Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters IMR 4320?

Use it in 250 Savage and 87 gr Speers

It is really good with 150 grain bullets in the 308 Winchester.

It did well in my .375 H&H with 270g TSXs.

One of the best powders in my .17 Remington and .350 Remington Magnum.

Yes. I used it almost exclusively in the .17 Remington. Forgot about the .350: works well with 225 grain partitions.

I also had good luck with it in a few .220 Swift recipes. For the most part my first Swift required fired brass for accuracy so I threw a starting load of 4320 in new WW brass then seated Speer 52 grain bucket-mouth hollowpoints so they were hard into the rifling. The result blew my mind .. sub quarter inch 5 shot groups.

Tom

I used it in the first 22-250 I had. Very accurate loads.

My 7x57 love it.

It's been a long time favorite in the 338-06. Old writings just about stick to it.

With newer powders, like BG, RL-17, etc. 4320 may not be the top performer. But, it's still a good one in that round.

I started out with 4320 in my recent .338-06 project, but find myself using H-380, RL-15 and others, Varget with lighter bullets.

DF

It's what JOC says he used with 140-grain bullets.

Their choices were limited back then, compared to ours today.

DF

Isn't that the truth! If he had the bullet and powder selection we have he'd probably spend more time on the range than in the field. Lucky for us that he lived when he did!

I first started reloading back in the late 1970's. There was a Montgomery Wards store locally that sold some reloading supplies, and I bought a little Lee Loader for my 243. The store had a very limited selection of powder and bullets and the only rifle powder they had that day was IMR3031, which is not really ideal for the 243. I also bought some 75 grain Sierra bullets. The only powder measure I had was the little scoop that came in the loading set, which I found out later measured out extremely mild loads. But, the local groundhogs didn't seem to know that, as it was a very accurate load.

Things have certainly changed.

One of my older hunting buddies when I was in my 20s was probably the only handloader I've known who actually saved money. He had a simple RCBS press mounted on board across the back of one of his small house's closets, where he did all the loading for his two rifles, a sporterized South American Mauser .30-06, and a Savage 99 .250-3000. He ONLY used IMR4320, with the "middle" charge listed in the Speer Manual with 100-grain bullets in the .250 and 180-grain bullets in the .30-06. He also bought whatever bullets were cheapest at the local store, regardless of brand--except for Winchester Silvertips, which he hated because the shot up too much meat.

He fed his family with deer, antelope and elk meat for many years with those loads. Oh, and he used the open sights on both rifles, because he also hated scopes, having seen too many fog or break.

What? Handloading doesn't save money? Blasphemer!

Thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment and components, countless hours of time, endless fretting over details, etc., is all that's necessary to create a box or two of ammo for the fall hunt. Phhhtt. What else of equal value can give so much pleasure? Cases of single malt? British sports cars? Loose women? European vacations? All of the above? I think I'm gonna cry...

Nosler online reloading data for the 7x57 shows the 120 grain BT with 47.0 grains of IMR 4320 achieving 3008 fps MV. I tried this load and it was a hot load for sure, but accuracy in my Brno 98 Mauser (Peruvian Army sporterized) was only about 2" inches and it was a hot day at the range; and I suspect that it is a temp sensitive powder. I got a stiff bolt lift at the 46.5 grain load and didn't shoot the heavier 46.8 and 47.0 grain loads.

Nosler also lists a 40 grain load of IMR 4320 40.0 grains behind a 175 PT producing 2480 fps, which I intend to try at a later date, I have 100 factory seconds (Remington 175 grain) enroute from Midway USA and I will work up some loads to test when I get some nice range weather.

But as of late, I have been favoring the temp stabile Hornady powders such as Varget, H4350, etc. for my reloading efforts.


CJ

34 gr IMR 4320, 120 gr Nosler BT in my 6.5 JDJ (225 Winchester case) was a dream.

I might be the only guy alive who never loaded a drop of 4320. No reason, just the way it worked out over 50 years of experimenting with darn near every other powder under the sun. Strange.

Top choice for my former 338/06. Read it does very well with 120s in 7/08 and 100s and perhaps 120s in 260 and similar rounds.

IIRC, it meters VERY Well......definitely an underappreciated powder, IMHO. I would think it would do well with 150 and lighter in 308 and 06, and also smaller rounds like the BRs. Probably worth a try with Grendel and maybe Creedmoor with lighter bullets.

What kind of muzzle velocity were you getting with that 34.grn load and the 120 Nosler BT? Just wondering because your loads were way lighter than I was trying; but evidently gave you satisfactory accuracy. Maybe that is the direction I need to try with the IMR 4320 powder. But the Nosler on line data shows more than 34 grains as the starting load (actually shows 43.0 gains IMR 4320 as a start load for the 120 gr BT at 2758 fps MV)!

CJ

When I first began to reload for the 270 Winchester, I used JOC's famous 60.0 of H4831 and a 130 grain bullet. After putting the powder in the first case, and seeing how full it was, and realizing that the bullet would be seating on top of it, I became concerned. Called a neighbor who did quite a lot of reloading and he said not to use that much powder, because I'd blow me and the rifle both up. He used 4064 in everything he reloaded for, and I remember looking up the load he have me to try, and it was below the listed starting load for a 270.

Anyway, I finished loading my 270 rounds as I'd started, loaded the rifle up, put the rifle on one side of a tree with me behind it, and pulled the trigger. I probably killed close to 50 whitetails with that load, and never a sign of pressure. The neighbor also killed a pile of deer with his rifle and 4064 load, so it worked for him as well.