Thread: Powder Use By Date?

Dupont IMR4895 smells like spirits, and has zero rust inside.
AR2208 smells a bit stronger, but still not vinigery or acidic.

yip if it looks ok..smells ok...and goes bang in my rifle sending projectiles into target...its all good for me.

Originally Posted by kiwi-adam

Dupont IMR4895 smells like spirits, and has zero rust inside.
AR2208 smells a bit stronger, but still not vinigery or acidic.Attachment 153866

Greetings Kiwi-Adam and Zimmer,
A little digging produced the following.
First IMR4895 was only marketed by Dupont from about 1962. The markings on your can indicate it was made from the late 1970's to the mid 1980's. I can't be exact on the later date when Dupont disappeared from the label.
Second, I have not seen that type of AR2208 container before. Mulwex disappeared from the AFI labels about 1995 and AR2208 first appeared about 1984, perhaps a little earlier. It was one of the early new powders, after AR2206, produced by ADI.
AR2206 was an improved version of AR2201. It was much less sensitive to temperature driven velocity changes and so gave reliable port pressure in the .223 assault rifles. AR2206 also was much more stable in storage. I broke down some CAC .303 cartridges, almost certainly AR2201, in which the powder had clumped and the inside of the cases corroded somewhat. AR2206 was the first of what Hodgdons later called their extreme powders.
Regards Grandpamac.

Greetings All,
A better way to date Dupont IMR powders.
My old can of IMR4064 is marked:

P79SE27B

I believe this means the powder was packed on 27 September 1979 by shift B. This was also repeated by a post on the Castboolit site. My can of IMR4227, with the older label, is marked P77 so packed 1977.
Every day you learn something new is a good day.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings Kiwi-Adam and Zimmer,
A little digging produced the following.
First IMR4895 was only marketed by Dupont from about 1962. The markings on your can indicate it was made from the late 1970's to the mid 1980's. I can't be exact on the later date when Dupont disappeared from the label.
Second, I have not seen that type of AR2208 container before. Mulwex disappeared from the AFI labels about 1995 and AR2208 first appeared about 1984, perhaps a little earlier. It was one of the early new powders, after AR2206, produced by ADI.
AR2206 was an improved version of AR2201. It was much less sensitive to temperature driven velocity changes and so gave reliable port pressure in the .223 assault rifles. AR2206 also was much more stable in storage. I broke down some CAC .303 cartridges, almost certainly AR2201, in which the powder had clumped and the inside of the cases corroded somewhat. AR2206 was the first of what Hodgdons later called their extreme powders.
Regards Grandpamac.

From what I heard from various people supposedly in the know CAC only load two Powders AR2201 and surplus 4831, I used a lot of AR2201 for cast bullets it had the same burn rate as IMR3031
both powders were good to the .303 and .308.

Originally Posted by shooternz

From what I heard from various people supposedly in the know CAC only load two Powders AR2201 and surplus 4831, I used a lot of AR2201 for cast bullets it had the same burn rate as IMR3031
both powders were good to the .303 and .308.

Greetings Shooternz,
I had heard much the same. About 1980 I bought a can of NL4831 packed by CAC. The original surplus 4831 ran out about 1972 so perhaps this was the new 4831 made by Nobel's hence the NL prefix. I think that there was some connection between the companies but might be wrong on that.
Regards Grandpamac.

A few more bits for the jigsaw
FishnHunt - New Zealands Famous Hunting and Fishing Forum Since 1995 - AR2201 uses