IMR 4064 for 223

bjm42

New member
Need to verify safety of 25 gr of IMR 4064 for 55 gr Hornady FMJ BT with cannelure.
No answer with 3 manuals or Hornady direct.
RP cases, CCI BR4 primers.
Thanks :)
 
Last edited:
Hodgdon data is here. It says 25.7 grains is max for a standard bullet construction. Your primers are a bit warmer than the one they used, though, so I would work it up. I've seen primers change pressure as much as almost 5% difference in powder charge in the .223 with a 55 grain V-max.
 
bjm42 wrote:
Need to verify safety of 25 gr of IMR 4064 for 55 gr Hornady FMJ BT with cannelure.

Hodgdon, the maker of the powder, doesn't list the Hornady bullet, but for a 55 grain Sierra Soft Point, they recommend a starting load of 23.0 grains, reaching a maximum of 25.7 grains.

Lyman #49 starts at 23.0 and reaches maximum at 26.0

Speer #11 starts at 24.5 and maxes out at 26.5

Hornady, the maker of the bullet, doesn't even list it.

So, from this, your proposed load MAY be safe.

But, more to the point, asking people on an internet site whether a particular charge will or will not be "safe" in a gun none of us have ever seen and have no experience with is NOT proper load development, so while the load MAY be safe, the way you are going about determining that is NOT.

Beginning with the Starting load (it's called that for a reason) - and if there are different starting loads presented by various manuals, it's okay to take a consensus - load up some cartridges and test fire them. Note how they perform and inspect the cases for signs of pressure. If you don't have pressure signs, then increase the charge by a small increment. Since Hodgdon shows a starting load of 23.0 and a maximum of 25.7; a spread of just 2.7 grains, I would use an increment of 0.4 grains, but use what makes sense. Load some cartridges with the incrementally increased charge, test fire them and note performance and inspect the cases for signs of pressure. Continue until you either 1) reach maximum, or 2) start to see pressure signs (at which point you go back to the increment that didn't show pressure signs).
 
I see your using bench rest primers , are you shooting bench rest or hunting? I'm using IMR 4064 I shoot 200 yards benchrest only .What I like about the powder is , with a medium load it fills the case to the neck without compressing the load . Less ware on the barrel , little recoil an very accurate . Very close to Varget my rifle shoots better with 4064.
 
Back
Top