IMR 4320

[Gunner46]

Looking at the burn rate table shows IMR 4320 falling in between Varget and Win748, but I never see anyone mentioning using it. Seems it should work just fine in a '08 class case.

Anyone given it a shot?

 

[Guybo]

I tried it a while back in my daughters Rem 7 .260 with the Sierra 120gr PH and it worked well for us and produced some very good accuracy in that particular rifle. I still have a couple pounds in the cabinet but I haven't used it since. She has a Rem 700 sps .260 now and we had planned to try it in that rifle too but H4350 is working so well we just haven't gotten around to it yet. Here's the target of that load .....

 

[DrMike]

IMR 4320 is a powder that I use very little of. When I need it, however, I need it. It is useful in a variety of cartridges with smaller case capacity and lighter bullets. The reason it gets overlooked is likely because there are a variety of good powders with similar burn rates that bracket the powder.

 

[Gunner46]

I was looking at 'availability' in my local. As I've stated earlier, on other posts, N. Ohio just Is Not a centerfire reloaders mecca for finding powder. 4320 seemed to show up in a couple of local occasions, so I'm looking into it as an alternative.

In the mean time, I just bit the KA-CHING $$$$ bullet this morning and ordered some RL-15, Varget, and 8208 on-line. I just hate having to pay an extra $40 Haz Mat & shipping. (By the way, I snagged the last 1# of Varget the company had, wish I could have gotten three.)

I know of a local guy who has LVR in stock, but he just bought out the old time previous owner, and is a real jerk to deal with. Hate to give him my $$, just because he has it in stock. I know it's left over from the previous owner.

Still looking for 4320 input. I used it back in the 60's in my 7X57 and it did pretty well. Now I'm looking at my 7mm/08 & 338 Fed.

 

[frankm]

Fell into a pound of 4320 a few years back via a friend and tried it in my 7-08 with 120 grain v max with around 44-45 grains. I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy and velocity. Right with my varget loads.

The small grains of 4320 were also nice.

I think the guys comparing it to varget and 748 are right on !

 

[Dwh7271]

Gunner,
Don't know what part of N.Ohio, but exit 286 on 71 N is Fin, Feather and Fur. (Ashland exit)
They usually have a bunch of different powders. Nice people too. They had some stuff during the last shortage that I couldn't find anywhere else.
No financial interest here, just a thought.

 

[truck driver]

Gunner,
Don't know what part of N.Ohio, but exit 286 on 71 N is Fin, Feather and Fur. (Ashland exit)
They usually have a bunch of different powders. Nice people too. They had some stuff during the last shortage that I couldn't find anywhere else.
No financial interest here, just a thought.

They would come to Camp Perry and you could always depend on them to have powder and primers. Good people to deal with just wish they were closer to MD.

 

[Polaris]

I used this powder extensively in .308 Win, 7,5 Swiss and .300 Sav for several years when I was given 24 pounds by an old high power shooter. It was his favored powder in the M1A and .308 M70 match rifles he used, and he had a lot of jewelry and a couple of trophy rifles to prove it was a good choice.

It was excellent in the medium calibers listed above with 150-165 grain bullets. Metered well and produced some very accurate ammunition. Spotty local availability and data caused me to discontinue use of it in favor of IMR 4064 and Varget. I have been able to equal the performance with these 2, but the old 4320 loads are my yardstick, not the other way around. FYI, I don't get hung up on maximizing velocity, accuracy sells for me. There are some powders that may give higher velocities, but 4320 is will likely be one of the most accurate in suitable applications.

Basically, it doesn't do anything better than 4064, Varget or R15, other than metering better, but it is a very good performer in it's niche. If I shot only .308 in this burn rate, I would probably use nothing else. It's the metrics, heavy match 5.56 and the practical concern in these days of having proven loads for a widely available powder (4064) that made me switch, not the performance.

In my experience, it is very close to 4064 in performance. It's also relatively dense, so is a fine option for smaller capacity cases. Use it with confidence in any Varget/4064 application, especially if you want it just a fuzz slower (with appropriate data of course, it is not a direct substitute.)

 

[Alderman]

I've got a tang safety Ruger 77 7x57 that has never been a tack driver.
I was reading an old article by Clay Harvey and stumbled across a load using 4320.
Put together some rounds with Hornady 139 grain bullets and got the best groups ever out of this rifle.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[truck driver]

I've got a tang safety Ruger 77 7x57 that has never been a tack driver.
I was reading an old article by Clay Harvey and stumbled across a load using 4320.
Put together some rounds with Hornady 139 grain bullets and got the best groups ever out of this rifle.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have a tang safety M77 also but mine is in 30-06 and it had to be glass bedded to shoot well and has not changed POI since but it was glassed from the tang to the for end tip and the barrel floated since the fore arm warped the first time it got wet.
4320 is one of those powders that just gets things done with no drama though it may not produce the fastest loads it does give good accuracy. Being speed crazy we tend to over look it when developing loads.

 

[Gunner46]

Would one of you gracious gents be kind enough to run some QL #'s: 7-08 140 BT and a 338 Fed 200 AB's? 22" barrel and lets say with Fed cases w/ Win LR primers.

This is starting to look interesting.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Polaris]

I should add, in addition to doing well at max loads, it also tolerated reduced load densities with good accuracy. My load in the 7,5 swiss was at about 90% LD and won me a several matches at 200 yd and 300m pushing the Nosler 155.

Had to drop it down a bit to regulate to the military sights for CMP vintage. Just kept the reduced load for the diopter sighted rifle and INT matches. Also shot bugholes from my friends bolt action .300 Sav at the the top of the data with slight compression.

 

[RiverRider]

I had about a half-pound of 4320 a few years back. I acquired it in a swap for convenience from a friend who brought it over to reload some .264 Win mag ammo for his dad. I loaded his ammo with H4831 and kept the 4320, but not for any specific purpose other than for fouling shots and fireforming.

I was very distressed when an arbitrarily chosen intermediate charge of 4320 stacked all four fouling shots into a cloverleaf out of my .280 during a load development trial. I was developing a load using another, slower burning powder and wanted the velocity (and accuracy too, of course) and had no intention of going with a 2500 fps load. I like to think it was just a fluke, and I'm not going to buy more 4320 to prove it to myself. I really DON'T want to know!

 

[super-7]

A few years ago Varget was hard to come by up here , I switched to RL-15 and IMR 4320 for most of my varmint loads in the 243&6mm rem. it burns a bit dirtier then Varget .