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Thread: IMR rectangle can colors

  1. #1
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    IMR rectangle can colors

    I miss these easy to store cans. When I started reloading in the early 70's they were color coded by powder. From memory- 4198 was maroon, 3031 red, 4320 green, 4064 blue, 4895 pinkish, 4350 brown, 4831orange.
    Can anyone remember the others?

  2. #2
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    4227 could be either yellow or gray. SR-4759 was generally purple, but occasional gold ones show up. 4756 was lime green.

    Yes, as storage containers, they were very good. A slightly domed top to help pouring out the last bit would have helped. I save the old cans and transfer the stuff from the new round jars into them. Much more efficient use of storage space.

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    SR7625 was light grey, PB was brown, mid 1980's Dupont IMR 7828 was dark blue ( Ford motor blue)
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    Boolit Master Moleman-'s Avatar
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    A sampling of cans I'm still using. Top row is the IMR label can, bottom row is the same powder with the older Dupont label. Still have some other 4198, but I think those are the last of the 4895 and 4064. Have some of the tin W231 and W296 left too, although not much. Haven't seen it in a while but somewhere I have a blue square tin of Unique.
    Last edited by Moleman-; 05-24-2017 at 09:33 PM.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master 308Jeff's Avatar
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    I have a can of the 4198 that I inherited from my grandfather, along with all his reloading equipment. For some reason, the can has the most sentimental value to me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bent Ramrod View Post
    Yes, as storage containers, they were very good. A slightly domed top to help pouring out the last bit would have helped.
    I would love to find reusable rectangular bottles and chuck the round ones.
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same......." - Ronald Reagan

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    They stacked like books on a shelf. Neat.

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    They did stack well and you could fit a lot in a small area. But they were hard to get the last bit of powder out of. And were prone to corrosion. Not a big deal for guys in the desert. But an issue for those in the rust belt. I have a couple cans left w/ powder in them but won't really miss them when I use it all up.

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    So as long as we're asking for perfection.....
    How about a color coded square or rectangle plastic bottle with a doomed top?
    Efficient use of shelf space, instantly recognizable, rust proof, inexpensive and that last little bit of powder would be easy to remove.
    In a perfect world, the 1 pound, 4 pound and 8 pound containers would share a cardboard shipping case with a common size footprint.

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    Plastic bottles melt which offers a couple of advantages. Melting uses heat so the powder stays below ignition point for a little longer in a fire. The plastic can't hold the pressure of metal thus less of an explosive potential. Especially if the plastic has already melted or softened from heat by the time the powder ignites.

    I do hate how the different bottles fit in my wood powder box. Lot of wasted space but less chance of an explosion and no rust worries is good. Win some, lose some rare to get "perfect". Flat plastic cans? Wonder what those would cost to make. Best of both worlds.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

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    Square plastic bottles would be nice. Make the bottom recessed so the cap of another bottle fits into it and the bottles stack tightly. This will never happen. Just like you will never have all manufacturers using the same bottles. Getting them to do that w/ the current ones would be a great.

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    Actually, there are square plastic bottles with more or less rounded tops; they store very well in rectangular boxes and are domed enough to get the last granules of powder out without a lot of shaking.

    Both Swiss and Olde Eynsford black powder bottles are like this, and the Swiss bottle (when I checked it a few years ago) is even made of conductive plastic. Don't know about the Olde Eynsford bottles, but I do know that the Hodgdon round jars were not conductive.

    The only problem is that it impossible to get the sulphur smell out of them after use, which (to me anyway) would imply that there are potential acidic species in there which would accelerate the decomposition of any smokeless powder stored in the bottles for any length of time.

    I've washed them out with soap and water, left them open for a year of storage in a hot shed, filled them with water and capped them for a year's sitting under the same conditions, run them through the dishwasher and can still smell sulphur. Maybe the smell is my imagination by now, but I still can't see them for smokeless powder storage. Too bad; they'd be perfect otherwise, and one BPCR generates a lot of them.

    BTW, keeping on topic, I stand corrected. The 4198 can was yellow, not the 4227, as 308Jeff shows.

  13. #13
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    Strange, that yellow can. All the 4198 Cans I ever saw were brick red-maroon to my eyes.

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    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Looking in at the powder cans, any shape, if one has many ... just write the number on the cap. Easier to find one in a hurry
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    I miss them for the storage issue. They fit so nice on a shelf.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Texas by God View Post
    Strange, that yellow can. All the 4198 Cans I ever saw were brick red-maroon to my eyes.
    It's old, but not real old. I forget when IMR split from DuPont. 1960's to early 70's perhaps? When I started reloading IMR4198 was in the burgundy can like on top. The yellow can has the following lot number if someone knows how to look it up.

    IMR4198
    C A 21
    3069

    Only thing I noticed different about it is the individual kernels of powder are slightly longer than compared to the kernels in the burgundy can, which in turn is longer than what they make now.

    I remember looking up the powder plant and found it closed in the early 70's. The can is marked E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. Wilmington Delaware USA
    Last edited by Moleman-; 05-25-2017 at 09:20 PM.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Petrol & Powder View Post
    So as long as we're asking for perfection.....
    How about a color coded square or rectangle plastic bottle with a doomed top? Efficient use of shelf space, instantly recognizable, rust proof, inexpensive and that last little bit of powder would be easy to remove.
    Quote Originally Posted by dragon813gt View Post
    Square plastic bottles would be nice. Make the bottom recessed so the cap of another bottle fits into it and the bottles stack tightly.
    I'd also like to have labels that use the same adhesive as 'blue tape' that easily releases.

    Surely someone on this forum has the tools and technology or know someone who does so we can live out our lives in peace with easily stored powder cans!
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same......." - Ronald Reagan

    "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived." - George Patton

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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Moleman- View Post
    It's old, but not real old. I forget when IMR split from DuPont. 1960's to early 70's perhaps? When I started reloading IMR4198 was in the burgundy can like on top. The yellow can has the following lot number if someone knows how to look it up.

    IMR4198
    C A 21
    3069

    Only thing I noticed different about it is the individual kernels of powder are slightly longer than compared to the kernels in the burgundy can, which in turn is longer than what they make now.

    I remember looking up the powder plant and found it closed in the early 70's. The can is marked E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. Wilmington Delaware USA
    Moleman I think it was a lot later than that, mid 1990's. 7828 was introduced as canister powder in 1985 with the Dupont logo on the can and E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. Wilmington Delaware USA
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  19. #19
    Boolit Master Moleman-'s Avatar
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    Interesting. I remember they changed the can printing a bit around then or a little earlier. Perhaps that was the split. I kept the yellow can as I'd always seen 4198 in the burgundy can. Still would be neat to find out why the color difference.

  20. #20
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    Pretty sure I bought 3 of these mid 1990's at Big Bear, this one is still sealed.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check