Does the price of IMR 4895 seem to be going up? I finally make an order to Powder Valley to get powder at a reasonable price. A four pound jug of Bullseye is pretty cheap. But I couldn't afford 8# jug of 4895.

The hazmat was only $20. Wasn't it $30 before??

IMR 4895 is my 'Unique' for rifle loads. In addition to its ability to download 30% is so durn versatile.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Just be glad you are not buying H4895 !!
It is even higher..... the last time I looked.

It is a great powder but in a pinch I find that......
4064 and H380 will sometimes work as well.

Yes, H4895 is a little higher priced than IMR4895 and neither are reasonable. I dont think the prices have increased, I think they still haven't gone down.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I still remember buying USGI surplus powders from my local gun stores, back in the 1970's. 4831, 4895, some of the Winchester ball powders, and others were usually available for $2 per pound, either in a paper bag or bring your own cans to be refilled. Dealers bought the surplus powders by the barrel and dispensed them for customers on demand. Some dealers got fancy, bought quart-sized paint cans and labeled them to identify the contents.

I think that is how Hodgdon got their start, purchasing large lots of surplus powders and repackaging for the civilian market. Demand was good enough that when the surplus supplies dried up they started manufacturing the stuff themselves.

As all the reloading manuals stress, we cannot substitute Hodgdon's for DuPont's products, but the differences are pretty minor and should be no more of a challenge for the home reloader than changing from one powder lot to another powder lot (work up the load carefully and adhere to all safe practices in use).

Just reminiscing here. Some of those "good old days" things.

What calibers are you loading for, rw? I've been messing around with the Hybrid 100V in 264 Mag, 260 Rem and 30-06 and I've been having good results with it. And it is significantly cheaper than IMR 4895, 4350 and 4831 (IMR & H in the last powder). And it meters well too, which you can't say about those long stick powders. In 30-06 it's listed for 165 grain and up bullets on their data website.

I have been using 4350 in the 30-06 with 165/168gr bullets with great success. You said you are getting good results with Hybrid 100V, good in what way? Accuracy, velocity, good SD & ES numbers, felt recoil or what?

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I've been using IMR 4350 also for loading those calibers too and I've found no dropoff in accuracy or velocity with the 100V and it meters a whole lot better than 4350 out of my Lyman 55. I still trickle up to charge weight with 100V, but it's much much closer than the long stick powders and as a bonus, it's more affordable.

Last time I looked they fixed the long grain stuff by introducing......

Short Cut powder.
Never tried it, because 4350 had top fps plus accuracy in my large bore rifles.........
from 130 Nosler, up to a 200 gr B/T Sierra, for 500 yard work.

I guess I didn't need to anyway.

I know that the makers insist that the two 4895s are NOT the same powder. So what, if any, is the difference.

Seeing how Hodgon controls IMR I guess that they are made at different plants.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

They state that "H" is very good used with reduced loadings.....
and not effected by temperature, while this is not noted with IMR data.

I still have two cans of IMR, so it will be a while if I buy some "H"
4895 powder to try out, if the price is right.

My 147 FMJ 30-06 is at 2590fps with the IMR powder....
how low can a guy go ?

Later

30-06, 7.7 Arisaka, 7.62 Russian, even .223 (it works but not that great)

I've used 4895 for everything, especially 'youth' or 'gallery' loads down to 30% of maximum charge and for its tremendous versatility.

I never thought it was that expensive compared to other powders so this seems ridiculous to me. (I'll bet they are going to phase it out for something 'new and improved'.

Here'sa what I'ma gonna do:

Get enough 4895 for my special needs and only use it for those that need its unique properties.

Get a CHEAPER powder for general reloading. I was getting ready to order a bunch from powder valley. I'm glad I held off until talking to you guys.

Thanks a heap.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

...CHEAPER!

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

It's not in the data tables, but I have seen a sheet, I think concerning 'Youth Loads" that says IMR 4895 can be used for loads 70% of max. I've used it a lot in that capacity, and it works great. I think I get around 2600 fps, maybe as low as 2400 fps with a 150 grain. Below that I use IMR 4759 for about 1800-2200 fps. I think it's Unique that goes lower than that, about 1700 fps but you can go on down to like 1200 if you want to. I've got a .357 magnum that can do that, so.....

I experiment a lot and I think 'gallery loads' are fun.

I'm thinking that if I can buy a powder in quantity, that's the way I'll save some bucks.

Um.....I can go PRETTY low.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

4064 would fulfill most of my needs. I checked Powder Valley and 4066 and IMR4895 are the same price. So I might as well buy the 4895. I can save 88 bucks buying on line.

LGS

4895 @ $35/pound = $280 + .06 tax = $296.80 Total

Powder Valley

4895 8# jug @ 174.94 + $20 hazmat + $14 shipping =

$208.95 Total


$296.85 - 208.95 = $87.85 savings

As soon as I come up with the $132 that I WAS going to spend at the LGS I guess I'll jump.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"