Just wondering if IMR 4895 is the same powder as Hodgdon 4895 ?

Most reloading manuals make a distinction between these two great powders and the charges vary a bit. The loading data is not interchangeable between IMR4895 and H4895. Take care...
Oberndorf

RML 9mm
Ditto
not quite the same.
Frank

Thanks for the reply guys, I just wanted to make sure .

IMR powder has Hodgdon address on it now. Don't know who makes it. Hodgdon web site has loading data for it. Make sure who made it. Start low then work up.

Interestingly enough, IMR, when they were the Dupont corporation, produced thousands of tons of 4895 for the Gov't during WWII. It was used in the 30-06 cartridge.

After the war, Bruce Hodgdon purchased the surplus. This is what got him started in the powder business. Since manufacturer's powder varies a little from lot to lot, Hodgdon blended various lots of 4895 in order to be able to market a powder with a constent burning rate that re-loaders could use.

In many ways, we still have this reflection of two lots of the same powder today. Hodgdens "blend", and the old Dupont formula.

I'm sure that Hogdon said they would keep the IMR stuff in its original distinction, following DuPonts' recipes, same with Winchester powders.

Burn rate charts show them as slightly different, that is a pretty telling indicator they are not exactly interchangable. I use H4895 but haven't compared it to IMR 4895. My experience with IMR powders has been they are a bit more aggressive than Hodgdon "equivalents". At least that's been my experience in my 243 and 25-06.

That being said, I like both Hodgdon and IMR powders but I kind of chuckle at the marketing. Since Hodgdon purchased IMR (and Winchester), and the data is compiled in a single book, it is interesting to me that Hodgdon powder always has the performance edge over IMR. There are probably instances where IMR has the edge but I don't see it in the data for the cartridges I load for.

Not to get off topic but is anyone aware if Hodgdon publishes adendums to their reloading manual, the one with the 3-ring binder? It would certainly be nice if you could buy updates instead of an entire book.

I think its only a matter of time before they start discontinuing the competing IMR and Winchester powders. Its really hard for a company to justify it, and it creates some confusion.

You really think that will happen? If you have a dedicated customer base and you are making money by selling the product there is really no reason to cease manufacturing.

interesting idea about winchester powders to be dropped in favor of hogdon as I was always told that olin corp. 296 is remarketed by hogdon as 110.

I happen to know Chris Hodgdon. He assures me that they will not be dropping any "competing" powders. All three companies will be run as entities, not combined. So their product lines should not change. BTW, Hodgdon has never manufactured powder, but merely bought it from other makers and re-labeled/repackaged them (witness the HP-38/W231, H110/W296, H414/W760 and other pairings).

Some of the IMR & Hodgdon powders started out as the same (DuPont made them for the military in WW2, Hodgdon bought them as surplus after the war). Today the IMR powders are made in Canada, the Hodgdon powders are made in Australia. To confuse things a little more the Accurate powders (many item by item copies) are made in the Czech Republic. They are all different attempts to make the same product - but the data, while close, is not interchangeable. Odessa

I have several pounds of Accurate, and they all say "Made in Miles City, MT" although I know some are made in other countries. A lot of Alliant powders are made in Radford, VA while the rest are made in Sweden.

"That being said, I like both Hodgdon and IMR powders but I kind of chuckle at the marketing. Since Hodgdon purchased IMR (and Winchester), and the data is compiled in a single book, it is interesting to me that Hodgdon powder always has the performance edge over IMR." Flashhole quote.

I've noticed the same things, too. H4198 vs. IMR4198 in 45/70 show this, but if you look at the pressure charts, they stop short of max pressure with the IMR powders, but go to max on Hodgdon powders.... but, Hodgdon is an extreme powder.

I have known that they were different, but what gets me is the Hodgdon advertisements of "extreme" powders (H4198, H322, H4831, etc.). Burn rates may be different, granted, but what is it that makes Hodgdon powders "extreme," (insensitivity to temp, etc) or is it just propaganda?

Burn rates may be different, granted, but what is it that makes Hodgdon powders "extreme," (insensitivity to temp, etc) or is it just propaganda?


I've often wondered that, too. Especially since Hodgdon still doesn't actually make any powders that I know of.

Its mostly propaganda to sell products, but when has a manufacturer ever lied about their products to sell more of them. Not that uncommon in the business of business.