Thread: 284 Hammer projectiles in my 7mm-08

Greetings Once More,
I thought it might be useful to expand a little on how I go about setting a target velocity for handloads. First data is gathered from the pressure tested on line data put up by the projectile and powder companies. For this exercise data from what I refer to as soft. medium and hard was collated. Soft is thin jacketed flat base projectiles like the Hornady Interlock and the Remington Corelokt. Medium are the boat tail projectiles with thicker jackets like the Nosler AB and hard are the solid copper boat tail projectiles. The mediums are longer than the softs so take up more powder space and the solid copper longer still. Using AR2208, 140 grain projectiles
and adjusting for the 22" barrel max loads and velocities gives the following results.

Soft Projectiles 43.5 grains of AR2208 for 2,830 fps.
Medium projectiles 42.2 grains of AR2208 for 2,780 fps.
Hard Projectiles 41.2 grains of AR2208 for 2,740 fps.

Part of the reason for the reduced charge as you progress from soft to hard is the increased amount of case volume taken up by the projectile when seated to mag length. This occurs even if the projectile has, or the manufacturer claims have some type of trick ogive and grooves.
I recently went through this process for a friend using the Remington 140 grain projectile and AR2208. I classed the projectile as soft and able to use the Hodgdon data for the 139 grain Interlock I tested 42.5 grains of AR2208 which chronographed 2,760 fps when corrected for a 22" barrel which shot well so we stopped there.
For the Hammer projectile I would recommend a max of no more than 41.5 grains of AR2208 and expect a velocity of about 2,750 fps. Neither you or the deer will notice the difference in performance and it does not risk the rifle blowing up in your face.
Regards Grandpamac.