Hey guys. I’m looking for a good book on the subject. I’m transferring to the ballistics development team where I work and I need to get a better understanding of powder burn rate and why one powder works better with one caliber than another. For instance Varget works great with a 168 grain projectile in a 308 moving around 2650 FPS. When you use the same powder behind a 6.5mm bullet in a Creedmoor it just doesn’t have the performance and you need to move down to lighter bullets for the powder to perform and end up getting a lot more velocity. To me that would mean you need something burning a little faster to be ideal since the bulletin leaving the barrel in less time. I have been reloading long enough to know what powders tend to work best with which calibers but this job will be a whole different league. We will be developing new and experimental ammo for the military. Since a lot of what we will do is experimental there is really no set powders to work with. I would like to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible before I start. I will be working with guys who have been there for years and have this down to a science. They know ballistics and ammo but they need someone who understands the shooting portion of the equation which is where I come in. All these guys see is velocity and energy on target which we all know is only a small part of the equation. Anyway, in an effort to help me be more of a contribution to the team I would like to educate myself.
