Australian Outback Ammo powder

[graewolf]

I read about this in the Nov 13 G&A issue and Boddington seemed clearly impressed. Several threads across the inter-web seem to hold the same impressions of their ammo. The propellant they use "BTI" (Ballistic Temperature Independence") claims to be relatively unaffected by temperature and is "high energy" powder, something along the lines of Hornady superformance rifle powder. A thread was started on it here back in May but didnt make it past one page of replies.

Has anyone seen more info on this, namely can we get our hands on just the powder? The Australian Outback factory ammo seems really good from the limited no. of reports on it (that I found), but it seems the powder they are using would be outstanding to reload with if it is as good in the factory ammo they make as it is in handloads. The G&A test fired .308 rounds (and 223) that had either been in the freezer over night (and kept in a cooler on ice at the range) and rounds that they actually heated up with a hair dryer until it was "almost too hot to touch." The cold ammo ave. velocity was 2694 (ES-16 SD-8) and the hot ammo ave. vel. was 2699 (ES-11 SD-5). Fairly impressive IMO.

Does anyone know if we can get just the powder they are using?

 

[Laseredge]

I've got some of the .223 69 SMK, the headstamp is ADI (Australian Defense Industries). The Hodgdon Extreme Powders are also made in Australia. Though I have not pulled any apart and compared, I'm betting the powders are right here:

Extreme Rifle Powders

My guess anyway, and also this is really nice ammo.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Powders made for hobbyists are tailored to fit a boutique market. They span a broad range of expected applications.

Powders made for commercial ammo producers are larger volume products, made to suit a specific purpose, and often that results in a composition that really doesn't fit into ay of the 'boutique' slots. I'd say your chances of finding the exactly right repellent in any hobbyist-available chart are probably less than 50/50.

I often tear down and rebuild factory ammo for reasons of consistency and control of loading attributes. When I do, I start with a large stock, and use the average charge as a starting point, testing charge increments both up and down from that number. I use the components from cheap ammo to formulate better loads from those components.

For example, I think it's a practical exercise to reformulate spamcan X54R into loads that are matched more precisely to the ballistic needs of my three home-scoped Mosin-Nagant 91/30's. The same for TulAmmo 55gr and Federal XM855 loads for my AR and Mossberg MVP. Cheaply bought ball ammo can just as easily be considered as inexpensive components for match spec-developed/assembled accuracy rounds.

Once development is done, there will be a comparatively small proportion of orphan bullets and primed cases, which I don't see as a handloader's problem. I never treat these pulled canister powders as anything other than an unknown quantity.

Greg