Ball vs. IMR-type Powders (Again?)

[Cheapo]

I'm knee-deep in research and have found more info on the sixxa one, haffa dozen 'da othah situation.

IMR-type powders are:
reportedly less temperature-sensitive, BUT
burn hotter
deplete their stabilizers way faster
and meter not-so-great, but folks still get good accuracy.

Ball(tm) types are:
reportedly MORE temperature-sensitive,
burn cooler, extending throat life
much more stable
and meter great.

What's a guy to do? Stability is a biggie for me, especially when thinking about surplus powders. The U.S. Military has special monitoring procedures and cautions for all IMR-type powders (and other stuff not used in small arms), and they are implicated in self-ignition "deflagrations" all over the place.

The good news is that the military does NOT sell any surplus powders to private vendors if actual testing shows the stabilizers to be depleted below 25% of the original level. IOW, if'n it ain't safe 'nuff for Uncle Sugar, he won't sell it to Uncle Surplus.

 

[Fatelvis]

If you`re reloading for 308/30-06, especially for a military arm, use IMR stick powder, you wont regret it. Forget all the crap you hear/read about burning hotter, and throat erosion, its just more stuff to complicate matters. Just worry about accuracy, and enjoying yourself, and after 5000 rnds or so, you`ll be looking to rebarrel no-matter what powder you use. Good shootin`!

 

[cheygriz]

With all due respect to Fatelvis, I quit using stick powders about 20 years ago. Ball powders meter well, give outstanding accuracy, and are usually more economical than the old fashioned IMR type powders.

And if you load on a progressive, like the Dillon 650, you need a powder that meters well.

The IMR powders are great, no question about that, but IMHO the ball powders are better and far more convenient.

For .308, use H-335, H-380, or BL-C 2. for .30-06, use H 450 or H-414. You'll get all of the accuracy you could ask for.

 

[CHAINSAW]

I think that ball type powders are the best thing since sliced bread.

As cheygriz indicated that metering is unsurpassed and you can find a ball type powder that will work well for most applications.

If one loads many rounds of a certain caliber/calibers like I do with 9mm, 30-30, and .223, ball powders work wonders with multiple round loading.

I do use 4064 in a custom falling block I shoot, but I don't load multiple rounds for that rifle.----------Chainsaw

 

[Steve Smith]

I kinda lean toward the surplus stick for high volume larger calibers, myself. Specifically, if a fellow is shooting a .308 or .30-06 for competition, he can get an awful lot of that IMR-4895 for not much dough, and its darn accurate. The deviation due to poor metering is a low enough percentage to the amount of powder that it will works quite well. I stopped using it when I went with an AR, though, because the percentage of deviation was just too high. It still gave good accuracy, though.

Two big points:

#1, The big companies that have a match ammo line are not weighing charges, they're still throwing by volume.

#2, The amount of practice afforded by using the MUCH cheaper surplus powder that is still darned accurate will usually overcome the small margin of accuracy that the new ball powders will give you.

 

[cheygriz]

Steve,

You're absolutely correct on 4895 being a great powder. In my Dillon powder measure, it's about the only extruded (stick) powder that meters ALMOST as well as ball powders. I used a great deal of 4895 in .30-06 before I converted to H414 as my new standard for that calibre.