The "perfect" rifle powder?

[STORMINORMAN]

Well, I know "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but... Mayhaps, if versitility=perfection, is it in the eye of a reloader?

In searching for a more appropriate powder for 223/5.56s in the lighter weight bullets I came to realize that there was published load data for all my rifle calibers (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF 300 Blackout) for IMR 4064. And IMR 4895 was running a close 2nd.

Perhaps not the ULTIMATE, but I get more than acceptable results in everything from 223 through 270 Winchester, 7x57, 30-30 & 308. There's even data for my friends' 30-06 & 300 Win Mag.

Your thoughts, please?

Cheers!

P.S. The 223/5.56 powder I found was Vihta Vuori N130, BTW. Not too shabby for 30-30 or the lighter weight bullets in 308, either.

 

[Fishinfool]

I like H-4895. It can be used in a huge variety of rifle cartridges, and works well for reduced loads as well. It is sort of the "Unique" of rifle powders.

Larry

 

[John Patrick]

I like H-4895. It can be used in a huge variety of rifle cartridges, and works well for reduced loads as well. It is sort of the "Unique" of rifle powders.

Larry

And it's temperature insensitive.

 

[Cdog]

Big fan of both for the same reasons listed above. H4895 has been a staple at my bench from the beginning. It was only in the last 15 years or so that I've truly come to appreciate the versatility of IMR4064.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

A good centerfire rifle powder is IMR 3031 (Red Can). This unsung powder is what Remington used to shoot the targets that came from their custom shop, including every 40x. (this includes 22 BR and 6PPC rifles!) I have heard that the long-standing World Record Bench Rest Group 222 Remington load was with 3031!

It is a pain to meter, especially for smaller cases, but the accuracy is the reward for your patience! I don't even try a powder drop any more, I just weigh each load! On a good scale 5 granules of powder weigh about 1/10 grain, I can steer a charge into 1/50 gr consistency!

Also is a great powder for 1886/1895 loads in 45-70! I use a 400 gr Gas Check RN bullet at 2200 fps in my Marlin Guide Gun Load (from Lyman #45)

It is not an exact replacement for Cordite, but darn close. In main battle rifles of both World Wars, If you have a Eley Cordite load, the same weight of 3031 will be extremely close to (and just below) military specs. In medium and large bore African rifles 3031 is a great place to start a load work up 1:1! My 450 3 1/4 NE uses 70 grains of Cordite and 71 grains of 3031 in my Westly-Richards double rifle. (load from Cartridges of the World #3)

Ivan

 

[HarpHack]

It always struck me as unexpected somehow that both of these are in the usual short lists for both my 220 Swift and 45-70s - quite a range. Now that prices and supply are problems I keep a list of likely powders for most of my cartridges and try to do the mental calculus to figure when to not use powder A for cartridge Y because it is all I have left that is suitable for cartridge Z and I can still use powder B for Y

Dean in Arkansas

 

[DWalt]

Propellants in the range from 3031 to 4064 are very versatile for satisfactory use with virtually all rifle calibers and bullet weights. Back in the old days, Hercules made a propellant called Hi-Vel #2 which was in that range. Many reloaders considered it as their "Do-All Go-To" rifle propellant and used only it for loading most everything. Much as Hercules Unique was seen as being the universal all purpose handgun caliber propellant. Things were much simpler then when all you needed was a few cans of HV#2 and Unique.

 

[boatbum101]

+ 1 on H4895 . Works great in milspec bolt / gas guns including 556 . I use it with cast in 1903's & Swedes .

 

[HankB]

If I remember correctly, IMR4064 was the powder Federal used to load it's Gold Medal Match .308 ammo. I actually found my M1A accuracy improved a bit when I handloaded match ammo with 4064 rather than the old standby 4895. The one downside is that the 4064 grains are a little larger than those of many other powders so they don't flow as smoothly through a powder measure.

 

[DR505]

added Chart

I am all-in on H4895 as a Jack of All Trades, though for my .270 Win I prefer H4831.

I added a burn chart that shows relative burn rates for many powders.

 

[mtgianni]

When you look a a loading manual there isn't much you can't load with either 4895.

 

[rockquarry]

Regarding H4895... I agree with the comments about it's versatility. Many these days seem to prefer Varget over H4895 much of the time. I suspect many of the Varget users have never worked with H4895 but have read on the Internet where Varget is the preferred powder for many cartridges and bullet weights.

Varget is an excellent powder for many uses and I've found at least one instance where it actually provides slightly better accuracy than H4895. Generally, however, I've found H4895 to be somewhat more versatile than Varget and I've seen better overall accuracy with H4895.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

Either H4895 or IMR 4895 gets it done in .223 through 45/70 for me.

 

[Nevada Ed]

my 22-250 to 30-06 loads all do well with 4064 and 4895 powders.

I have yet to buy the H4895, that is designed for light target loads that
can be a lot slower than the IMR brand powders.

My meat loads in my 270 are all with IMR4064, that are reduced loads and shoot under 1" at 100 yards,
that have very little blood hemorrhaging and meat loss, if you miss the shoulder bone.

My 30-06 meat load is a 180 gr SPBT that is at 2300fps and has 75% of the factory recoil.

Both powders can make loads designed for your type of shooting needs.

 

[DWalt]

During WWII, IMR 4895 was the standard propellant used for loading military .30-'06 cartridges. But I think it went by a different ID number. Many years ago when I was working at the U.S. Naval Propellant Plant in Indian Head MD, there were hundreds of containers of it in storage magazines. They were big square metal cans that held, I think, about 100 pounds each. I am not sure why they were there.

 

[Patrick L]

If I could have only 1, it would be a toss up between IMR 4895 or 4064. 4064 has been my go to . 30-06 accuracy powder since the mid 80s in my bolt gun. 4895 is almost as good(much better than all the accuracy I need) plus it is a standard for the Garand. It's shorter kernels meter better in a progressive. That said, 4064 is well within the accepted burn rate for a Garand, and honestly it meters close enough for all but max charges, which you really shouldn't be cranking out progressively, at least in my opinion.

 

[lppd4]

I like IMR 4350 does everything I need it to do from 243 to 30-06

 

[GypsmJim]

As a newby just starting to load my first caliber - 30-06 - the dealer sold me some dies, a can of powder and a box of bullets. The powder was 3031. I found that it worked great.

51 years later, after having accumulated a dozen more calibers, I have yet to find a cartridge that it didn't work perfectly for me. It's the only rifle powder I use.

Now, my rifles are all used for informal target shooting up to 100 yards, if that makes any difference.

 

[Buford57]

You don't hear much about 3031, 4064 or the 4895s these days. All the "new stuff" - Nosler cartridges, WSMs, 6.5 Everything - has to be loaded with new powders according to the ex-spurts. That's fine by me. I'll use the H4895 they leave behind in my .280, .45-70 and especially my .35 Whelen. It even works in my wife's 6.5 (Arisaka). Old powders in old cartridges for an old...guy.

 

[Dennis2149]

I don't have a .223 but do have a Remington 700 in .222. Even though now discontinued, I was able to obtain several pounds of IMR 4320. Can produce a one gagged hole group at 100 yards off the bench with a 12X power scope if I do my part.