So I was givin this unopened bottle of H870 reloading powder (only 1 pound) and the only load data I can find for it for any of the guns I have is my 7mm rem mag. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or had access to load data for this powder that may help me. I just can't seem to figure out what this powder would be good for.

tlo7mm wrote:

... I just can't seem to figure out what this powder would be good for.

Gidday mate. According to the ADI/Thales list of powder equivalents, the H870 is the same as the H50BMG powder put out by Hogdon. In fact H50BMG and AR2218 are the same powder...made by ADI/Thales and marketed by Hogdon as H50BMG.

ADI/Thales...Hogdon.........Accurate Arms...Vihtavuori

AR2218......H870/ H50BMG...AA8700.............20N29

The above powders all fall on the same line of equivalent powders.

ADI/Thales say the following about their powder AR2218:

An extremely slow burning rifle propellant, initially developed for the Australian Defence Force 0.50 cal and is perfect for over-bore, large capacity magnums.

Typical Load:

Rifle
30-378 Weatherby

Bullet Type: 220 grain jacketed projectile
Charge Weight: 118.5 grains
Velocity: 3145 ft/sec

A whole 1lb tin eh...reckon you probably get about 10 loads of 50BMG out of that tin.

Cheers, Vince

H 870 was an old surplus powder and Hodgdon carried it until supplies ran out back in the early 2000's. It is a very slow burning powder that suited for overbore cartridges, I still have about 12lbs of it left and use this for my 7mm rem mag.

My load data that I use was taken directly from my Nosler #5 manual.
Nosler 160gr Partition with the following loads for H870:

Start load - 75.5gr - 2982fps
Mid load - 77.5gr - 3047fps
Max load - 79.5gr - 3112fps

Running the data through quickload gives me:

Cartridge : 7 mm Rem. Mag.
Bullet : .284, 160, Nosler AccuBond 54932
Useable Case Capaci: 72.296 grain H2O = 4.694 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.290 inch = 83.57 mm
Barrel Length : 24.0 inch = 609.6 mm
Powder : Hodgdon H870

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 2.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-20.0 92 63.60 2371 1997 28816 11255 83.8 1.659
-18.0 95 65.19 2444 2122 31050 11726 85.7 1.611
-16.0 97 66.78 2518 2253 33483 12185 87.6 1.564
-14.0 99 68.37 2594 2390 36137 12628 89.4 1.517
-12.0 102 69.96 2670 2533 39035 13051 91.1 1.464
-10.0 104 71.55 2747 2681 42206 13452 92.7 1.409
-08.0 106 73.14 2825 2835 45683 13826 94.2 1.356
-06.0 109 74.73 2903 2995 49500 14170 95.5 1.306
-04.0 111 76.32 2982 3160 53702 14480 96.6 1.256
-02.0 113 77.91 3062 3331 58340 14754 97.6 1.209 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 116 79.50 3142 3507 63467 14987 98.4 1.163 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.0 118 81.09 3222 3688 69156 15177 99.1 1.118 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0 120 82.68 3302 3874 75488 15320 99.6 1.075 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+06.0 122 84.27 3382 4064 82560 15413 99.9 1.033 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+08.0 125 85.86 3463 4260 90448 15453 100.0 0.993 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+10.0 127 87.45 3543 4459 99267 15455 100.0 0.954 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

So I have Nosler No.2 reloading manuel and for the nosler Partition 160 gr it lists H870 with a max load of 80grs. I decided since I am wanting to load up some noslter for my 7mm Rem Mag and have this powder laying around I would use it. The problem I see is when I put the 79 grs in it since according to Nosler No. 2 this was the most accurate charge for this combo I discovered that the case was full of powder clean to the top of the case. I am still somewhat new to loading so I am not sure if this is normal for this powder or not. I am not willing to try this powder until I am sure this is normal and know how to deal with this paticular situation. Any though Omni?

tio7mm, start with minimum start loads first than work your way up, my most accurate load for this caliber and powder/bullet combo is 74.8grs of H870 with Nosler 160gr part.

my old hodgdon paper complimentary manual has79.0grns of H870 for154-162grn projectiles giving velocity of 3099 out of 26" barrel
77.0 grns H870 for 175 grn projectile giving vel of 2918 bothloads are of corse for 7mm mag

Compressed charges are the norm with H870 in that case. You have to neck it down further or use one of greater volume before the powder is down below the neck in the case on a max charge. or use a heavier bullet. if you can get a bullet started the powder will "crush" or compress when you seat it.

Thanks for all the info everybody.