imr 4227 powder?

[Sebago Son]

I use alot of IMR 4227 in handguns, but not the .357.

In the .44 Magnum shoot 25.0 under a 250 Grain Lyman / Keith and 26.0 under a 200 Grn. Hornady XTP.

Both loads are extremely accurate in 4" 29's and the XTP load very effective on deer. A pal of ours used this load to "finish" a Virginia Whitetail with a headshot from about 30'. Without being too graphic, that XTP exposed the cranial vault and neither ear was ever found.

 

[bmcgilvray]

I like IMR 4227 and I don't know why. It doesn't meter quite as well as many other suitable powders. It doesn't yield quite the velocities that other suitable powders can produce in the straight-walled magnum revolvers. It isn't clean burning, leaving a lot of "crumbs" of yellow-green powder residue in the bore, on the cylinder face, and inside the frame. Despite all this it has proved to be quite accurate for me in the .44 Magnum, .357 Magnum, and even the .38 Special. It appears to be well-mannered in near-max to max load applications. It works well with both cast and jacketed bullets.

It is first rate when used in the .22 Hornet and gives reasonable performance in the .30 Carbine (H 110 is best in my view).

 

[aphelion]

4227 won't give the velocities that other powders might in the magnum revolver cartridges. But it does alright. The biggest plus it has is that for magnum type loads, it may be the easiest powder out there on the gun. Less flame cutting and forcing cone erosion, especially compared to H110 and 296. I established that to my satisfaction years ago shooting silhouette, and I know many others came to the same conclusion.

 

[dcb]

Went to the range this morning and shot the 357 loads 158gr and imr 4227.
So far it appears to be a good load. off hand groups were about 2" at 15yrd.
recoil was mild for most part, no real sharp impact on the hands or wrist.
Shot these out of a 66-1 4" SS.
so far I like real well.
Dave

 

[gusr6]

Hi Folks,

As a newcomer to the land of revolvers, I'm after a bit of advice. I figured it's better to ask than blow myself up or damage my gun.

I'm in Australia and IMR4227 (sold here as AR2205) is readily available.

So... I've bought a pound of it and I'm considering loading .357 magnum cartridges with a 110gr JHP over 21 grains of IMR4227 with standard small pistol primers. (21gr is the max charge in the manual)

I use my 4" 686 normally for target shooting using cast bullets with small charges of pistol powder, but I wanted to load something hot, just for a bit of fun. I don't intend on firing a lot of these rounds through my gun.

My question is: should I use magnum small pistol primers with this powder, or small rifle primers? (seeing as it's a rifle powder) or will the normal small pistol primers do the job?

And I should probably start 10% under the max loads and check for signs of excessive pressure. Shouldn't I?

Cheers,

Gus

 

[acl864]

I've used it in 357 Mag loads with 158 gr. JHP bullets for full house loads. It worked fine for me. I just got a bullet mold for a 160 gr. SWC with gas check and I'm going to try IMR4227 and 2400 with those bullets to see which works best.

 

[acl864]

My question is: should I use magnum small pistol primers with this powder, or small rifle primers? (seeing as it's a rifle powder) or will the normal small pistol primers do the job?

And I should probably start 10% under the max loads and check for signs of excessive pressure. Shouldn't I?

Cheers,

Gus

I use regular small pistol primers with IMR4227 but magnum small pistol primers would work too. Your reloading manual should indicate one or the other for the data they are providing. I usually start out trying to use whichever primer size is indicated when doing a max load work-up. Either way I'd start lower than 10% off max to work my way up. Maybe I'm overly cautious but I usually start closer to the minimum or at the mid-point between min and max and go up from there. Just my two cent worth.

 

[WR Moore]

My experience (noted in another thread on this subject), is that 4227 benefits from a magnum primer. It provides some extra flame to help light up the powder.

There are a couple of other specific small pistol primers made for high pressure/hard to ignite loads, Remingtons 5 1/2 being one, I believe Federal and/or Winchester also make them.

 

[bmcgilvray]

I always poke magnum primers in the cases when IMR 4227 is on the menu.

I'd like to know your shooting impressions, gusr6, when you shoot those light 110 grain bullets using the powder. Welcome to the Forum!

 

[jimbo-indy]

4227 is THE powder in the 357 Maximum, especially with 180 gr. XTP and similar bullets. Burn rate wise, it's slower than most, sort of a transition between slow pistol and fast rifle powders. Probably needs healthy pressures to burn properly.

 

[Snapping Twig]

I have the better part of a pound of 4227 that I bought some 20+ years back. Didn't know what to do with it until I started to look at load data for trapdoor 45-70 loads @ 1400fps.

I'll get back to you when I shoot a few.

FWIW, 4227 is close in burn rate to 2400.

 

[OFT II]

I had never used 4227 until a couple of years ago when someone gave me two pounds of H4227 and three pounds of IMR 4227. I've used it in 38 Special and 44 Special. In the 44 I used 15 grains of IMR 4227 and it makes a light load that is as accurate as any that I have ever loaded before.

 

[2152hq]

IMR4227 works great in the 401 SLR, which is just about the big brother to the 41Mag.
I use 410 cast bullets as they are in mine, though the specs call for .406/.407 dia.
35 Remington cases formed and reloaded on standard 41Mag dies.
Burns clean in the auto loading action and functions fine.
Cast bullets in the 210 to 240 weight range get pushed out at about 2000fps +/-.
I use standard LR primers.
Should work fine in the 41Mag I'd think. Sounds like it does for some folks here! I wish I had tried it in mine when I owned it.

 

[David Sinko]

I will add that it gives excellent accuracy in my Yugo SKS, obviously 7.62x39. What's really amazing is the undersized .308" 110 gr. RN and 90 gr. Hornady XTP HP shoot so well.

Dave Sinko

 

[Nevada Ed]

I don't know if I got a bag bottle or what but I put 18.5C in my 6" 686 Mag and it dribbled out the barrel, pushing a 125 XTP at only 1229fps.................

16grs with a 158Jhp had powder blow back in my face and lots
of unburnt power all over the place,even with magnum primers.
Way too slow for the .357 mag , in my book..............

Win (Hs 6,7)or 2400 is the way to go.