Scored a great find...

[lovedogs]

Got lucky and made a great find. With all components getting hard or impossible to find I was fortunate enough to have an older friend who can't reload or shoot anymore who was glad to sell off some of his reloading stuff. I wound up with 24 lbs. of powder for a $100 bill, a mix of the old Du Pont IMR's...3031, 4350, and 4831. From the numbers it all seems to be from the mid-70's. All cans are still sealed and only one can has any rust, an 8# has very light surface rust on the outside. It has all been stored in a cool, dry basement. I opened one 1# of IMR 4350 and looked at it, then loaded up a few and shot it. It seems as good as new.

Being this old I had a few questions. Like, would they be about the same as current production powder? Can I use current data, or do I need to use data from back then? I called Hodgdon and the guy said it is probably some different and advised finding old data from that period. Do any of you have any experience with this? Is there enough difference that I'd need to use old data? I thought it'd probably be safe to just be careful (as always) and always start by using starting loads (from current manuals) and work my way up. Wouldn't that be safe enough?

Here in eastern Montana it's pretty dry so I think the powder is still in good shape so I consider myself really fortunate to make this find...especially at this price. Most stores around here are very limited on what's on their shelves and it doesn't look like it's gonna improve any time soon. I'd appreciate any feedback from some of you with experience in this area.

Mike (Lovedogs)

[frnkeore]

"I thought it'd probably be safe to just be careful (as always) and always start by using starting loads (from current manuals) and work my way up. Wouldn't that be safe enough?"

Best to do with any powder.

To my knowlege, the formula's for the Dupont powders has never been changed (except IMR4227). Most of the older data was loaded to higher pressures than current data so, Hodgdon's advice wasn't the best, in my opinion.

I have a lot of older IMR and Dupont powders and if kept well, I haven't noticed any problems with any of them. Because of Hodgdon replacing IMR 4227 with H4227 (but, still calling it IMR 4227), I have been buying Dupont & IMR 4227 at gun shows (in the old metal cans) and from friends so, all my 4227 is older stuff.

Frank

[lovedogs]

Thanks, Frank. That's about what I thought. Just start at starting, as always, and it should work out okay. I'm curious what you use 4227 in that the difference between old and new would make that much of a difference. I've used both in a Contender .22 Hornet and can't see any more difference than you might going from one lot to another and, as you surely know, the small capacity of the Hornet magnifies any differences between components. Of course, now all I use is the new IMR because that's all that's available. It's getting hard to find anything nowadays. Even Hornet brass is unobtainable. I had to buy factory ammo to get brass...and that's really expensive stuff. You'd think such a small cartridge would be cheaper but it's not.

[lylejb]

congrats on your find!

I've use plenty of dupont IMR powders, and the only trouble I had was with one can of 4064. It went bad.

Learn to look for signs of deteriorating powder such as a reddish rusty looking dust inside the can, and or an acidic smell.

My one can of 4064 had both. Other cans from that same vintage were fine.

Some older load data wasn't always pressure tested, and was in some cases too hot.

I'm thinking of some of speer's and lyman's older manuals.

I know i've seen "this data was not pressure tested, but is believed to be under maximum, and was safe in our test rifle"

be safe, and enjoy your find.

[williamwaco]

congrats on your find!

I've use plenty of dupont IMR powders, and the only trouble I had was with one can of 4064. It went bad.

Learn to look for signs of deteriorating powder such as a reddish rusty looking dust inside the can, and or an acidic smell.

My one can of 4064 had both. Other cans from that same vintage were fine.

Some older load data wasn't always pressure tested, and was in some cases too hot.

I'm thinking of some of speer's and lyman's older manuals.

I know i've seen "this data was not pressure tested, but is believed to be under maximum, and was safe in our test rifle"

be safe, and enjoy your find.


Ditto on the deterioration.

If you do a proper load workup starting with "starting" loads. You should be fine with the manuals you have.

[frnkeore]

I use Dupont/IMR 4227 regularly in two cartridges, 32/40 that most know about and the 32/35 Stevens/Maynard cartridge that most don't know about. I've also used it in PB, 303 Savage, 30/30 and 30/40 loads.

I have close to 20 years of load data for both of them (32/40, 32/35) and some very accurate loads with Dupont/IMR. I just don't want to have to start all over. I also didn't like Hodgdon making the switch and not telling anyone. I think they did that for profit because the H was cheaper and they didn't want to carry two similar powders. I think it was done because IMR was better known and had a better reputation. So, buying up old stock is a personal statement as well.

Frank