Powder temperature stability test

1899

1899

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1899 said:
Excellent article that deals with temperature stability of two Hodgdon Extreme powders, H4350 and Varget, and two IMR Enduron powders, 4166 and 4451.

A long read, but worth it. Reader's digest version: H4350 is the best with a mere 25 fps variation between temperatures of 25° F and 140° F, and IMR 4451 was the worst with 68 fps variation.

http://precisionrifleblog.com/2016/06/19/powder-temp-stability-hodgdon-extreme-vs-imr-enduron/
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Yeah, I agree with the Reader's Digest version. My conclusion was that IMR has more work to do in catching up to the ADI powders from Australia, that are sold under the Hodgdon Extreme name. Too bad, as I would rather buy Canadian than Australian...
 
Ron AKA said:
Yeah, I agree with the Reader's Digest version. My conclusion was that IMR has more work to do in catching up to the ADI powders from Australia, that are sold under the Hodgdon Extreme name. Too bad, as I would rather buy Canadian than Australian...
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Ehhh....no Canadian made powders here. Hodgdon (American company!) sources powder from all over the world and repackages them under their own name and ID number. AFAIK, they don't produce any of their powders but I could be wrong:p
 
RifleDude said:
Ehhh....no Canadian made powders here. Hodgdon (American company!) sources powder from all over the world and repackages them under their own name and ID number. AFAIK, they don't produce any of their powders but I could be wrong:p
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IMR powders are made in Canada.
One of the locations of the newly constructed plants was Valleyfield, in Canada. This plant continues to be the primary supplier of IMR Legendary Powders today
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http://www.imrpowder.com/history.html
 
That temperature range they used for testing isn't applicable to many places in Canada.
Should have tested to at least -15C to make it useful for most Canadian hunters.
 
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Mad_Mikee said:
I always go with the Hodgdon extreme powders in my rifles (H4350, Varget, H1000).
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And don't forget about the IMR 8208 XBR option. Even though it has an IMR designation it is made in Australia by ADI and is one of the extruded temperature insensitive Extreme powders like H4831, H4895, and the others you mention.
 
jethunter said:
That temperature range they used for testing isn't applicable to many places in Canada.
Should have tested to at least -15C to make it useful for most Canadian hunters.
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I suspect the relative performance would have remained the same, no?
 
1899 said:
I suspect the relative performance would have remained the same, no?
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Maybe, but mostly I suspect that a test that covered a useful temperature range would be more accurate for us than a test that was based on the climate in the southern USA.
 
68fps still isn't bad for that much swing in temp, you wouldn't notice it in the big game field.
I agree a test should be done here in our climate....so let's do one.
 
Ron AKA said:
And don't forget about the IMR 8208 XBR option. Even though it has an IMR designation it is made in Australia by ADI and is one of the extruded temperature insensitive Extreme powders like H4831, H4895, and the others you mention.
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I never knew that but 8208 is one of my favourite powders for 223. It meters great and produces accurate ammo.
 
It is the reason that I always do my final sighting in just prior to hunting, the variation are negligible,
temperature sensitive or not I don't take chances anymore, I learned my lesson the hard way.
bb
 
1899 said:
Also curious to see how non-temperature sensitive powders would have performed.
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Hodgdon has published some numbers based on temperature extremes of 0F to 125F, and compared some of their powders to the competitors. Manufacturer info, so buyer beware. And they do not publish what the intermediate velocity values were compared to the extremes. That said the Hodgdon Extreme line does look pretty good. It is almost exclusively used by the top PRS shooters in the US.

best-reloading-powder1.png
 
Thats good to hear that h4350 works good with temp swings. I havent had a chance to check that powder, but I did do varget last year and from around -5C to 24C with a few tests from the magnetto, I only saw I think it was about a 5-6 fps difference. So Im not really believing that info from that link. :/

Id say its best to do your own individual testing. :)

Also its to late this year but Ill spend some time next summer-winter and make a chart for varget/h4350 at 30,20,10,0,-10 and -20C.
 
Last year I developed a load for coyotes with my .243, dead of winter averaging -10c, using 43.8 grains of IMR4064. I chronographed the load @ 3925-3950 fps.

This summer/fall, I've been sighting in my new scope using the same load and same (previous) ballistic info (velocity) in the Vortex Ballistic App. But it was shooting low at distances past 300m.

I re-chronographed the ammo, and was surprised to see a 100fps change with temps 20c higher (+10c) than previous tests... Down to an average of 3825-3850 fps.

I've chalked it up to having a very cold rifle and warm ammo when doing the original test, possibly pushing the pressure/velocity higher from the tight fit between the cold/contracted barrel and warm/expanded cartridges...
 
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Boomer74 said:
Last year I developed a load for coyotes with my .243, dead of winter averaging -10c, using 43.8 grains of IMR4064. I chronographed the load @ 3925-3950 fps.

This summer/fall, I've been sighting in my new scope using the same load and same (previous) ballistic info (velocity) in the Vortex Ballistic App. But it was shooting low at distances past 300m.

I re-chronographed the ammo, and was surprised to see a 100fps change with temps 20c higher (+10c) than previous tests... Down to an average of 3825-3850 fps.

I've chalked it up to having a very cold rifle and warm ammo when doing the original test, possibly pushing the pressure/velocity higher from the tight fit between the cold/contracted barrel and warm/expanded cartridges...
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I would absolutely chalk it up to something because that is the strangest thing I have ever heard !
Talk about bucking the norm, I am sure there is an explanation somewhere.
My experiences and I am sure many others is that the velocity goes down with the drop in temperatures.
You did the right thing by developing and sighting in close to your hunting season, it is what I also do,
I don't depend on any powders temperature stability.
BB
 
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