IMR-4064 stability

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NChunter89

Member
Today I loaded up a few loads of IMR 4064 for my 243 Winchester. The most accurate load that I found was 37.7 gr shooting an 85 gr Sierra hpbt. Here is the 4 shot group that I fired;


This group was fired today around lunchtime with the temperature outside of 90 degrees. There were no pressure signs with my brass. After reading about how this powder tends to be unstable in different temperatures, I am concerned about how this could be potentially dangerous and will affect my accuracy. Any thoughts?
 
I have used IMR 4064 for over 40 years. Living in Montana we have temps from -40 to over 100 degrees. Never had any problems with this powder in 30-06 down to 243. It has always been my go to powder. I don't know where the unstable information is coming from. As far as I'm concerned it B.S. Rudy
 
That's what I use in 243.

Is it temp sensitive? Yea, a little. However, it has always given me really wide nodes, and therefore it's a nonissue.

Great stuff!
 
If you fired it and got that at 90 degrees, your past the worrying stage... It isn't gonna get any worse as the temp goes down from there. Are you gonna hunt with it on hotter days than that groups was shot on? Powder temp instability is really on a problem for point of impact, if your just shooting groups who cares if its an inch higher and the groups open a little on hotter days. now if your hunting you wanna have as consistant POI as possible.
 
I have also been shooting 4064 for years out of my 220 Swift and I have never had any issues of any kind with it.
 
Sorry for not responding to this thread in the past couple of days. I have been away from my computer. The reason that I am concerned is because I plan to use this rifle for late season deer hunting here in NC. I just didnt want to load up several of the IMR-4064 load, and then when cooler weather gets here be stuck with ammo that isn't as accurate as it once was. I did experiment with a couple of loads of Varget today using the Sierra 85 gr. hpbt. The accuracy was almost a good as the one with IMR-4064, so I may spend some more time playing with Varget and see where it ends up.
 
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#1. You aren't near the top of the pressure scale with that load, so no worries about it getting "dangerous" in the heat.

#2. If you are concerned about changes causing you to miss a deer in NC, go load and be happy. There won't be that much change.
 
Not more than 1 moa, on the high high end. That's not enough to matter on a deer sized target WELL beyond the range of a 243.
 
Kind of in the same boat. This summer I worked up to a "killer" load for my 25.06 with 4064. Best ever and at max load. Guess I'll see what if anything changes come up when the weather changes.
 
Here is some info right from Hodgdons website. It's load info for .308 but it shows IMR 4064 as being pretty stable.



I use this powder for. 243, 6mm Rem, and .308 and shoot year round with fantastic results. I love this powder and often wonder what the big fuss is about Varget.
 
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