Does anyone have any information about this powder? The box says to use 3031 data but that doesn't seem right. In .308 Win the Hornady manual says 46 gr tops but 42 gr is well and truly compressed. I know I can back off another few grains and work up, I just thought someone might be familiar with this powder. Thanks!
Higginson CR17 powder
- Thread starter 762shooter
- Start date
periculumnexnecis
CGN Regular
- Location
- Kébecistan
How old is this powder ?
This is an old powder that was sold, IIRC by Ammomart, the forerunner of Higginson's. It was a surplus powder sold in the 60's I believe and IMR3031 data was recommended for reloading. Unless you've got a lot of this old powder, I'd discard it seeing it is likely 60 or more years old. Ok, where's Ganderite, he's the foremost expert on this stuff.
CR17 was a lot of Dupont military powder made for loading the 303. The lot sold by Ammomart (many thousands of pounds) was rejected by the military because of excess muzzle flash.
If 42 gr is all the case will hold, it must be military case. (Or your scale is off??)
If you want 46 gr, you had better be loading a 125 gr bullet and no heavier.
3031 data is good. Don't use any more than what the book says for 4895.
This lot of powder does not store well. Watch for a terrible smell and yellow dust. If that happens, it has gone bad and should be thrown out. The spoiled powder is very acid and will eat things.
If 42 gr is all the case will hold, it must be military case. (Or your scale is off??)
If you want 46 gr, you had better be loading a 125 gr bullet and no heavier.
3031 data is good. Don't use any more than what the book says for 4895.
This lot of powder does not store well. Watch for a terrible smell and yellow dust. If that happens, it has gone bad and should be thrown out. The spoiled powder is very acid and will eat things.
Thanks for your clarification about what this powder is, Ganderite. I have a jug of about 2.5 lbs, it has no unusual smell or appearance.
I neglected to mention the bullet I was loading for. I was trying to work up a cheap plinking load using CETME 112 gr bullets to shoot in my Israeli M 98. As I'm sure you are aware, these are an odd bullet with a plastic filler in the tip making them long for weight. I was using civilian full length resized brass. I guess due to the odd bullet, there was less room for powder than I would have expected for the bullet weight.
In any case, they shot fine. The cases don't show any abnormal pressure signs. They Chronied at about 3125 fps (avg) and shot reasonably well given open sites and old eyes so they will work well as a cheap plinking load. I paid $8 for the jug of powder and the bullets cost me about $.08 each so I guess my per rnd cost is about $.10 each!
Last edited:
