Remington 700 ML powder Q'!

[varmit_master]

Hi i have the Rem 700 ML with the Canada after maket 209 kit in it. It has a 26 inch barrel. I am using the Remington.Sabot Core-lokt 275.gr JHP bullet. I am using the Pyrodex Pellets. Is there a better powder out there. This is the only powder i have tried in the gun. VM

[Keith Lewis]

This is like the which is better Ford or Chevy question. Everybody seems to have their favorite. I have shot a wide variety of powders and in my opinion these are my findings. Real black powder is great, shoots great, does everyting it should but it is very difficult to find and also about the dirtiest (most fouling left after the shot). It is corrosive if not cleaned shortly after shooting.  Pyrodex loose (or pellet if you prefer although I don't like pellets) shoots great also. It has been around a long time and is a very reliable and consistent powder. It tends to be almost as dirty as real black and is corrosive if not cleaned quickly. Tripple Seven is a newer synthetic that is a little more powerful than the above two and is somewhat cleaner. In some rifles it makes a hard powder crud ring that can be difficult to deal with. It is supposed to be water cleanup although I don't find it easy to clean in my rifle. It is also corrosive if not cleaned abruptly. Now we go to the ascorbic acid based powders. Some have changed names so I will only list the latest names. American Pioneer makes a powder in their name (I recommend fffg granulations in all the ascorbic acid based powders as they tend to be more coarse than other for the same granulation rating). American Pioneer also makes a powder for Goex which has the name Pinnacle. Both these powders are very clean and seem to be consistent although there was some concern about consistency and sensitivity to moisture in these powders. Magkor makes a powder (also ascorbic acid based) called Black Mag'3 which I have used and presently prefer over all the above. All the ascorbic acid powders are much less corrosive than the others and clean-up can be delayed for a longer time without fear of corrosive damage to the rifle. If you are going to be away from hot water and soap the ascorbic acid powder cleanup is much easier to accomplish in camp atmosphere. There is an offshoot of the APP powder called Shockeys Gold which is basically just American Pioneer with a tighter control on the grain size from what I have been able to find out. Pinnacle also looks different from American Pioneer as the color is different but I expect the composition is very similar. Black Mag'3 is supposed to be recoverable from moisture exposure. I have shot one elk with Black Mag'3 and at this time will continue to use it as my main powder although I am also looking at four pounds of Pinnacle that I bought to evaluate. Different rifles seem to like different powders and the powders all seem to have their own preference for loading and compression techniques. Hope this helps, I'm sure you will get other comments also.

[varmit_master]

Hi my brother has the same gun as i do but with a 24 inch barrel. He shoot the reg old black powder. Will the Black mag3 powder in a 100grs will it have the same fps as a 100grs of Pyrodex pellets. Is it hard to clean the powder you are talking about.VM

[Stan M.]

Varmit_Master,
 I have the same gun and conversion you have except I have the 24" barrel. I shot loose Pyrodex and then swithced to FFFG 777. It gives more velocity and burns somewhat cleaner than the Pyrodex and Pyrodex Select, I had previously used. I used 120 gr. of powder and you can feel a difference in recoil with the 777. My 700 was not finicky and shot well with all these powders. The hotter the load the tighter the group. Never played with pellets.
 I use BM3 in my Encore and it is a great powder for me. It was slightly more accurate than 777 but clean up is easier and I know I can shoot 6 times with out cleaning between shots maybe even more. I haven't shot the BM3 in the 700, though I feel it would perform just as good as the others.
 Do some experimenting and see what 's out there. Wally World is discounting all there hunting stuff now and you may find a deal on 777. Black Mag 3 is about $30.00 per pound if you can find it. Maybe some of the other powders will work well but i haven't tried them.
Good Luck,
Stan

[sabotmaker]

Hi my brother has the same gun as i do but with a 24 inch barrel. He shoot the reg old black powder. Will the Black mag3 powder in a 100grs will it have the same fps as a 100grs of Pyrodex pellets. Is it hard to clean the powder you are talking about.VM

I have recently been shooting some Black mag3.  It is the hottest BP substitute I have ever shot. To answer your question about same velocity...probably no...most likely a bit more velocity than 100 grains of Pyro pellets. Try different powders if you can. Never know what shoots best until you give a variety of powders a chance. The powder that groups best in your rifle should get the nod...the differences in velocities of the different powders won't mean a thing in most hunting situations.