I have done very little rifle handloading in the past 20 years. My favorite loads for the 6mm Rem and 30-06 used IMR 3031.
I have started to reload again but find very very few references that address this powder. What is wrong with 3031 or what is better with other powders???
Thank you!
Bob J

If your rifle likes it, why not?

It is slightly fast for deer weight bullets in both calibers, but if you are getting the accuracy you want and the velocity is satisfactory go for it.

Would be curious to hear what your favorite 6mm/3031 load is.
3031 seems pretty fast for use in a 6mm. 4831, or similar, generally provides better performance, at lower, more predictable, pressures. I was a fan of the 95 gr Partition in my 6mm.

3031 is a favorite of mine under a 200 grain bullet in 35 Whelen.

I use 3031 in my .223 and .308

I load a few cartridges where 3031 would be a fine powder, but I like to load straight from a powder measure and 3031 is like little Lincoln Logs. For my applications I like the shorter cut extruded powders like 4895, 4320, Varget, RL15 and N140.

Thanks MM. I was contempalting using this powder because I can not find any Varget or IMR 4350. Cabelas and Bass Pro both have a pretty good supply of 3031, H380, and V100 (which I don't have a load for). I'll go back to H380.

It works well with light varmint bullets. My uncle used to load 110 varmint bullets for his .30-06 with 3031. I don't know his recipe. He later bought a .223 and didn't have to use his deer rifle for groundhogs.

How about H4350? If you can't get IMR the H version is really good in the same applications.

Nothing is wrong with it, they just make the much better metering Benchmark

One of the down sides of IMR-3031 is it has a history of ringing barrels if you leave too much powder space open it a case so be aware of that, and if you have a lot of space then use a DACRON filler to prevent this scenario.

Another way of handling this situation is use a better powder, 3031 is pretty much outdated anyway IMO, unless you just happen to have a bunch of it.

This is the first that I have heard of IMR's or Dupont's 3031 ringing barrels in normal use!

3031 is a sentimental favorite of mine. I use it extensivly in the 358 Win with 180 gr bullets and 200 gr bullets. Also I used it for decades in my 6mm Remington International for 200 yard target shooting. My rifle is a 40X that was so chambered by Remington with a 1-10 twist barrel. I used that barrel for many years and it wore out from throat erosion even though the load was light. I loaded 30.8 grs of 3031 behind the 75 gr Sierra. That is a low pressure load with considerable space and no filler was used.

The use of that load was very important to me. I wanted to get and did get the high average award many times at both the Blue Trail Range's Big Bore League and at the similar league at the Bell City Rifle Club.

The Douglas barrel on the 40X is in excellent condition as was the worn out Remington barrel. In my experience 3031 does not ring barrels. I currently have it in 8 lb. containers.

The 6mm International cartridges

Yes, now that you mention it, Cabelas did have H4350. Good to know about 3031 though, I may still try it out one day

3031 is a darn fine powder burn rate...

however in today's world it is not on the trendy scale, so no one thinks it is worth anything...

like a lot of older powders, it is more than up to about any job you want it to do..and will do it accurately...

There's that 'trendy' powder statement again, WTF is a 'trendy' powder?

Thank you all for your responses. I looked for my old records but couldn't find much. I recall loading 6mm Rem with 60 to 100 grain Sierra HPBT. The only thing I found was an old box with 85 gr HPBT and 36 gr 3031. That was my favorite and most accurated load.
Currently I have loaded the 30-06 with 180 gr Sierra Spitzers and 42.5 gr of 3031 for my Merkel DR. These produce 1" groups at 50 yds with 2 shots from right and 2 shots from left.
Bob J

rjj771

For many years my go-to 243 varmint load was 37.5gr of 3031 with a Hornady 75gr HP.

WN

3031 shines in cartridges like 45-70,30-30,etc.I use to use it a lot in .308 and .06. My.308 likes 4064 better and now I use 4831 in my .06

The first time I tried using 3031 it was in a 45-70 cartridge. I started with a light load and took the first three cartridges loaded out to try (about 2 weeks ago). First one went POP. Primer detonated but NOT the powder. I cleared the bore and tried again. POP. SAME RESULT! Only primer - no powder ignition. This is from a case about half full of 3031 (no filler). I pulled the last bullet and dumped the charge. I touched a match to it to test whether I had a bad can of powder (just bought new and sealed). The load burned just like I would expect it to. BUt I am not going to rely on a powder that wont ignite with a standard large rifle primer two out of two tries. I have used hundreds of other primers from this lot and not had a single misfire.

If memory serves me right 3031 is on the slow side for the 45-70 and would normally give pretty low pressures even with a pretty full case. I've had light loads of h322 fail to go off in 45-70 because it was too far away from the primer in 4570. I would say there most likely isn't a problem with your powder but perhaps your choice of a really light load. I wouldn't condem it because of what happened in that instance.

Those lite loads of 3031 should be filled with dacron to keep the powder in the botton of the case. I load a 450 BPE which is once and a half the size of the 45-70 case and use between 12 and 14 gr of dacron stuffed between powder charge and bullet. You get a little "snow" when fired but it goes bang every time.
Bob J

If I try loading it again I'll definitely use a filler.

I actually started reloading for the 30-06 in 1977 using what was then DuPont 3031. I used a load of 47 gr and a 150 gr Sierra. It worked OK, but I found better performing powders. I still use some 3031 for the 35 Remington, but even there I've gotten away from it and went to H4895 and AA2520. The IMR powders just don't meter well. I use H-4350 for the 30-06 now.

I had a guy tell me to use it in my 444, but I think it's much too slow for that application. I use H-4198 in the 444. If you still have some, use it. I just wouldn't replace it when it's gone.

I have probably ran about 300rds through a 45070 with fairly stout load of 3031. Never failed to go bang fully and like two fairly nice bulls with it. I'd agree it was the light load, as I used no filler

Bet you'd find differently with a charge of 50 to 53 grains of 3031, as listed in some really older load manuals, long before the attention of the legal field as a way to make a fast buck at the firearm industry's expense...

Well Steely,

if you can't figure it out, then evidently it would be hard to explain it to you...

+1 Seafire...an avid reloader has no problem figuring out what you were saying.....always love the guys that got to use the WTF abbreviation.

I just stumbled on this thread. I'm using IMR3031 in several .30 cal and 7mm cartridges, some for 20 years. Loads are very accurate and deer die. Don't know or particularly care about FPS or optimal burn rates as I'm too busy vacuum-packing venison. <grin>

My '06 load is 46 grains of IMR3031, CCI200 primer, Hornady 150gr Interlock SP #3031. I also use it in my 308 and 7mm-08, my son's 30/30 and a "loaner" .243. All have consistently shot <1" at 100 yards except the 30/30, which shoots 1 1/2" every time. I don't think either my sons or I have killed a deer in the last 20 years with any other powder.

Ron

I found 3031 nearly ideal for near max loads in the 45-70; Elmer Kieth's favorite 53gr. 3031 & 405gr. bullet. Excellent for .308 and 30-30. If it works in your 30-06 then I would use it.

I have had good results in my .358 Win with 3031.

I use 3031 for an 1891 and a 1909 Argentine Mausers in 7.65 Argentine/Belgium.

3031 produced best group for me in my MexMauser 250 Savage.

update - apparently a half case of 3031 is not the way to do it in 45-70. But 36 grains behind a 405 grain plain base cast lead bullet makes a nice white tail load, and 46 grains makes a moose killing 45-70 load

Beyond that I have had good results with 3031 in 7.62x39. In fact I just bought more 3031 today.

Since the time of that post I have done a bunch of loading with 3031 straight from the powder measure into 308 Winchester cases. I got over worrying about crunchiness through the measure when I got small groups over and over again.

This post reappeared yesterday as I was out at the range with two .308 rifles. I was comparing loads with Varget (I have a little left) and 4064. 5 shot groups were ho-hum, on the order of an inch and a half, adequate for deer hunting this fall.

I had some loads with 3031 that I was going to just practice with off-hand. I decided to try them at the bench with one rifle. 5 shots went into .7 inch, center to center. Hmmm,I thought, I had better try the other rifle. 5 shots went into .8 inches. 3031 just became my powder of choice.

I was at Sportsman's Warehouse yesterday and there were three 8 pound jugs of IMR3031 on the shelf. Probably should have bought one.
Paul B.

3031 has always loaded great in the 308 Win. IME too.
These days I usually load Varget in it, but 3031 still loads as good as it ever did.

Back when I was a kid, when I was more of a hunter than a shooter, and before we worried so much about bbl twist rates & bullet BCs, I used to load 3031 in my 270 Winchesters under 90gr Sierra HPs for hunting coyotes.

Fast, flat and devastating on those songdogs,
Talk about DRT.........

When I bought my .244 40XB in 1966, the factory target was with 3031 and 60 gr. Sierra bullets.

Remington Custom Shop evidently thought a lot of IMR 3031 to place their reputation on the line with that load.

BTW, I recently sold that gun here on the Fire Classifieds. The 15 shot aggregate of three 5 shot groups was .38".

DF

There is nothing wrong with 3031 Powder !
Mike Walker,Head of the Remington custom shop for many years, inventor of the .222 Rem & .222Rem Mag as well as Multi champion Bench Rest Shooter, told me "the accuracy test load for the 22-250 Rem Cartridge was 33 Grains of 3031."
I have used it in many cartridges, but the load which I find the most impressive is 53 Grains under a 400 gr Speer Flat point,for well over 2000 fps in my Straight Grip Marlin 45/70 !
That is energy !!
Some guys at the Gun club ask to shoot it, but they never want to shoot it twice !

Rich

I picked up 11 pounds of it at an excellent price.. It does fine in my Swifts and .22-250's..

Ray,

What is "ringing" in a barrel?

I have loaded for a 700KS in .270 for many years. A max load of 3031 behind a 110 Sierra shoots into much less then moa and runs 3350fps out of a 24" tube. Whats not to like?

This statement quoted below by Ray Atkinson is wrong.

I have used IMR's 3031 since 1953. I have won many target matches with my 40X match rifles shooting IMR's 3031.

The barrels lasted for a long time and best of all it's reliable and I won the matches.

I use it for 358 Win with 200 gr bullets too in my BLR.

How is 3031 outdated?

It's lasted longer than he has, his post is 6 years old.

It may not feature some of the technological advances of some of the newer powders, but IMR3031 shore makes my .30-30 shoot good!

I think Ray must've had a brain fart! :-)

Powders being 'outdated' is a screwy concept...

came into some pull down pre WW 2 vintage IMR 4895, from ammo I disassembled.. dates on the cases were from 1936 to 1941...

tested it out in a 22.250, and compared it to current production IMR 4895....

The 1930s stuff actually shot tighter groups...

if 3031 shot well and performed well in any cartridge you want to choose say from the 1930s or 1950s.. why would it be thought that it would perform differently in the same cartridge currently....

a 30/30 is a 30/30 still, just like an 06 still is an 06, etc...

some think, a newly released powder has to be better than older powders, or they wouldn't have released it...

that is what I refer to as what is currently "trendy" and what isn't...

I'm told on this site that RL 7 isn't a good powder for a 22.250 for example...

yet I still find plenty of data around for it... and it will still perform just fine with highly usable velocity, with bullet weights from 55 grains on down in that cartridge...and gives some of the fastest velocities I have seen with light bullets, same in the 223...

too many folks think if a powder won't yield the fastest velocity possible in a cartridge, then it is either 'obsolete' or its " too fast" to use in that cartridge...

I was under the impression that the original IMR powders were all the same mix, just in different shape/sized granules. I'd have a hard time believing that a sane charge of 3031 ringed chambers with enough frequency to develop a reputation. I've not tried 3031 for reduced loads in anything, as there are better powders for my purposes, like 4198 or 4227. I can't imagine why it wouldn't work with at least 60% case fill though.

I've had good accuracy with IMR3031 with 170's in 30-30, 150's in 308 Win., 300's in 45-70, and 55's in .223. I don't know why I keep looking for something better. Maybe I'm catching the Loonies?

3031 and most of the older IMR powders work just fine; I just don't like how many of them meter.

Even then, they meter well enough to shoot small groups and don't seem to exhibit linear behavior on the chronograph.

If limited to one rifle powder, the reams of data for 4198 on up to 4831 IMR powders brings to light how flexible these single base powders can be.

Do you mean nonlinear?

Bad choice of words.

Single base powders seem to behave more predictably at near max levels than many double based, high nitroglycerin powders.

You would bring the whole "math" thing into the equation.....)(grins)