IMR4895 Discontinued

Sprinkman

Sprinkman

Well-known member
I have some 308's that are reloaded with IMR4895 but I'm now finding that it has been discontinued.
Sorry, hit the wrong button... Hodson has a powder H4895 but it sounds like it's not the same as the IMR powder.
Has anyone found a substitute that is close to or similar to the IMR4895?
 
Hodgdon 4895 was my go to for short range when shooting competition with both 308 & 30-06. There is a slight difference in burn rate between the IMR & Hodgdon, IIRC usually use about 1 gr. less Hodgdon than IMR for same velocities.
Had lots of data, but just shipped all my loading books, but can give you a load or two off ammo boxes that worked for me. Check against your loading books; start low & work up, as the 125 & 150 gr loads are on the warm side.
308 Win.
110 gr. Varmageddon 47.9 gr BAR 3130 fps
125 gr. NBT 46 gr Savage Scout 2910 fps
150 gr NP 43.5 gr Savage Scout ?
30-06 Target load
168 gr. SMK 47 gr similates US GI M72 MATCH
1759425440247.png

I like to start w/Nosler's data but I see they do not list H4895 for some bullets.
 
@Sprinkman H4895 is close, and loads are actually easy to find the node. you "should" be within 2 grains of your IMR loads. Majority of the time in my bolt guns the difference was about 0.5 grs from a established IMR load when I shifted to H4895.
Or go to IMR 4064 a tad slower, but data is pretty much the same for IMR 4064 /4895. You might have to shift maybe a grain difference with the two differing IMR powders.

After typing that I checked Hodgdon's website, IMR 4895 is not discontinued , just out of stock. You got some bad info from what I'm seeing.

Sport South a distributor, showed it, Powder Valley is out of stock, Midsouth Shooters supply out of stock.
 
Mike, I've got a tech question into Hodgdon about the powder to find out if it is discontinued or not. Their website says the work Monday thru Thursday, so probably won't here back until next week. I'll post their answer when I have it.
 
So, I looked it up again this morning and the AI answer said "IMR4895... However, it has been discontinued".
But, here is Jason from Hodgdon's answer:
>>>
Hi Bob-
IMR 4895 has not been discontinued. We are having a hard time getting many of the IMR rifle powders as that plant is busy with military contracts. As soon as possible, we will have more IMR rifle powders available. Unfortunately, we do not know when that may be as it is out of our control.
I’d suggest finding and alternative to get you by until then. Hodgdon H4895 is similar and is currently available.
Jason Waller
Customer Service Technician
Hodgdon Powder Company
6430 Vista Drive
Shawnee, Kansas 66218
jason@hodgdon.com
913-745-0846
<<<

So, it looks like H4895 for now.
 
Sprinkman said:
So, I looked it up again this morning and the AI answer said....
Click to expand...

Way too many false returns now days when you just look something up.

There's no way IMR 4895 would be discontinued, it's one of their best sellers and best performers.

For .308 loads my choice is tied between IMR 4895 and IMR 4064.
 
Old Service rifle load data with the .308, for comparison and discussion's sake.
These loads are using the old Mil (LC) Brass which usually the rule of thumb was back off 1 grain, back then.
Another note was that H4895 did change the formula since this collection of data. As IMR was still owned by DuPont, and H4985 was competing against IMR vs today being a sister brand. This was a guide back in the day, as I alluded to H4895 formula's was changed to be a bit hotter now IIRC.
This information used to be available on "Master Po's" website, which today is no longer up. But back then the 7.62 brass was thicker (wall thickness), hence less internal volume. which explains why some of the load are less than today suggestions. The less internal volume did bring the pressure up quickly.

The whole concept of these loads was to duplicate the Military service rifle loads for a "Mexican" Match, practice load before going to a HP match.

150gr Sierra Match King and Military case
42.0gr H-4895 - 2743 fps - 48,800 CUP
42.0gr IMR-4895 - 2784 fps - 51,600 CUP
43.0gr IMR-4064 - 2726 fps - 48,100 CUP
44.0gr IMR-4064 - 2795 fps - 51,000 CUP

Fast forward to today I would expect the H-4895 to be at 41.5ish grs to be on par with the IMR 4895 in pressure and performance. Of course the best action is to work up, using the above data as a reference. I personally would start @ 40.0grs H-4895 going up by 0.5 grs increments looking for pressure.
Per Hodgdon website for service rifle:
150 /155gr --- maxes out at 43.0grs of powder
168gr --- maxes out at 42.3grs of powder
175gr ---maxes out at 40.8grs of powder
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you go to their website and plug in for just a .308, the data returned won't match the above post and will be hotter /heavier.
But having a working load with IMR 4895 greatly simplifies your duplicating it with H-4895 drop a grain or two work up in 0.3gr increment and you will find what to feed it.

Hopefully this helps,
Respectfully
Mike
 
Thanks for the info Mike. What I've been using is 42.0 gr IMR4895 with Hornady 165 gr SP Interlocks.
These pattern really well, so I'm going to start with the H4895 at about 41.0 gr and work up from there.
I'm using CCI 200 large rifle primers and mostly Remington brass because that's what I used to buy in ammo.
 
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