Ramshot Wild Boar Reloading Powder

Ramshot importers Henry Krank & Co Ltd. sent me samples of all their rifle powders and I thought I’d do one at a time, using their data and the calibres I shoot. I’m starting off with Wild Boar, which is only available in Europe. It’s a double-based, high energy propellant and fully REACH compliant, as is their whole range, which is required these days as by 2018 non-REACH compliant propellants will be banned.

Pick ‘n’ mix

I originally picked Wild Boar for my 222 Remington, based on a custom CZ527 action, as I use Ramshot TAC for my 223 Rem AR15 with good results. I decided to use 55-grain V-MAX bullet for the 222’s 1-12” twist, 23” barrel. Data is specific and shows just two bullet weights 55 and 60-grains. Ramshot quote figures using a 24” 1-14” tube, this twist rate is pretty old school these days. You get minimum (21.5-grains) and maximum (23.8-grains) with pressure and cartridge overall length (COL) included. At 23.8-grains, it was making 3025 fps but shot just over the ½”, good enough you might think! But backing it off to 23.5-grains produced 2988 fps and sub-1/2” groups with an extreme spread of 32 fps, which was acceptable. COL for the 55-grain pill is 2.120” and it shoots well out to 400 yards.

Intermediate 6.5

Next, my 6.5 Grendel, with its 22” and 1-8.5” twist rate, again using a CZ527 receiver for its custom build. I use the 95-grain Hornady V-MAX, as it strikes a good balance between speed and performance in this intermediate calibre. These days, it’s more a fox rifle, but with the ability for Muntjac and Roe deer. Ramshot says data is for AR15-based rifles with 20” barrels and a 1-10” twist. Minimum load with the V-MAX is 29.3-grains and maximum 32.5-grains and from the latter I get 2884 fps, which gives me 1700 ft/lbs + and 24 fps ES. The COL is 2.200 and it shoots just over ½” @ 100m, so more than up to task. The data covers 85, 95, 100, 107, 110, 120 and 123-grain weights.

8X57

At the other end of the scale, is my Blaser R8, with its 22.5” 8x57 JS Mauser barrel. Data is collected from a 1-10”, 24” barrel, so I was expecting a bit of a drop. My quest was a heavy 196-grain bullet for pigs, Ramshot show three weights and loads:

150-grain min 47.3 max 52.5, 170-grains min 45 max 50 and 220-grains min 40.5 max 45. Using Norma Vulkan 196-grain bullets and 45-grains at a COL of 2.953” got me 2407 fps, with an ES of just 5 fps and .75” groups.

Wild Boar covers 42 calibres from 17 Rem Fireball to 550 Magnum, but obvious exclusions are 243 Win, 6.5 Swedish and 6.5 Creedmoor. However, the big players like 223 Rem, 22-250, 308 and 30-06 are there along with the bigger bores. For me it seems best suited to the smaller centrefires and the larger ones from .308 upwards. It meters well and generally showed good consistency and ability. Data and burn rate charts are available from Henry Krank’s website or Ramshots’, it’s available in 1lb/454g bottles at £39. Please note that the Wild Boar information is separate and not included in Ramshot’s main load sheets.