I'm pretty lucky that in my area I have good access to powders and I enjoy trying many of them out. So far, Bullseye, BE-86, 2400, Unique, 700x, Titegroup, Universal, HP38, WST, WSF, Trail Boss, HS6, H110.

Some new IMR powders have come out and just wondering if anyone has experienced the IMR Target powder? I primarily load for 9mm, 38/357, 45acp, 44 and 45 Colt.

Thanks
Karl

Have not tried them yet. For pistol I pretty much stick with bullseye, unique and 2400.

Did just pick up a can of 4451 to try on the rifle.

98% of my reloading and shooting is handguns and target loads , since the great powder shortage I am on constant look out for any handgun powder. At times , no handgun powder would be available. I have heard of of the new IMR them but have not seen them yet and will keep an eye out for them.
What I wanted to mention was Red Dot , I was looking for Bullseye, the ONLY powder on the shelf was 3 one pound containers of Red Dot .....I bought 2 , Great powder, a lot like Bullseye, I like it a LOT , looking for more...but found Tightgroup , HP-38 and 700X ...wish I could find more Red Dot .
Gary

I've tried Imr powders in the past, but always seem to find something that that shoots as good or better and cleaner for target handgun loads.

When I was saving my Unique, Red Dot made for an excellent 45 Colt replacement load.

Red Dot is a very popular shotgun powder so any store catering to the sg loaders should have a lot of it as well as it's cheaper brother Promo. Same powder, no red tags, same data by weight.
My local guy has the new IMR line & I will get a # of Target to try in my 45acp & 9mm/40, minor loads.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I bought some and am currently testing it in 38sp. So far the velocities are pretty high compared to other powders and it seems to be clean. I am using Berrys Plated 158gr and my 38/357 test gun, a Ruger Blackhawk. I had to buy a new chrony so it is taking longer than I wished.

Promo is my primary target powder across all calibers. Cheap, works great and goes a long ways

Well I was able to pick up 1# of IMR Target today at local Cabela's and I picked up 250 Berry's plated 45acp HPT's (Hollow Point Targets) to also try out. Will be a few days until I get to the range to report back, will be shooting these in a Shield 45 and S&W 625 45acp revolver both.
Karl

Is IMR Target a ball or flake powder?

After looking at there loads online, not much difference then BE for target loads in 38 SPL 148 WC and 45 ACP 200 gr .

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

I have used IMR 800-x in pistols and revolvers in the past for full loads.....

but it does not meter well and is pretty bulky, however it works great
in a 38 1 7/8 inch with a 125gr for a maximum loading.

Works for 12 Ga. steel loads also.

Just have a lot of Alliant to burn up before I need to grab the new IMR pistol powders.

It is a flake powder....
Karl

I haven't tried IMR in pistols, but i found out that I really like Red Dot. I've only seen one pound of BE 86 in my life.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

BE86 is regularly available online. Just need to oreder it with some primers to for economics to make sense.

Question: Anyone used new IMR Target powder yet?

Answer: No but we always use other powders and you should too.

I was going to answer " Well, I haven't used it, but I did purchase a pound several weeks ago to try." - but I didn't, because I thought it was off topic.

Seems I should have, I would have been closer to on-topic than most answers.

Oh you bet I use other powders too.........as listed in my original post
Karl

Simply Amazing!

***An update on the IMR powder from my use...........
For me clean burning and pleasant feel to the loads. Cases seem to seal well even in lower charges and come out clean. Nice amount of case volume fill in 45's. Metering for me in my Lee Perfect Powder Measure is not making me comfortable, I will get .2 to .4 swings which does not make me comfortable even though I load midrange and have the room the consistency is not appealing. But it may be time for a better powder measure too, always been thinking about the RCBS and maybe the new Lee Deluxe Perfect Powder Measure?
Karl

The real question is since this is Hodgdon's second answer to Bullseye (the first was Titegroup), can Target do anything Bullseye can't do?

One thing I'd like to know is if it's cleaner burning. Since BE uses low charge wights, it tends to be on the dirty side in my .38s. I'm thinking of trying American Select next for target loads. Does anyone have any other clean options?

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an actual conservative

Thank you for the Update Karl. BTW, I have 3 of the Lee Perfect Powder measures and put them all in a box because I found that the only thing perfect about them was that they were a Perfect PITA to adjust.

I now use the RCBS Competition Powder Measure as my single powder measure and will recommend it very highly. The Micrometer adjuster make it very easy to change the volume to a previous setting so any time I change between calibers I can have my thrown weight dialed in on the dot within 2 or three throws. Since I'll use a powder like SR7625 for a variety of calibers this ability means I can load 9, then 40 caliber, and then 45 ACP by simply adjusting the micrometer setting. Note, I now keep a log of every recipe that includes the micrometer setting to it's real easy to change to a new caliber.

However I will note that with a large flake powder such as Longshot or Unique the Competition Measure is NOT any more consistent than the cheap Lee measure, so if you are using a poor metering powder then plan on hand weighing your charges. This is one reason why I load almost every handgun caliber I load using a powder that meters well. My Primary choices for handgun load are all Ball powders such as H110 or the Accurate 5, 7, & 9 along with the SR7625 and VV 3N37 because they meter superbly. However, I have used CFE Pistol to load 380 and even though it's a smaller flake powder it does meter well in the RCBS Competition measure. I would be curious to know if the new line of IMR flake powders are similar in size to the CFE Pistol, so anyone using both please post.

I too liked and used SR 7625 for many years , along with IMR 4756 . But they both were discontinued a couple of yrs ago . I have a fairly good supply of both but the day will come when they have been used up .
I found other substitutes that work well for me . I too am curious about the new IMR powders , still waiting for reports .

I was taking a liking to the IMR Target but will shun away from a re-purchase due to metering since there are good powders that do meter very well for what I shoot.
Thanks for the recommendation on the RCBS, I will put that on my bucket list I will say for the price though the Lee will do for the majority a good job for me on many powders I have used, I guess there are a few powders that will require each load to be weighed simply because of design and lack of drop powder dispenser compatibility.
I have yet to try the Accurate powders but they are another group I will learn about and try. Gosh reloading is enjoyable!
Thanks
Karl

I have looked at the IMR "colors" in the store. The flakes are the the same size, maybe a little smaller than the Alliant Dots. Haven't looked at Target vs BE.

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an actual conservative

Have to admit I'm a little disappointed in Target. I load for a S&W Model 52 and 2.7 grains failed to cycle the action. Not sure 3.0 grains, the listed max, will have enough pressure to do the trick. Probably the most problematic issue was metering. It was very sticky in my RCBS Uniflow measure. The powder has a very clumpy consistency. Hoping for better luck with 45 ACP.

I'm not hearing good things about the two new powders from IMR...maybe they rushed them to market or just repacked something from the past?

I haven't tried them, and I'm wondering if there is any point in me doing so. As I understand it, IMR Blue, Red, Green, Unequal, & Target are meant to mimic BlueDot, RedDot, GreenDot, Unique, & Bullseye, right?

So unless the new IMR versions are considerably less expensive, or a LOT more readily available, what is the benefit of these new powders with very limited data available instead of sticking with the tried and true originals with lots of load data available?

It seems like suddenly there is a big barrage of new powders on the market . Shooters World from Grafs , supposedly what the accurate powders used to be . The new stuff from IMR . Alliant announced a new powder " Sport Pistol " . Winchester has a new one , " 572 " for shotgun and handgun . Just recently we got the Vectan line back again.
They all will go " bang " , I'm sure . I'm staying with what works for me .

That is interesting as I have only an inexpensive Lee powder drop but was considering the RCBS. The Lee does a fine job on several powders, apparently a better measure isn't always the answer to a powder that doesn't meter well

I also have interest in obtaining a model 52, I will stick to other powders after I use up the IMR Target, I like how it shoots, I'll have to find middle ground on a charge weight and use it in my 625 45acp revolver.
Karl

I have been doing a lot of 3.5" and 5" 9mm testing lately.

With a 115gr ball plated at a oal of 1.12"........
Bullseye to w231 powders get from 1102 up to 1139 in the 3.5"
Unique powder with its slow burn, will turn an impressive 1263fps.

The faster powders drop off with a heavier bullet in the 3.5".
I loaded a 124gr ball plated at the oal of 1.14" and tried again.
Bullseye to w231 came in with 1060 to 1071 while Unique did 1173fps.

If you want to switch from the flake power and go with the "Ball" type......
CFE Pistol gets higher fps than w231 and if you need more, go to BE-86.

With the 5" the faster powders with a 115gr ball just get to 1200fps while
BE86 hits 1300 and Unique bangs out 1350fps.

Too bad the new IMR powders dropped off the Blue Dot powder.....
In my little 3.5" the fps from Unique were embarrassing compared to what I got from BD.

Sure would be nice if they have a little flash retardant and a
better burn at the low fps range.
Later.

I just bought a pound each of IMR Target and IMR Red. I'm not all that impressed except that it was available, a good price and shoots OK.

I've used Target for .45 Colt and .38 Special but (for me) it does not measure well. I use lee dippers and my own homemade dippers mostly with Titegroup which is so easy to work with.

I was searching for .44 Special load data for IMR Red and can't find it anywhere. I will likely use the RED to load .45 Colt and not buy any more.

If anyone has used IMR Red for .44 Special or .44 Mag I would love to hear about it.

So far...........

The new "Target" has three thumbs down.

One for lower fps/energy

and two for not metering well.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

I recently started using 4.0gr Titegtoup in 357 cases under a 158gr bullet for target practice but other than that it's just about all Bullseye and Unique.

4.0gr of Trail Boss was VG in 44spl cases but I do mostly 44 magnum cases now so it's a 240gr bullet over 5.0gr of Bullseye or 8.5gr of Unique for making holes in paper.

I want to stick with only the 3 powders but....some 2400 now and then will be OK.

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

I did not get overly excited about the IMR Target either. Metering was questionable most times for me.
I have since picked up some Alliant 'Sport Pistol' and that meters very well and so far I like it.
One interesting load is the 38 special HBWC which I now load for my Model 52-2 and the fps is @ 707 (their figure)..............very close to what the Winchester Super Match WC ammo is loaded to @ 710fps.

So eventually I will filter through my IMR Target and not purchase again for my needs.................
Karl