Wazzup with Ramshot for Leverguns - Good?

[JohndeFresno]

I keep on bumping into an occasional mention of Ramshot, and I found it on the burn rate chart at ReloadersBench, per
http://www.reloadbench.com/burn.html (referenced in a recent post).

But I rarely see any load postings (on the various ammo load sites), nor do the writers seem to acknowledge it. And a while back I sent Ramshot an e-mail for more information about some loads, but never heard from them.

Is it a viable contender .30-30 or .45-70 levergun loads? Or (slightly off topic) .44 Spcl/Mag or other big bore handgun loads? It's "there" but the stuff is a mystery to me - nobody seems to pay much attention to it.

Any thoughts?

[Modoc ED]

Ramshot "TAC" is one of the powders recommended by Barnes Bullets for their .30-30 bullets. I have never tried "TAC" so I have no input on it's usefulness.

[Marc]

Go to their website. They have loads listed there.

[Don McDowell]

I bought some Ramshot BigGame to try in the 405, never got that done, but I did shoot up a whole can of it in the 30-30 ai, it wasn't the speediest load ever fired, but it hurls speers 170's accurate enough to head shoot coyotes at 200 yds.
They have some intriquing 45-70 data with the Xterminator stuff , if a person was into smokeless powder shooting one of those

[SmokeEater2]

A while back (before all the ammo craziness) Midway was running Ramshot powders on sale for very good prices. A friend and I split the shipping and Haz-Mat fees and bought 8 lbs. of the Ramshot TAC powder to try. He shoots a .222,.223 and a .204 and He swears the Ramshot is the best powder he's found for those calibers. He says it meters very well,burns clean and is very accurate. I have yet to crack a jug of mine open but I have high hopes for it when I do.

[crs]

The current Lyman loading manual includes Ramshot powders and there are loads for the .405 and others on the Wolfe- Handloader web site. One of these shows a TAC load for 400 grain 1895 .405 at 2050 fps. This is the speed Hornady posts for their factory 450/400 400 grain ammo - 2050 fps; which Boddington and others rave about for Cape Buffalo and even Ele. Per Accuratereloading.com, this is also the 450/400 velocity of the Kynoch factory 400 grain loads.

In reading some other sites, I have concluded that because of current shortages of many better known powders, many more shooters are trying and liking the Ramshot powders. The sphericals apparently respond well to the use of a drop tube, which provide 8-10% natural compression (more grains-less air between grains) without press ram compression.
Interesting stuff - when my Buffalo Arms drop tube arrives this week, I will try it with some TAC and maybe some others for my .405.

[SmokeEater2]

Hmm.. I wonder if there's a good .45-70 load I could use all that TAC for?

[Don McDowell]

Tac is sort of a ball 4895, should be some good applications for it in the 45-70.

[JohndeFresno]

Re-read these posts. Thank you, all, for your great input. Seeing the stuff in loading manuals is one thing, while anecdotal data is quite another matter. It all helps. It sounds like nobody has spoken poorly of the powder, so I'll probably try some in the near future (when the primer freeze thaws out a bit).

[COSteve]

Not levergun material, however, I use TAC with 69grn Hornadys for my precision 20" AR setup with great results. Sub MOA out to 300yds when I'm in the grove.

[JohndeFresno]

Not levergun material, however, I use TAC with 69grn Hornadys for my precision 20" AR setup with great results. Sub MOA out to 300yds when I'm in the grove.

Steve,

I load for my son-in-law's Mini-14 .223 Ranch Rifle; and I note the other posts that strongly indicate that this line is worthy of serious consideration for several of my calibers of interest (.30-30, .45-70, .223). Thanks.

[JohndeFresno]

I purchased 8 lbs of TAC at a great price, and at a time when all of the other powders I was considering were unavailable, at least in bulk - WIN 748, 3031, IMR 4895.

I loaded up some thutty-thutty's and I love the way the powder meters, and it fills the case, which is important to me, despite conflicting claims of various powders being "position insensitive."

A little research provided some great potential loads; so this may soon be my go-to powder for the levergun, given its availablity, metering and price. Soon, I'll run some tests at the range.

Loaded but not yet tested for use with a Marlin 336 .30-30, 20 in. barrel:
1) Barnes 150 gr. (#30820) TSX FN;
TAC 30.5 gr;
Win WLR primers, Starline brass
MV 2006 fps Estimated; ME 1341 ft. lbs. Estimated
COAL 2.470 in.
Barnes Nr 4, Pg. 234, lists TAC as the most accurate powder. This is the starting load, since I have never used this powder. It might work into my standard "California Legal" hunting load for the .30-30.

2) Montana Bullet Works 173 gr. FN-GC Lubed (BHN 22) sized .309;
TAC 25.1, 26.0, 27.0, and 27.9 gr.
Win WLR primers, Win brass
MV 1898 fps Estimated; ME 1405 ft. lbs., Estimated for 27.9 gr. (per Quickload)
COAL 2.540 in.
Top load of 27.9 is still mild pressure per Quickload, but max listing per Ramshot Guide 4.1.

[JohndeFresno]

Hmm.. I wonder if there's a good .45-70 load I could use all that TAC for?

Ramshot's free Load Guide Edition 4.1 shows three loads for the .444 Marlin using TAC.

But all of their .45-70 loads show Ramshot X-Terminator. I didn't find any TAC loads for the .45-70 on the LoadData (subscriber) website, either.

[Leverluver]

Charles, you better book a flight to TZ and go scratch that itch before it gets infected

[Bob A]

Hey John,

I haven't been posting much lately but happened to log on tonight after shooting my first Ramshot Tac loads in my 30-30. I only got a few test loads shot but so far it looks good.
My rifle is zeroed for my handloads with Corelokt 170 and 32.5 Varget. 30.0 and 30.5 gr of Tac both shot into an inch at 50 yards with Hornady 170s and Sierra 170s. All shots in the black, all of the loads tested are very close to point of aim with current zero. No pressure signs. Primers looked very good.
The Sierra max is 31.0. Ramshot's max is 30.5. I will try 31 next time. Then start looking for the most accurate load.
All the loads were scooped with Lee scoops then weighed and trickled to target weight. This stuff is like water. Every scoop was within .1 gr of the others. I imagine it will meter very well.

Bob A

[JohndeFresno]

...My rifle is zeroed for my handloads with Corelokt 170...

Thanks for the data, Bob. I have high hopes for TAC. Interestingly, I notice that Ramshot is conservative with their max load recommendations.

I am also using a 100 yard zero on the .30-30 with the Remington CoreLokt 170's as a standard from which to log the trajectories of these handloads. I prefer to have permanently zeroed rifle, if at all possible, based upon a commonly purchased round.

[Bill in Oregon]

Can't speak for lever gun loads, but I have acquaintances who think the world of Ramshot Hunter.