H414 & Sierra GK 140gr SBT

Salvo

Well-Known Member
Recently started reloading and have managed to develope a nice accurate load for my .222rem. Now wish to load for my 6.5x55, (Sauer 202). I have H414 and Sierra 140gr spitz soft point boat tail bullets. Not a lot of info out there for h414 though. Have consulted a few online resources but notice quite a bit of variation in the min-max powder load recommendation. Any thoughts too on seating depth?
 
H414 start at 41.0 grains .............................................. max = 44.0 grains with a 140 grain bullet. Taken from an old Hodgdons manual.

I would seat the bullet so the base is level with the bottom of the neck and see if it chambers... if it does see how they shoot and go from there.
 
Ta. Have the Speer manual but it doesn't mention H414.

Which Speer number do you have?

My reloading stuff is old now but do have Speer #12 that was released in 1994 and it has H414 listed for 140 grain bullets:......

Start load...40.0 grain ...................... max load ....44.0 Grains.
 
Have the Speer #14 manual. H414 not listed in the 6.5x55 section. Thanks Muir for the info. Will check it out. Regards.
 
Have the Speer #14 manual. H414 not listed in the 6.5x55 section. Thanks Muir for the info. Will check it out. Regards.

Well the Speer Number 14 is nearly a decade old. Beware of using old manuals as per Muirs post. Looks like we had better throw them all in the bin then :rolleyes: .
 
Really good point Conure. Bought my RCBS kit recently and the #14 Speer was in the box. Ten years old!! Chatting to a friend whose reloading manual(not sure which manual) quoted 40gr --44gr H414 for 140gr bullets (6.5). A bit confusing.
 
Salvo from the complete reloading manual h414start at37.5 max load 41.5 atb
That's for 140 gr bullets
Atb tom
 
Really good point Conure. Bought my RCBS kit recently and the #14 Speer was in the box. Ten years old!! Chatting to a friend whose reloading manual(not sure which manual) quoted 40gr --44gr H414 for 140gr bullets (6.5). A bit confusing.

A little web surfing revealed this :....

Speer # 14 Loading Manual by Bob Shellhttp://writerbobshell.comThere are many loading books out there and for the most part they contain a lot of good info. Speerhas been producing loading manuals for a long time and in 4/07 they came out with the number 14. Ithas been reprinted a couple of times indicating its popularity. There is a good reason for the manycopies that were and are still being sold.It has 1149 pages full of must read material for the advanced and beginner alike who want to handloadtheir ammo. It covers all of the modern cartridges that are in production as of the time that it waswritten and covers a few of the odd ball numbers such as the 9 mm Largo. The history and descriptionof each cartridge is extremely complete and covers any item that you are likely to run in to. For certaincartridges such as the 32-20 and 45-70 it goes into different levels of loads for the guns that wereproduced many years ago as well as modern weapons. I can tell you that a lot of hard work andresearch went into this book. They have good drawings and dimensions of all of the cartridges listedwhich in itself is a valuable asset. It goes into all of the dos and don ts of reloading. Safety andproblem issues are also dealt with in detail. If you are having a reloading problem chances are theanswer is somewhere in the Speer book. Of course the data is for Speer bullets and they wisely advisethe reader to reduce a little if another brand of bullet is substituted. Since they are part of the samecompany they recommend RCBS loading products and molds which is another quality brand

So April 2007 the #14 was first published and that is 9 years ago. Note their data is only for Speer bullets! ................. Wonder how many people read that note and do reduce the data slightly?

When I start reloading again we will have to see what updated data is available I suppose.
 
................. Wonder how many people read that note and do reduce the data slightly?.

Had a good look through the manual and certainly missed the point that the data applied to Speer bullets specifically! Thanks for pointing this out. Thanks again Conure. I am going to learn a lot on here!
 
Had a good look through the manual and certainly missed the point that the data applied to Speer bullets specifically! Thanks for pointing this out. Thanks again Conure. I am going to learn a lot on here!

Your welcome.

It is some time since I last reloaded but as has been pointed out on another thread it is like riding a bike once learnt you know the principles and basics. When I first started loading for the 270 Winchester round I bought a used press and dies from some one in the club I belonged too along with some used cases and borrowed a Speer reloading manual. It was an earlier edition than the #12 I bought later and I found the earleir one not well laid out and did not like it so bought the Hodgdon manual that I thought better laid out. The #26 Hodgdon was published in 1992 so of course there are newer powders not listed in it and newer rounds not listed either but it served me for what I needed.

Looking at the index it has none of the WSM rounds, no .20 cal rounds, and probably some others that are popular today missing but as those don't interest me it will do. Right now my interests lie with the 222 Remington and the 270 Win. I am looking into the 280 AI and possibly the 6.5x55 so the only one not covered is the 280 AI but we have time so there is no rush.
 
Take Aim at Rifle Reloading Data | Hodgdon Reloading

These guys have H414 data for the 140 grain. Don't know where they came up with it. Maybe they make the powder??:D
A danger in old manuals: Methods of testing powders change and loads follow. The MAX for H414 is 41.5 grains now.~Muir

This is very good advice from Muir. I had been reloading my calibre for years,same bullet same powder same everything. A mate who had the same calibre asked me to load some with him, using a slightly lighter bullet. I looked up Hodgdon Reloading and found there was a reduction in the maximum for my own recipe, not much, but you can get caught out. john
 
Had a good look through the manual and certainly missed the point that the data applied to Speer bullets specifically! Thanks for pointing this out. Thanks again Conure. I am going to learn a lot on here!
Reducing the charge when switching any component is a basic tenant of reloading, not something specific to Speer. The statement covers one's a&& when the hapless reloader loads something far different than the bullet the load was developed for. Another basic tenant of reloading is to use up-to-date loading data. Powders change, testing methods change. That's why a resource like Hodgdon's site is so good. You can get updated loading data before the had copy is in print. ~Muir
 
This is all very informative. Happy with my results with my .222 reloads (20.5 rel7 55gr soft points) in my sako 85 but wanted to be cautious with the 6.5 x55. Thanks Muir. Have added that Hodgdon site to my favourite list. Thanks all.
 
Last edited:
Sierra has the OAL of 3.050" for the 140 gr SBT it's a real good deer stopper a friend I load ammo for uses it on big reds never lost an animal with them
 
Sierra has the OAL of 3.050" for the 140 gr SBT it's a real good deer stopper a friend I load ammo for uses it on big reds never lost an animal with them

Sounds good. Liked the results I achieved with federal powershok 140gr on everything from muntjac to reds and was hoping to replicate it somewhat with the Sierra soft points. Hopefully try them on the Roe in the next couple of weeks. Regards.
 
Back
Top