H4227 vs IMR4227 vs H4227
Well in my opinion, I think Hodgdon has created a confused mess with these.
I thought I'd use 4227 as my "burn-thru" powder in the cavernous 460 Mag I just started reloading for. It's slow, but not too slow, pretty plentiful & not
too over-priced around here. The only one of the two powders available in several shops around here though is IMR4227, which didn't matter one way or the other to me.
Hodgdon's online Reloading Data Center website:
- almost exclusively has data for H4227 on it for (15) big-bore pistol cartridges, 460Mag included.
- IMR4227 is only listed for (3) big-bore pistol cartridges: 44Mag, 45Colt/Ruger only, & 480Ruger.
- IMR4227 & H4227 are both listed for the 45Colt/Ruger, but
not together for the same bullet, each by themself with different bullets/types.
- No pistol cartridge lists both together with the same bullet/type.
- Both powders
are listed together with the same bullet
only for the 357Mag (125gr & 158gr HDY XTP) & 44Mag (240gr Nos JHP -attached-) in the
rifle section & both powders have the
same exact reloading data/specs: bullet type/grs./fps/psi/COL.
I've read all the talk about which one's still made, & if they're made in Australia they're the same no matter which label is on it, etc...
The (2) bottles I bought were both made in 2014 in Canada.
I decided to see what Hodgdon had to say about this & sent them an email asking if they're the same
now & I only find IMR4227 available currently. This is the complete response:
"They are not exactly the same but you can use the same loading data using the starting load and working your way up watching for pressure signs. Mike"
I think it's commonly stated that pistol over-pressure signs aren't always obvious. (One low pressure cartridge it's listed for is the 38 Spcl.) I've seen where other people say Hodgdon told them they're the exact same. Either they are the same powder or they aren't. Hodgdon should be able to make this prefectly clear. It's not clear to me, though their
select reloading data seems to say they
are exactly the same, but if they are not the same exact powder they should publish data for each. Most reloading manuals list each powder separately & with different data, if they're together, though it's largely dated material. Hodgdon can give us current data now on-line.
Since the 460Mag has a max. pressure of 65K psi & most reloading data only goes to about 55K psi there's plenty of headroom in this cartridge but what about others? I wish they'd do better.
.