Hornady loads are surprisingly low in this later edition, and are out of kilter with other sources. Sierra loads are usually very conservative so are a good guide for most calibres. I use the Speer #13 data which is usually the highest but matches the practical results more closely as standard sporting rifles such as Ruger and Remington are used.

I don't think there will be any practical difference between standard flat-based SP bullets from either source... if that's what you're using. I once chronographed 130gr .270 SP's from Hornady, Sierra, and Speer in exactly the same load to work out which was the most accurate before stocking up on bullets. The answer turned out to be Sierra, but all of them had the same velocities and shot to the same point of aim which was surprising. That isn't any guide to pressure of course but it's reasonable to assume that these were similar in this single instance.
 
so I might have to go with sierra 100gn bullets as they produce 1867 ft/lbs as with the hornady at their recommended max will only produce 1741 ft/lbs so only just sufficient, Thanks for the information.
 
One more thing which might help, Patjack.

I was chronographing several calibres today doing a series of Minimum to Maximum 'ladder' loads using new powders. Some of these weren't listed in any reloading manual so a bit of extrapolation or guesswork was needed from previous results in other cartridges.

Among them was the Sierra .243 100gr SP (ProHunter #1540) tested in my Tikka M595 - standard 22" (57cm) barrel.

I followed the min./max. given on the Hodgdon website using IMR 7828 ... which I use in heavier calibres, but haven't used before in .243 Win. This powder is listed in the Hornady #7 and #8 Handbooks but not in the Sierra #5 Manual or Speer #14.

Hornady say the absolute MAX is 45.0 grs of IMR 7828 at 2900 FPS ...... just as they say a MAX of 34.2 grs of IMR 4064 gets 2800 FPS....... which is under 1700 ft.lbs.

The higher 'Maximum' of 46.0 grs IMR 7828 listed at 3009 FPS from the Hodgdon website I decided to use (their 'highest velocity' load) only returned 2853 FPS, and 2874 FPS.

That's a higher maximum giving an even bigger shortfall. This load is just 'legal' and as I can't cram any more in the case without special measures it's a nice safe one.

It leads me to think that either the.243 is a marginal calibre, or more likely that none of the reloading sources including Hornady can be relied on without doing your own testing.
Even taken as a rough guide they're p*ss poor.

If you follow the link below you'll find yet another different load for your IMR 4064.

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp
 
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