Imr 4831?

[Mr. 16 gauge]

From what I've read, many of Hodgdon's ball powders are the same as Winchester's, but with different labels on the canisters (e.g., H110 vs W296, H414 vs W760).

If they are the same, Hodgdon isn't saying so....the only one that they will claim is the same is Win 540 being the same as HS6. While they may well be the same, and Hodgdon just doesn't want to state so (for whatever reason), means that the powders should not be mixed.

Most sources say that IMR4831 and Hodgdon 4831 are NOT the same- IMR's version is a little faster. My unscientific observation from using both powders would agree that they are different powders, and one cannot be substituted for the other.

Jack,
I don't think 270man intended to imply that the IMR powders are identical to the H powders of similar name & could be loaded the same.....only to imply that they are similar, and since Hodgdon now controls the IMR product, and times being what they are economically, the ax could fall and the IMR powders could be cut, or eventually phased out. Hope it doesn't happen, but it very well could.

Having gone through the manuals, is appears that you get just a tweak more velocity with the IMR4831, so I will probably go with that, and pray that the members of the board at Hodgdon see fit to continue to product it.

I must admit that I was primarily a IMR & Hercules (now Alliant...shows you how old I am!) fan for most of my life, and just recently (last 10 years or so) started using Hodgdon powders. I was pleasantly surprised how well HS6 shot in a variety of my handguns (9mm, 38 Super, .38 Special) as well as my 12 & 16 gauge handloads. Also impressed with H414, BLC-2, and H4895. IMHO, Alliant has dropped the ball.....their current loading data base is scanty and they have cut WAYYYY back on their loads/velocities. I'm glad I saved my old data manuals and will continue to refer to those when necessary.