Snowboy
Well-Known Member
For the magnums H 4831 is excellent.
4350 Powders
- Thread starter dgkypke
- Start date
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Do you have your grandfathers loading notes, great selection of rifles. Back in his day there wasn't the vast amount of powders available to people, just to open yourself up check out Ammo Guide, they have thousands of loads listed for almost every rifle. It will give you some insight to the possible powders available. One has to remember you can't change the riffling to get more velocity, it's about hitting what your shooting at. A slower moving bullet does more damage. Lots of luck with your research
RD57
Well-Known Member
H4350 is the only one of the three powders I've ever used. I currently use it in the 220 Swift, 243 Win, 270 Win, 30-06, and 338 Win Mag. It is very temperature stable and I've shot it from 0 - 105 temps. If I were to use a different powder then it would be RL16 which has demonstrated to me the same qualities as H4350.
baldhunter
Well-Known Member
When I did a comparison test with the three 4350 powders all loaded at the same charge weight in my 30-06 with a 165gr bullet,A4350 gave me the highest velocity and the best group,followed closely behind was IMR 4350.It was only about 15fps less and group size was just a tad larger.H4350 was the slowest About 30fps slower and gave me a slightly larger group than the other two.The groups ranged from just under one half inch to just over three quarters of an inch,so really all three powders performed really well in the test.Here is another kicker.I use Winchester cases and they tend to have a larger volume.When all three powders are loaded at the same charge weight,A4350 fills the case the fullest,followed by IMR4350,then H4350 giving the most extra room in the case.I could have easily added one or more grains of powder in the case with H4350 and an easy half grain more with IMR 4350,but I was already at a compressed load with A4350.So If I was to tweak these three loads where they filled the case to the same volume level,H4350 would have most likely given me the highest velocity with a one grain increase,followed by IMR4350 with it's half grain increase and A4350 staying the same charge.I don't know how my groups would have changed,but a little tweaking can make a difference in the results.
I would use 2 powders H4350 is good for the 243 and 338 win mag, the others would benefit to use H1000
You can load everything with 4350 but in the small bore magnums you will have low velocity at high pressure.
You need to optimise powders to the cartrige
You can load everything with 4350 but in the small bore magnums you will have low velocity at high pressure.
You need to optimise powders to the cartrige
I use IMR4350 in my .243 Remington model seven. 35.4gr topped with a 100gr Nosler Partition. Dime sized groups all day long at 150yds. And an absolute deer slayer. When I needed more powder I could only find H4350 so I got two 8lb kegs. The H4350 burns a bit slower than the IMR I started 2gr below my IMR load and worked up. Never got the dime sized groups but it will shoot quarter sized groups at 150yds. If I had the patience to mess with bullet seating depth I bet I could have brought the groups tighter, or perhaps tried the 95gr NPT. Never tried the AA4350. Your goal of simplicity over a number of calibers will force you into the situation where you aren't quite satisfied with the performance of a certain caliber/rifle combo. Each rifle is its own animal and must be feed the proper diet to keep it and its owner happy.
You are only totally wrong trying to use one powder for ALL....WHEN ITS NOT AVAILABLE! Throw few H1000s into your mix just in case
johnnyk
Well-Known Member
"Am I totally wrong wanting to try to use one powder for all? All of the belted calibers listed, Lymans say the IMR 4350 propellant is very accurate. Toss on the next challenge: wanting to get exclusive with hammer bullets because of CA. so load development is even less available…
Ideas? Thoughts?"
No, nothing wrong with that thinking at all. The "4350" is a versatile burn rate, whether it's IMR, H or AA. I have used all of these at one time or another. The deer, bear, coyotes, crows, ground hogs and hogs never knew what propelled that bullet that either terminated them or scared (I do miss!) the be-Jesus out of them.
Some of my best accuracy, in several cartridges, has been with IMR4350. It rocks. Including some you mentioned. I love that powder, but "A man's just got to know his limitations". Use it as a tool or be used as a tool. Work up to your rifles max whether it's July or January.
Seems to me, with the current long range craze, a lot of new (and old) shooters are lead to believe that "Extreme" and other temperature stable powders are the only way to go. That's just not so and creates "niche" shortages within shortages. All good, dry powder goes BANG. It's our job as reloaders and responsible gun owners to find the best and safest combination of bullet, brass, powder and primer to fit OUR rifle(s).
I like and use a variety of powders. I probably have more than I'm allowed but that's another subject for another thread. I believe any rifle/bullet combo can be made to shoot sub MOA with the right amount of the proper burn rate powder. 50 years of reloading, shooting and hunting is good experience.
Ideas? Thoughts?"
No, nothing wrong with that thinking at all. The "4350" is a versatile burn rate, whether it's IMR, H or AA. I have used all of these at one time or another. The deer, bear, coyotes, crows, ground hogs and hogs never knew what propelled that bullet that either terminated them or scared (I do miss!) the be-Jesus out of them.
Some of my best accuracy, in several cartridges, has been with IMR4350. It rocks. Including some you mentioned. I love that powder, but "A man's just got to know his limitations". Use it as a tool or be used as a tool. Work up to your rifles max whether it's July or January.
Seems to me, with the current long range craze, a lot of new (and old) shooters are lead to believe that "Extreme" and other temperature stable powders are the only way to go. That's just not so and creates "niche" shortages within shortages. All good, dry powder goes BANG. It's our job as reloaders and responsible gun owners to find the best and safest combination of bullet, brass, powder and primer to fit OUR rifle(s).
I like and use a variety of powders. I probably have more than I'm allowed but that's another subject for another thread. I believe any rifle/bullet combo can be made to shoot sub MOA with the right amount of the proper burn rate powder. 50 years of reloading, shooting and hunting is good experience.
Theres abig difference in hunting season Temps on the east and west cost vrs the Rocky Mtn states. One day it could be 50 deg. 2 days latter -10 below. Alot of powders can have 1 deg per 1 fps or more difference so that can be 50-60 fps difference that can easily get you in an over pressure situation or crip an animal,
I'll stick with stable powders.
I'll stick with stable powders.
Sound reasoning, I have used imr and accurate in 7mag and 270 both worked fine. I have found accurate to not be as clean as imr leaving alot of residue in my barrel. This did not seem to affect accuracy.
There is seldom one size fits all in the reloading game!
I started using IMR 4451 in my 6.5creed when I couldn't find H 4350. I used 41 gr IMR with Berger 130 OTM Hybrid rather than 43 gr H4350. Groups about the same (1/2") and IMR 10fps faster. Can't answer temp stability as I'm in Central Florida where it's always hot.
Mikecr
Well-Known Member
My I4350 is a bit slower than my H4350. I had to calibrate QuickLoad for this.
Anyway, it happens for me that my IMR is a better case fill, so I went that direction.
Bad case fill -forget the load -regardless of apparent results.
Anyway, it happens for me that my IMR is a better case fill, so I went that direction.
Bad case fill -forget the load -regardless of apparent results.
