Why no Love for 4320

venatic

venatic

Well-known member
I have 4 cans of IMR4320 that I bought for 5.00 per lb. I have used a little here and there over the last few months but was thinking I may try it in my .308 for some long range steel shooting. Don’t see many folks talking much about it except maybe in the 17 Remington where I know it has a following.
Anyone had any stellar results with the .308 with 168-175gr bullets?
Not that it will stop me from giving it a try just for grins.
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It's the "forgotten" imr powder. It has the unenviable distinction of being the middle child between stellar performing siblings 4350 and 4064. Give it some love, try it and let us know how it does!
 
Originally Posted By: Jack RobertsIt's the perfect speed for many cases. But I never could get as good accuracy from it.

Jack

I have a can and I think the price on it is around $3.85-ish.

I have never heard anyone talk nice about it.

 
The only time I ever had any was when someone asked me to reload some .264 Win Mag for them, and showed up with dies, bullets, and a quarter pound of IMR 4320. The slowest powder I had on hand was H4831, so I loaded with it and traded my time and powder for the 4320. It sat on the shelf for the longest time, but then I decided to use it for fouling shots in a .280 I was experimenting with. At the time I was playing with H1000 and Magnum, maybe some Re22 and I never expected the 4320 to do anything but push a bullet down the bore to foul it. I loaded fouling rounds with a randomly picked light-to-mid-range charge of 4320, and you can imagine my frustration when the 4320 loads, pushing maybe 2500 fps, would group all shots touching while the powders I wanted to use were giving me inch-and-a-half groups. I just can't see shooting a modern bolt-action cartridge based on the '06 at 24 or 2500 fps so I never pursued it or bought anymore of the stuff...but that hasn't stopped me from thinking about it from time to time. Maybe it has its place. Somewhere. In the universe. Or another dimension. Or may not.
 
I was given almost 2 lbs of it, from a reputable source. I've been using it up with some range/plinking/predator loads in the 243 and 284 Win. I haven't done much accuracy testing, but it's working O.K.

Nothing really against it, but unless my favorites are not available I probably won't seek out more 4320. There are some good things written about it. As mentioned, it's a good burn rate for many rifle cartridges.
 
The local shop doesn't sell much as and they keep a lot on the shelf. I've thought about buying a pound here and there just to put up for hard times and maybe try in the 22-250
 
Jack O'Connors load for the 22-250 was 36.5gr IMR 4320 with a 50gr bullet. I use it in the 350 Rem Mag and it shoots great with a 225gr Barnes TSX
 
I have used it in my .17 Remington and my .220 Swift with good results but will admit that I don't use it in either anymore. IMR 4320 has been around for a several decades and even though there are probably better powders to be had it still works well in a variety of cartridges. I guess that I will always keep a lb or two of it on my shelf.
 
I loaded it for awhile in my 22-250. It shot excellent with a 52-55gr bullet. Velocity was around 3600fps. Heck, I even load it through my Dillon 550B and it didn't meter too bad. The sticks aren't as long as 4064. I think its one of those powders thats so close to 4064,4895 that it gets overlooked. You guys shoot the 22-250 with bullets in the 52-60gr range should not look pass this powder.
 
I loaded some test loads with 3 different powders to day with IMR4320 being one of course.
All were loaded with 175gr Sierra MK’s and Lapua brass.
IMR 4320 gave very good velocity with ES being 9 and SD’s 6 but grouped badly 1 1/2 inch 6 shots.Actually just did a quick measure and the group was almost 2 inches.
That rules it out for this gun as the other two loads with CFE223 and AR Comp shot 6 shots under 1/2 inch with the CFE223 load just a ragged hole that kept getting slightly larger.
Now that leads to another question/dilemma. CFE223 averaged 2740fps with an SD of 17 while the ARComp averaged 2548fps with an excellent SD of 3. I know the ARComp load was not a fluke because my same load with 168gr AMax's usually runs SD’s around 5.
Hard to give up 200fps with equal accuracy but way out yonder may have some vertical issues?Decisions, decisions....

One more note of interest. It was raining most of the day so since I figured the sun would not be out I borrowed a MagnoSpeed Chrono. Works pretty well and its nice not to have to call a cease fire to get your machine set-up.
 
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4320 is a ok SHTF powder. It can be effectively loaded in cases from the 17 Rem on up to Magnums.

However I have never found it to be the best of anything, accuracy or velocity or a combination of the two.

I have used it for middle of the road loads in the 223 and 22-250. It works well there, but never has been a go to powder. Although it sure seems like it should be. It is a step-child of sorts.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleyman4320 is an old favorite for the 22/250, easy to get it to shoot accurate.


I used 4320 for my first 22-250 reloads. Shot okay, but I found other powders easier to work with.
 
46.3 gr. IMR 4320, CCI LR primer, Speer 150 gr. HOTCORE flatbase spitzer. For .308 Win. Excellent velocity and touching. Play with seating depth.
 
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