Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What's going on with PB powder?'t know if this is the rtight

Don't know if this is the right spot to pose this question, but here goes:

I had heard last summer that PB was going to be discontinued, but when I picked up a copy of the soft-cover 2015 Hogdon Data update, I noticed loads listed for what was identified as "Hogdon PB". Should I just assume the load data was developed and readied for publishing before the decision was made to discontinue the powder? Or is "Hogdon PB" different from the old PB? (I know it was originally DuPont PB, but was it 'IMR PB' in the time since DuPont divested itself of the powder business? Have I just not noticed something here?)

"IMR" stands for Improved Military Rifle, so PB was never IMR PB. Only name I ever heard was DuPont PB.

Boy, I haven't used that powder in years. I bought a pound of it when my first and last pound of Alcan AL-5 was used up.

IMR was also just the name of the company that marketed all of the powders that DuPont used to. They market a number of powders besides those with an I.M.R. designation.

I still have a 1/4 keg of the orginal PB in a 12 lb steel Keg. Smoothest shooting powder that I have every used. My Favorite! Until the price went sky high and they switched to 8 lb plastic jugs. Low recoil and had a great smell with Federal Gold Medal paper hulls. I can no longer afford to buy PB! I heard that the Military used PB for artillery Shells?

For what it's worth, as I recall "IMR" stoof for Improved Military Rifle.

Sometimes it sucks to be this old.

Wow. Ive never heard that. Makes sense.


You must be older than even me.....

PB stands for Porous Base

It will be missed. All my hunting loads for old 2.5" 16 & 12 ga. sxs's are built using it, low pressure, good velocity and good cold weather performance. I don't know of anything that can replace it that is as versatile.

With Sketchy availability of powder, due to the Obama Crisis... there are all sorts of rumors that powders that are not TOP sellers are being discontinued...

I love SR 4759 and Blue Dot.. I've heard rumors that both were being discontinued... so I contacted the manufacturer...

Their customer service people told me, unless you hear it from us, its just another one of the 10 zillion rumors floating around out there...

They denied Alliant was discontinuing Blue Dot and Hodgdon denied that they were discontinuing SR 4759...

so if you don't know, then check with the manufacturer before assuming a rumor is true...