IMR 4064 Question

[ah1g]

I have started to reload a boat load of 308 milsup brass and from what I see IMR is supposed to be a good powder. I bought a pound and tried a few of them and have what might be a problem. It seems that loading 42 grains of 4064 fills the casing almost to the top. Is this normal? Don't see how it could be since there would be no way to get any more in. I have been using my old RCBS 1010 scale to weight the throw and they all come out the same. It just fill the case full. Is there a accurate electronic scale to use since it seems the 1010 does not want to stay zeroed very good.

[Steve Marshall]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

No offense meant in the following- Are you postive it's IMR 4064? The way you mentioned IMR in your post leads me to believe you might be using a bulkier powder.

[ah1g]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

No problem, I have been known to make bonehead mistakes like that. Anyway it is a one pound bottle blue in color and the label says it is IMR 4064. It is a bulkier powder. Cylindrical in shape so would take up a lot of room. I have used 4895 in the past and have never used 4064 so do not know if that is what it is supposed to be.

[jefferson101]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

Sounds like 4064 to me.

But yeah. A 42 grain load is going to pretty well fill up a .308 casing. I usually run Varget in my .308 (41g under a 150g bullet, but start a bit lower than that.....The usual YMMV and "work up to your final loading" thing.) It does get them fairly full also.

Put your finger over the neck and tap the base on a flat surface a few times, and it should pack down just a bit. Assuming it does, you can quit worrying, because you will not be compressing the powder when you load the bullet, which would be the only concern with overfilling the case, as long as your weight is correct.

[ah1g]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

I think I might be having problems with my scale. How do you have problems with a beam scale? Seems that I might have one though. I can get it to zero but it does not want to stay there. I can sometimes tap the beam and it will zero but other times it will be low. This has been in storage for some years so who knows. Anyway I tried 42 grains and it comes up to the lip almost. I also tried 44 grains which is what Hodgdon recommends starting at and it is over the top spilling out. There is no way I can get that load in there. Even if I tap the case after 42 grains I do not believe there is enough room for much more. I am looking at getting an electronic scale if I can find one that is accurate and reliable. I just do not know what is wrong with the beam scale.

[jefferson101]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

I think I might be having problems with my scale. How do you have problems with a beam scale? Seems that I might have one though. I can get it to zero but it does not want to stay there. I can sometimes tap the beam and it will zero but other times it will be low. This has been in storage for some years so who knows. Anyway I tried 42 grains and it comes up to the lip almost. I also tried 44 grains which is what Hodgdon recommends starting at and it is over the top spilling out. There is no way I can get that load in there. Even if I tap the case after 42 grains I do not believe there is enough room for much more. I am looking at getting an electronic scale if I can find one that is accurate and reliable. I just do not know what is wrong with the beam scale.

Yeah. I'd suggest checking that out on a different scale.

I was going to weigh up 42g of 4064 and toss it into a .308 hull just to see how full it got, but I went and looked, and I don't have any. Six different rifle powders back there, but none of that. As noted, I don't use much of it except for .30-30, and I haven't shot fifty rounds of that in the last ten years.

I'd think someone around here would have some, though, and could run a fast experiment.

Edited to add the off the top of my head thought that you can always pull a 36 or 40g .22 bullet and see what your scale weighs that at. That would tell you if you are in the ballpark or not, anyway.

[Steve Marshall]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

The problem I'm having is that with the lighter bullets, in the Lyman manual, STARTING loads are higher than 42 grains and aren;t shown as compressed. The only usual problems on a beam scale are related to dirt or gunk. Take a toothbrush to it and see if that doesn't solve your situation.

[Ahab]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

A quick way to check your scale .... a new dime weighs 35 grains.
2 new dimes weigh 70 grains.

[ah1g]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

Well seems I got the scale part figured out. Since it has been in storage for some years there was a wee bit of rust on the fulcrum. Polished that off and now it seems to come back to zero each time. Another thing I was having problems with is it would not zero being anywhere near level. Solved that by slicing off a bit of lead from the pan so that works now. The other problem was not being able to throw a consistent load from the powder measure. I have a old RCBS duo flow and the powder container is cracked. That being I tried using a tube that I rigged up to hold the powder. I guess it did not work because when I went back to the old cracked container it threw consistent loads. Also being this is a cylindrical powder usually each time I throw a charge it wants to slice thru a few grains and this causes a jerking motion in the measure. It did not seem to change the consistency just feels like it does. Now the powder from 42 grains ends up about 3/8" down from the lip which should be about right. I will have to try some of those weights to make sure but the 250 grain weight I do have weighs out right. Ahh the joys of reloading that I have forgotten.

[paintballmagnet]

Re: IMR 4064 Question

Don't blindly copy this load data but using commercial Black Hills brass I load 47 grains of 4064 with CCI primers and a 150 grain soft point for my .308. Chrono's at 2800, 22" barrel. MIL brass will be thicker allowing a bit less loading room. With a 165 grain bullet, 44 grains should be safe. My loads are compressed some, not one problem with this. I set my powder throw a few grains under, trickle the last few grains into the scale pan. Im getting under an inch with my loads, Remington Cor-lokt bullets. My FAVORITE .308 powder is Varget, but Rl-15 and 4064 have worked well for my rifles.