Thread: Anyone used 2206h/4895 for .308 subsonic load?

With trail boss being a touch hard to come by has anyone used 2206h or h4895 for a .308 sub load? Hogdon lists a load 190gn sub-x but can’t really find a much else about it. Anyone use it?


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I use 2206,
The 308 cases I use were made in Canada by stealthround not sure if they’re still in business.
The cases are made out of aluminium, they have small internal volume, the flash hole comes up to about halfway up the case, the cavity for powder is .308 in diameter and comes down half way down the case. Came with a little short die to only size the neck
180 grain bullet 14 grain 2206

I dont believe you would do it in normal case..there is trail boss around.lots of fellas bought it thinking subs were going to be awesome on deer,wounded an animal or two and the pottle is now in discrace in back of cabinet.

Or use Red Dot or Blue Dot or the equivalent. Lots of options around, and some like them better than Trail Boss as they burn a heap cleaner.

So what powders would make sense to substitute trailboss for subsonic 308 loads?

AP70 and Universal and Unique all mimic Trailboss loads but use less capacity in the case so some caution is required.
Faster powders burn more completely in partially filled cases giving better accuracy.

Originally Posted by Morepork

I use 2206,
The 308 cases I use were made in Canada by stealthround not sure if they’re still in business.
The cases are made out of aluminium, they have small internal volume, the flash hole comes up to about halfway up the case, the cavity for powder is .308 in diameter and comes down half way down the case. Came with a little short die to only size the neck
180 grain bullet 14 grain 2206

I reckon a cleaver fella would spin a few of then up on a lathe without too much bother..... great idea,could see it being really useful with some of the big magnums too.....no need for 3000ftlbs to finish off fallow at 2 meters sort of deal

Yup, I can see a cnc lathe with bar feeder could make a whole bunch in no time

@svt40 what were your light 2206 loads in 6.5x55?

Blue Dot Powder.

Originally Posted by -BW-

@svt40 what were your light 2206 loads in 6.5x55?

used ADI 2206H, but my 'light loads' were 80gr projectiles at ~3000fps, not quite the same application. ADI say 2206H can be downloaded to 60% as a guide - dont know if that would be subsonic or not.

Greetings,
Hodgdon listed a load for the .308 with the Hornady 190 grain Sub X projectile and 13.3 grains of H4895/ AR2206H for 1,044 fps. I would not try that with a lighter projectile. I used a load of 26 or 28 grains of AR2206H with the 150 grain projectile in my .30-40 (about the same capacity as the .308) and it smoked the cases full length. 32 grains worked fine in my .308 with 155 grain plated projectiles and 1900 fps but did burn a bit dirty. Shot well though.
GPM.

u obviously know what u doing - just be aware of low volume loads in bigger cases - "Flash Over" can happen or secondary explosive effect - I cant remember which one the blokes with the white coats and thick glasses decided on to eventually blame for a burst gun

Originally Posted by Sharki

u obviously know what u doing - just be aware of low volume loads in bigger cases - "Flash Over" can happen or secondary explosive effect - I cant remember which one the blokes with the white coats and thick glasses decided on to eventually blame for a burst gun

Greetings @Sharki and all,
There was a very good article in Handloader decades back dealing with this which the writer called "Secondary Explosion Effect". At the time opinions varied as to whether it existed or not but the writer managed to reproduce at will. The problem seemed to be with slow powders in large cases of small calibre. From memory he was using something like a 6mm-06 and 4831 powder which may have been military surplus. His take on it was that the powder charge ignition stopped or was delayed sometime after the primer ignites allowing the projectile to be driven into the rifling a little before stopping. A rough throat from the hot shot cartridge could also have been a factor. The bulk of the charge then ignited behind the projectile which had almost become a barrel blockage. No problems were found with heavier charges.
A light load of 40 grains of 4895 was used in the .30-06 behind the standard 150 grain projectile as a light practise load and a 200 yard target load for years and I used 38 grains in the .308 for the same purpose without problems. Hodgdons marketed both 4831 and 4895 as milsurp powder from the late 1940's so they will have been aware of all this so we should not go below their loads for H4895/ AR2206H. We also should not use any loads not listed in pressure tested data offered by the powder and projectile companies.
Regards Grandpamac.

From what I have read 4895 can be safely used at 60% of a listed load. So if 60% will put you subsonic all good. Somewhere on the forum there were links to old reloading manuals on-line. The old Lyman manuals have reduced load data