Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles H870 Powder ?

A friend has some H870 powder for sale. He got it from an estate of his friend who swore by it for his .264 Win Mag. Anyone have any data for it with that combo?

From the Nosler Reloading Manual #3:

from my Speer manual #11 printed in 1987 H870

With 120gr spitzer 72gr starting load 3117fps
76.ogr maxload 3300fps

With 140gr spitzer 69.0gr start load 2944fps
73.0gr maxload 3130fps

it showed it as the highest velocity powder for the 264Win Mag

btw: H870 is not very temp stable so do your load work up in the same temperature you will be hunting in

Get your powder solvent ready too.

It burns really dirty.

Thanks eveyone.

It does burn dirty and leaves a strange powder residue, but I had a 7mm rem mag with a tight barrel , that would do strange pressure excursions with faster powders that loved it. I used the H870 behind 162 noslers for consistent half inch groups,. I used a bit in a .264 win mag also with decent results. I also used a full case of it behind 120s in a .25-06 , dirty and only fair accuracy, but it was FAST.......... I do not have specifics, but it can all be found in a Nosler # 3 manuel.

And smell it first any H870 around is probably 50years old.......

It was discontinued in the early 2000’s

H870 sure did a lot of work in Viet Nam. This was the propellant used in the M61 six barreled 20mm used in the F105 and later models of the F4's. The F105G's used it a lot to shoot up Sam sites.

WC 872 will give pretty much the same results with the same charge.
Both will work if nothing better is available.

I bought a big jug of WC872 a few years ago. It was so cheap I just couldn't pass it up, but had no idea what I'd use it for. I've read H870 data is interchangeable with it. I saw a thread on another site where a guy was running 85gr of H870 under a 200gr NPT for a little over 2900fps in his 300 H&H. Thinking about maybe working up to that load in my H&H to see how it works.

I use WC872 in my Swede mauser 6.5x55 with 140s. Its an accurate and super cheap combo.

I bought 3 8lb jugs from patsreloading about 20 yrs ago. The 872 was $24 so I bought an 8lb jug. I never used it except one time when I accidently loaded it in a .223 Rem. It shot a .6" 5 shot group but for the life of me I couldnt figure out why I was 4" low till I found out.

Being a surplus powder, the stocks Hodgdon had may have ran out in early 2000's but when it was actually made may have been much earlier as the Military changes powder alot , not arguing Just know that there are plenty of old cans of it around, due to limited usefulness and the dirty fouling thing. The 3 lbs I got are 40+ years old and I dont intend to use them as they are starting to dry out and smell like ammonia.

870 really impressed me in a 257 Wby I had. Unbelievably accurate. Run it across my PACT and it was 2900 fps with a 100 grain bullet. Hasbeen

Fed 215's are your friend. You will play hell getting more than 74 grs in with a 140. Clean as needed great stuff back in the day for damn little money. Mb

When the lids on the cans start getting rusty, and you get the ammonia smell, best to clear things out pretty quick.
About 20 years back a good friend and i split 100 # of WC872 we bought for a dollar a pound.
I store mine in clean windshield wash containers and have given several away to friends.
I have 3 jugs left i will save for a rainy day.
I have other surplus stuff i have no idea about, but it seems to burn about like 4350.
Just keep adding a grain at a time till the bolt starts to get sticky, then stop and back up a grain.

872 is about a sub for 869, which is the go to powder in my 26 Nosler. I use those two interchangeably in that round. Now, there couild always be lot to lot variation, so proceed accordingly. It just so happens that my lots of 869 and 872 perform exactly the same with same charges, same bullets, same velocities, same round. Your experience may or may not be like mine.

872 reportedly will do about what H-870 will do. I've never used 870, so I'm going by what I've read.

I have some vintage H-4831 that still smells good, shoots good. It's got to be 60 yrs old or even older. As long as they're stored and cared for properly, it can be surprising how long some of those old powders will last and still perform.

Buy 872 at this site from Jeff Bartlett. Jeff knows his stuff and is easy to talk to. Give him a call.

http://gibrass.com/

DF

or two . . .