If H-4350 all of a sudden no longer existed, what would be its replacement for you guys?

Pick 1 powder for use for 6.5 Creedmoor to 30-06?

Accurate 4350 or AA2700 have been good.

IMR4350 is fabulous with 140s in my Creedmoor and an old school classic in 30-06.

I would also look at IMR4451.

Staball works good.

Accurate 4064. It's a bit faster burning and velocites are generally a little pedestrian compared to 4350, but every cartridge I've stuffed it in has shot extremely well with bullet weights from 110-180 grains. I took to using it after IMR 4320 suddenly did no longer exist.

I still have a couple pounds of 4320 squirreled away, but it's for special occasions, and A4064 is the general workhorse for pleasure shooting now.

I switched to RL16 for my 6CMs and the H4350 is relegated to the shed.

RL16 for the 6.5CM here also. Have 2# of H4350 just sitting. Have not tried it in 30-06. Like IMR4064 for the 150gr bullets in 30-06. Have a good load with H4350 and 180gr bullets in the 30-06, but I don't use it much any more.

Depends on how desperate you are. PV had some this morning so it seems like the IMR's and a few others are starting to come back. Just have to keep looking.
I agree that the 4831's do well with heavier bullets.

That

+1 on that. PV has had it a couple times in the past week. Just ordered a few pounds of IMR3031 and A4064 from them last week.

Out of all the bigger online shops, it seems like they've had the best selection of powder by far for the past month or so. They even had a bunch of Alliant powders a week or two ago, and that stuff has been rarer than a mofo. It was pretty much sold out inside an hour, though.

Staball 6.5

RL-16 over H4350

Great question. I was in the shop yesterday thinking about loading up some 30-06, then saw I had 1 pound of H4350 left. I then quickly eyeballed the Big Game I have 5 pounds of. Some guys I've been shooting silhouette matches with say they have been using Staball 6.5 in their creedmoors with excellent results. As long as I own a creedmoor, 30-06, and my 338wm I'll always have H4350 on hand. If I ever saw IMR4451 for sale I'd be half tempted to buy it though. Seems like everyone is raving about that powder. Maybe more of you guys will buy alternatives and it will be easier and easier to find H4350?? Luckily I just bought 5 pounds of H4350 a couple hours ago, so I don't have to resort to other powders just yet...

Everything I use H4350 or H4831 in also works pretty well with the other (6mm Rem., .270 Win., 7x61 S&H Magnum, 7mm Remington Magnum, .30-06, .300 H&H Magnum, and .300 Winchester Magnum).

4451.

IMR 4451. Although I have limited experience Mule Deer has mentioned that it performs quite similar to H4350. My experience with IMR 4166 and 7977 Enduron powders is that they really reduce copper fouling. I expect 4451 to do the same.

IMR-4350, RL-17, H100V
But H4350 isn’t going anywhere. Midsouth has some 1lb today.

IMR 4451 or Vectan Tubal 7000 would be (and are on my shelf) as replacements for H4350.

RL16, IMR4451

Had.. and not for very long..

RL16 has worked better for me everyplace I’ve tried it where I tried 4350

SB6.5 seems very good so far as well.

I switched to RL16 a few years ago because it was available everywhere and H4350 couldn't be found at all. Now you can't buy RL16. I have a couple pounds and I don't go through it real fast, but it works well in my 270 Win., my 30/06, and my 338 Win. Mag. So I'm a little worried about running out and will probably use more of the RL15 that I also have instead of the 16, when possible.

People keep talking about H4350 (or Varget, or other Hodgdon powders) being non-existent, but I haven't seen any Alliant Powders (RL) in over 6 months.

R17 !!!

4451

Tubal 7000 has worked very well for me in the 30-06. It's basically a temperature-insensitive European 4350. Can't find it anywhere these days, though.


Okie John

RL 16 but it vanished?

^^^^THIS^^^^

Yeah, good luck finding that or 4451. That's why I said big game.

How do you like that Tubal?

I had thought about trying the 3000 and 5000 a few years back when Graf was carrying it, but I never ended up buying any.

My only beef with it is the relative lack of data compared to the 4350 clan. When I emailed Sierra, they quoted Vectan's data, which topped out at 43,500 PSI. Nosler emailed back to say that they hadn't tested it at all. I stopped around 2,670 fps with a 180-grain Hornady flat-base spitzer, which is about as old-school as you can get while still using smokeless powder. I might have pushed 4350 harder, but 7000 was accurate and relatively easy to use. I'd buy it again if I could find it.

That said, I killed my first black bear at 353 yards with one shot using that load, so maybe I have a soft spot in my heart for it.


Okie John

RL16 or IMR 4451. RL16 has given me slightly better velocities than 4451, but 4451 has been more accurate in some applications. If you get the accuracy you like with RL16, you're good to go.

Staball 6.5, W760, Hunter, 4451

But I have 10lbs of H4350 so not to worry.

Kent

AA 4350, Win 760, and one of the coolest burning powders made is the AA2700.

I bought 5 pounds of 5000 and 5 pounds of 7000 right at the beginning of the craze.

I have made up a few loads in 308 and 7-08 using the 5000 and a load of each in the 30-06 and 7 mag using 7000. All of them have shot well. Have a little tweaking to do on the 7000 loads, but the rifle range at the club is closed right now. Once I find the right load, I will run them over my chrono.
Overall, good metering powder and seems to be right on target with Varget (5000) and H4350 (7000).

I just happened to be in Sportsman's Warehouse at the right moment in time last fall and they had an 8# keg of RL-16. I grabbed that with a death grip and headed to the checkout. It was $280, but it should last me for several seasons or at least until I run out of bullets.

I was eyeballing it back when I was having a hard time finding H4895 and IMR4320, but I ended up coming across some of both, so I skipped on the Tubal. I never knew anyone that had tried it, so I was kind of wary.

Do they even still import the Vectan stuff anymore? I haven't seen it listed for sale anywhere for a while now.

At one point I think I had downloaded the Nobel manual on my phone, but that was a phone or two back. I was going to to try the 3000 in 303 and 300 Savage, and the 5000 in 308 Win.

One interesting thing about RL16 and IMR 4451 is that because of the copper removal function, your first groups you shoot may not be great .Depending on how much copper is in your bore, your groups may improve if you shoot a few more groups and the powder takes out some copper. I've seen this happen on several rifles. Also, if you shoot with some non-copper removing powder, the "copper cleaned" accuracy can go away, and will need a few groups to return.
I acknowledge that bore cleaning might do as well.
Your mileage may vary....

My preferred powder, over H4350, is Reloader 17 for 30-06 and 6.5x55 (commercial new rifles).
I get more velocity and very good accuracy with no pressure signs at all in the temperatures I hunt in. (Eastern and Western Washington from 20F to 80F)

H4350 is in stock at some stores. Just gotta know where to look. I'll bet you haven't exhausted all the places where it can be found

I will be the oddball and say Hunter.

I like RL16 and StaBALL 6.5 a little more the H4350 here lately. Like others have said, good luck finding it. I e had better luck finding H4350 in the past year than RL16 and I’ve yet to see any IMR 4451.

It would be R16 for me, but R16 is even harder to find than H4350. In fact, Ive been able to get some H4350 lately, so once my R16 is gone, I'll be using it exclusively in my 6.5 CMs. If I couldn't get H4350 anymore, I'd be willing to try 4451 or StaBall but haven't tried either yet.

John

No love for Varget??????

I am really liking Big Game and Superformance for the 06.

I love Reloder 16 and 17 but like others have said it's impossible to find right now. That being said, I've come to appreciate StaBall6.5 and Accurate 4350 for the cartridges where I would burn H4350.

Me and my 7mm08's love the stuff.

Varget is to far away from H4350 to be a substitute.

Kent

Am glad I have 4lb+ H4350 and a couple of pounds of IMR4350.

For 6.5 Creedmoor:

Norma URP.

BTW, Varget/4064 will work fine.

I have had R26 on my back order list for a year, maybe even more, and it's yet to show up. I picked up some Staball, W760, H4350, AA2460, W748, and some Shooters World Precision Rifle powder yesterday, but none of the "R' powders are anywhere to be seen.
I only use H4350 in the 6.5CM, and then only with 140 grain bullets. I've found that my rifles like Staball better in the 120-130 bullets. I've also had good luck with W760 in the 120 weight bullet.

Supplies are out there, you just have to keep looking.

Powder Valley had a bunch of the Reloader powders yesterday morning... for about an hour. Not sure if they had 26, but I know I saw 10x, 15, and 22 for sure.

I grabbed a pound of 15, and managed to score a brick of CCI500 primers, too. The 500s were the real catch of the day, since I burn through those like candy compared to any other primers.

Possibly. I like and use H4350 in the 6.5 Creed and the '06,

But I use Varget for the 5.56 6.5 creed and also the '06 up to 150 grain bullets.

Lots of overlap with Varget for me.

I once heard Varget referred to as a "jack of all trades, and a master of none." I have found that it gives me some very good accuracy in a heavy bullet 308, in a heavy bullet 223, and for a 40 grain bullet in a 22-250 it is simply magic. Beyond that, I have found other powders that beat it easily.

IMR 4350 then...

I played with Varget and darn near swore it off and then found my .308 with 150 Interbonds really like it. Now I’m back to owning a 7-08 that loves it as well. Outside of that, I prefer the 4350’s and others in or near it quite a bit more.

Yep if you like to shoot as much as I do you will need to diversify your powder inventory as maybe your powder of choice simply cant be found. I shoot a bunch of .308 Win and my powder of choice is Varget but we all know it is unobtainium right now so I also load RL15 and IMR 4064...Both of these powders have proven to be very accurate in My rifles..Good luck...Hb

4451 for me as well. Very good as a replacement for H4350.

Some general comments:

Have tried IMR4451 in around 6-8 cartridges where I used to use H4350, and overall it's resulted in a little better accuracy--plus similar temperature stability. (This may not be a big deal to those who don't hunt outside of about 25-80 degree temps, but it matters in Montana.) Have only had to adjust my H4350 loads by maybe .5 to 1 grain of powder to come up with similar velocity and accuracy.

IMR4350 can be pretty good as well. It's not as temp-stable as H4350 and IMR4451, but not bad--especially if compressed a little.

The others suggested as substitutes, such as 760, are pretty dirty-burning and temp-sensitive--except for Big Game, which is a little faster burning than H4350.

Interesting to hear you say/write that. I bought an 8 lb jug of IMR4451 when nothing else was available at the start of our current shortage. and have been pretty disappointed. I was starting to question its accuracy potential! . I've tested it with a number of different bullets in a .243 and a 6mm Rem. Accuracy has been mediocre to downright bad. Both rifles still strongly prefer IMR-4350 and H4831sc with mid to heavier bullets and Varget in lighter ones. Since I have so much IMR-4451, I've been trying to make myself live with it. But... Any secrets? Do you find accuracy is better closer to max?

I've have excellent results with both IMR4451 and Reloder 16 in the cartridge range mentioned, plus with the 243 Win and 6mm Creedmoor. If forced to pick between those two it would depend on which one I could find in an 8 LB jug for the best price.

RL16 Temperature stable. A little more speed, and very accurate.

I have plenty of H4350 still, mainly for use in.30-06. I have found Re16 to work just as well and have plenty of that too. That supply is backed up with a generous supply of StaBALL which I've not even opened yet. I figure I am set. I'm also stocked with a bit pf H4831 for whatever and I know it works well with 180s.

One of the guys at my club was out there yesterday shooting hin PRS rig, and was loading the Shooters World version of 4350. I asked him about it and he said it worked okay, but seemed to be slower burning than the other 4350s.

I tried 4451 several years ago, but it didn't seem to measure up for my purposes and I abandoned it but I’ll bet I just didn't work it enough to find a sweet spot.

I think there are plenty of good options but future availability seems to he the question of the day.

Dixie Rebel: IMR 4350 here.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy