How do I find out how much powder is in my Hornady ammo.?

N

NativeCraft

New member
Other than weighing it myself, which is not and option right now.
I'm trying to use an on-line recoil calculator to determine the difference in recoil between a .243 Win. and a .270 Win.. It asks for gr. of powder. I shoot 130 gr. Hornady SST ammo. - is there anyway of knowing how much powder other than calling Hornady?
I'd like to compare it the the 95 gr. Hornady SST in .243 from the same weight rifle.
 
Since you can't pull the bullets and weigh the powder, you could estimate the powder weight as follows:
go to hodgdon web site, pull up load data for 270 for same weight bullet, and choose one of the fastest listed max loads. Do the same for 243. This will give a ballpark estimate of grains of powder for plugging in the recoil equation. (Not exact by any means but an estimate.) Note that factory ammo is not loaded with canister (over the shelf) powder.
 
Here's an estimate for ya - the max difference will be between 6-8 foot pounds of recoil. All things equal such as rifle weight. I'll bet I'm fairly close just guessing from experience. If you find out for sure let me know how I did.
 
I think the previous posters gave you good advice. Another option, just go to a gunshop, they probably have an inertia puller lying around and can pull a slug and weigh the powder. Or you could pry the slug out with a pair of vise grips and take the powder to the gunshop.

You still won't know exactly what powder it is, I think it is too hard to visually identify it, that info would probably have to come from the manufacturer of the ammo and they might not be willing to disclose their load data, possibly for liability reasons. Don
 
DonD,
The trouble is, I own the .270 cartridge...I don't have the .243 cartridge.

Yotes2Call,
I'm interested in seeing what kind of recoil difference there is between a .270 and a .243, both being set up with suitable deer hunting bullets.
I shoot a .270 A-Bolt, and do well with it when hunting, but I hate that danged thing on the bench...it's just got too much recoil and muzzle blast for me to enjoy. It's fitted with a great recoil pad - it just kicks to much for me. I want to get the same exact rifle in .243, IF it's going to have noticeably less recoil.
No, I don't want to shoot the "managed recoil" loads because I am adamant about hunting with what I practice with and with shots out to 300 yards a possibility, the managed recoil loads won't cut it for me.
 
Here is a website that compares recoil values for various cartridges... http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm I know that it probably won't have the specific data that you are looking for, but maybe it's a place to start.....I own a .243 Win. and in all honesty, there's a loud "Boom"...but very little recoil compared to the .270 and larger calibers. It's a very comfortable cartridge to shoot. I shot 30 rounds at the range today with no felt effects....no flinching...no shoulder pounding...I think it's nearly as easy as my .223 Rem to shoot with a little more noise.
 
Recoil is dependent on a lot of things, the weight of the bullet, the velocity, and the weight of the rifle affects how the recoil feels, the weight of the powder isn't in that formula because different powders burn at different speeds. You could use the same weight of powder, but using a different powder the recoil could be quite a bit different due to the speed at which it burns.

The easy answer is that a 270 will recoil more than a 243.
 
Quote:
the weight of the powder isn't in that formula because different powders burn at different speeds.



Actually, the powder weight is in the formula. The powder is turned to hot gas and exits the muzzle, so it is considered as a projectile. It doesn't matter what speed it burns at, it still has an equal and opposite reaction.
The speed at which the powder burns determines the length of time over which the recoil is felt.
 
GC,
Based on CatShooter's powder specs., I get a difference 7.25 ft-lbs. of recoil, using the published Hornady m.v..
The .243 recoil is approx. 55% of the .270 in the correspondingly-weighted A-Bolts. Less than 50% if you assume the .243 is out of the BAR Safari.
The .243 is now on my short-list. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
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