IMR 4064 vs IMR 4895 metering?

[BobCat45]

If you have used both powders and have an opinion on whether 4064 is significantly worse (more inconsistent) metering than 4895, please tell.

IMR 4895 does not meter well through my RCBS Uniflo but it does very consistently through my Lee (laugh if you will).

Running low on 4895, a friend has extra 4064, and I know 4064 is highly regarded in the Garand (people tell me it is better than 4895).

So I'm tempted but having read that 4064 has a reputation for difficult metering I'm wondering how much "worse" it is compared to 4895.

Any light you can shed on this will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[scatterbrain]

Should powder really by rated by how it meters? If my load is important to me I short measure with the RCBS Uniflo and then trickle up to the exact amount. It is part of the reloading experience and always enjoyable.

 

[ballisticxlr]

Both are mediumish size stick powders. I've never had really great luck getting any stick powder to meter as well as I need. Anymore I just don't use volumetric dispensing with stick powders, ball only. If I use stick I weigh every charge. I've had about the same results with both of those powders. It's not usually hard to get +/- .3gr out of my Dillon or RCBS measures but I don't find that that kind of variance is useful for what I do. I require +/-.1gr.

 

[BobCat45]

Thank you gentlemen.

I'm willing to weigh each charge if necessary, but I failed to mention this is for 200 yard Garand matches, so the actual variation is probably not that critical.

Plus or minus 0.3 grains might not matter, it is only 200 yards and my hold may not be that good.

The Lee measure holds plus or minus 0.1 grain with 4895. This works well. The IMR 4895 load I've been using easily holds the 10-ring prone - even with me holding the rifle.

Our club holds four Garand matches a year; that is 220 rounds. Plus some for me to just shoot / practice, I'm looking at loading about 300 rounds or so, loading all of it at once to minimize disturbance of my die setup. I load a lot more .223 (for XC and midrange prone) than 30-06, so I like to load the 30-06 all in one go.

I'm willing to weigh 300 charges if need be, but if 4064 meters not much worse than 4895, throwing them might be an option. That's why I asked for other people's experience / observation.

 

[Unclenick]

IMR 4895 grains are 0.032"×0.056" D×L
IMR 4064 grains are 0.031"×0.083" D×L

The greater length of 4064 grains generally makes them a bit harder to meter uniformly than 4895 grains. However, the Federal GM308M (308 Winchester Match with 168-grain MatchKing bullet) used 43.5 grains of 4064 in the past with ±0.2-grain metering precision in the boxes I pulled down long ago, and it and their 30-06 match load shot just fine to 600 yards. I don't know what their 30-06 match load charge level of 4064 was, but don't expect it was any more precise. I don't think the Garand shooting at just 200 yards will be nearly that picky. The Lee Perfect should do fine with it.

 

[44 AMP]

I use both in an RCBS Uniflow measure. There is no difference I can detect. Both sometimes bind the drum a bit, both give the occasional "crunch" of a cut kernal. And both give the same approximate variation in charges +/- 0.1gr.

Your results may be different...

 

[BobCat45]

Thank you Unclenick!

My thinking is that small charge weight variations will show up as velocity variations, and at only 200 yards such variations will cause insignificant elevation variations.

The only rifle matches I've ever won outright are Garand matches at 200 yards. I have ammunition loaded for the January match but none for March; have primers and bullets, not enough 4895. So the offer of 4064 was very welcome but I was troubled by the reputation for being difficult to meter.

I will jump on the 4064 and try it through the Lee measure. Will weigh charges if it becomes necessary, but it seems overkill for the application.

44AMP - thanks! Looking forward to trying it out. An adventure for the New Year!

 

[Bart B.]

IMR4064 in weighed exact charges has proved more accurate than IMR4895 so measured in 30-06 and 308 ammo with 160 to 180 grain bullets. Metered charges is better with IMR4895 as proved in tests at one of the arsenals some years ago.

 

[Unclenick]

One factor to mention is that powder measures anchored very firmly to a bench throw more consistently than those on flexing or free-standing, but inadequately heavy stands. This is because when grains are cut a vibration goes through the measure that is bigger when the measure is not screwed or clamped firmly to the bench. The vibration settles powder in the hopper tending to cause the next throw after a crunch to be heavy, and the bigger it is, the more it settles. Firm clamping can come close to eliminating that if your technique is consistent.

 

[BobCat45]

Bart B. - thanks! When I actually get the powder I'll try it through the measure and see how consistent it is.

I'm loading 49 grains of IMR 4895 and a 150 grain bullet, and expect the 4064 load to be similar (according to manuals and so forth). So even if it varies + or - 0.2 grains instead of 0.1 grain, the difference between 48.8 to 49.2 versus 48.9 to 49.1 seems small percentage wise. If it is much worse than 0.2 grains I'll throw light and trickle up. I can read my beam scale to 0.1 grain; electronic scale reads finer resolution but I have no confidence in that.

Unclenick - thanks, the mount is pretty stout but beefing it up will be easy enough. And when I feel the measure start to bind like it's going to cut a granule I generally am going slow enough to stop, wiggle the handle, throw that charge without cutting, dump it back in the hopper, and keep going.

When I actually get the 4064 and try it I'll post an update on this. Friend hasn't emailed me back saying he still has it so not counting my chickens yet.

Thank you for your help and assurance.

 

[pwc]

Metering......hmmmm

I have used both powders in my Lyman 55, and yes, you will cut grains. Doing so, the powder throw is not as smoooooth as flake, more like smo ot h. But then, I do not require complete exactness. After set-up, I do 5 drops and weigh them then take the average as the measure's capability for that weight of powder. That is sufficient for what I do.

 

[Metal god]

In my Hornady powder measure they both suck . The best I could hope for was +/- .4gr . Was that the norm , no but often enough to be unable to ignore it .

 

[hounddawg]

I remember a couple of years back one of the posters on another forum posted a pic of a electronic target that was shot at 1000 yards. It was one of those targets that showed the POI and the velocity. His velocities were pretty inconsistent and the POIs and velocities just did not make sense with higher velocities hitting lower and vise versa. Near as I can remember the score was in the high 190's. At the time I blew it off as a fluke but now I am doing some serious rethinking on my reloading practices and wondering if ES and SD really have that much to do with the accuracy.

I had horrible velocity consistency today at 300 on a pair of 10 shot groups that would have all been in the ten ring at a F class match with a lot of X's. All of the charges were weighed on a FX120 and were plus or minus .02 grains from the designated weight yet the ES's were awful

I remember that poster claiming that the barrel harmonics made up for the velocity inconsistency and at the time was sceptical but am now having second thoughts.

 

[BobCat45]

pwc - "That is sufficient for what I do. " - Exactly! It comes down to what is 'good enough' to give one confidence that the ammunition is reliable and consistent enough to hold the 10-ring.

In this case, I'm talking about a 75-year-old battle rifle, 72-year-old eyes, and only 200 yards.

I think I originally posted looking for reassurance that trying 'something new' would be ok. Reading that 4064 meters poorly made me apprehensive, but since 4895 has a similar reputation (but works great for me) I wanted feedback on how they compared to each other.

Metal god - +/- 0.4 grains sounds pretty inconsistent. Your post tells me that once I get the 4064 I need to load 10 rounds - throwing light and trickling up - at 48.5 grains, and the same number of rounds at 49.5 grains, and shoot them prone at 200. Maybe ask a friend to hand me the rounds one at a time so I don't know which is which, and see the results on paper.

hounddawg - we shoot electronic targets in the prone matches and as you say, they give a velocity for each shot and SD. I've scored for people who consistently shot pretty darned well - like, 199-9x - and noted their SDs were in the mid 20s - i.e. worse than most people want. Made me wonder about the accuracy of the readings as well as the relationship between velocity spread and accuracy on the target.

Thanks gentlemen.

 

[GeauxTide]

Before Electronic

Should powder really by rated by how it meters? If my load is important to me I short measure with the RCBS Uniflo and then trickle up to the exact amount. It is part of the reloading experience and always enjoyable.

My method with a Uniflow for 40 years. Recently upgraded my old Lyman DPS 1200 with an RCBS Chargemaster 1500. Heavenly.

 

[hdbiker]

After over 45 years of trying this powder and that powder, with only a nickel worth of difference any of them in all my rifles, .223, 243, 270, 308, 30-30, 30-06, I now use only one powder in all my rifles. IMR 4064. I learned long ago accuracy us much more important than velocity hdbiker

 

[Road_Clam]

I can tell you from personal experience that dropping 4064 through the RCBS Uniflow is the equivilant if chopping wooden matchsticks. I gave up after a year of trying and ended up buying an auto powder dispenser. Matchstick problem solved.

 

[pete2]

I use IMR 4831, Lee Scoop and a trickler. If I shot a lot of rifle I would do my best to come up with a ball powder that was accurate. I had some luck with CFE in .223 but Varget seems better. I've not tried Varget in a measure, may work.

 

[5whiskey]

I scoop 4064. I can get +- .2 like that. I just started using it but it is an excellent powder. My go to .303 British load uses it.

 

[rodfac]

Uniflo here...with both 4064 & 4895, my drops vary +- 0.2 grain...never found it measurable in groups shot out to 200 yds in my Garands and '03's. In my Sako .308 with a 7x Leupold mounted and a firm bench, there was likewise no difference. Bench resters and maybe the F Class crowd might find a winner though. Rod