IMR 4227 Australian--seen any?

RustyNail

I'd like to know if anyone has actually seen IMR 4227 Australian powder.

Hodgdon/IMR supposedly discontinued the H4227 then stopped getting the Canadian IMR 4227 and remarketed the original Aussie 4227 as IMR 4227. I found this out by speakikng to Chris Hodgdon a few months ago when my usual supplier told me he had H4227 in Canadian labeled IMR 4227 packages. Chris Hodgdon personally assured me that the Aussie powder would never be allowed to ship out with a Canadian label and that my supplier was somehow misinformed.

I got 48 pounds of IMR 4227 in a shipment today labeled "Made in Canada." Today, the Hodgdon people claimed the powders are identical and interchangeable, then admitted that there are soubtle differences, then finally decided that my Canadian label powder is actually Australian but packaged in the older Canadian label.

I made a few runs of ammo with known H4227, known IMR 4227 and the "mystery product" I got today. The known H4227 shot very tight velocities, the known IMR was all over the place, and the new mystery product suprised me by being a little faster but with horrendous chrono spreads.

Has anyone actually seen a "Made in Australia" label or had any experiance with this powder?[:(!][:(!]

sandwarrior

RustyNail,

I was a little surprised to find this out myself. That not much powder is made in the USA. The only stuff I see that has made in Australia, Packaged in the U.S. is the Hodgdon brand powder. Same for Ramshot, Alliant, Accurate etc. Apparently the powder is made in Australia(hod, All, ACC,) and Canada(IMR) and VV of course is made in Finland. The American powder companies I was told are pretty much just distribution centers.

dtknowles

I believe that the previous post is misleading. There are at least a few powder manufacturers in the United States and maybe even more than a few. The companies that distribute the canister powders we use to reload may not be making their own powder anymore but others in the U.S. make some of the powders for them. I expect that most of the ammo used by the military is loaded with domestically made powder.

Tim

sandwarrior

dtknowles,

I'm not trying to be misleading, aplogies for that. Just stating that a lot of powder is made outside our country and shipped in. I looked on my Ramshot cannisters and they say Made in Belgium and packaged in the USA. My XMR2015 can says product of the Czech Republic. And my Reloader 15 says made in Sweden. Now, does Remington and Federal make powder? I was always under the impression they did. The one can of Winchester 760 I have says made in America by Olin.

I have two friends who left our little airline to go to work for Federal Cartridge. They say the powder they handle is not made on their premises. I don't know where it's made, but I know it gets shipped in to them.

{EDIT:}

RustyNail,

Sorry, I got off topic there. Have you tried Wideners? Or Graf's Both have a really good selection of powder and may be able to pick a lot for you that is Aussie. -good luck

RustyNail

If you read the cannisters, most of the "big name" powder is imported and repackaged in the US. I was specifically trying to find someone who had seen the IMR 4227 Australian since the Hodgdon people sent me 4227 Canadian but claim it is really the Australian. I sell S&W 500 Ammo (Extremely accurate) made with the Aussie powder and I can't get my hands on the Australian powder even after promises from Hodgdn that they could deliver! I appreciate the replies--thanks.

dtknowles

Sandwarrior, I did not mean you were deliberately misleading just that some might get the idea that the USA was not making powder anymore. I know that there is at least one big mill in Florida and expect that there are a few more.

RustyNail, I had heard that some of the imported powder is only shipped once a year. Because of complexity and cost of special over-ocean transport, large lots of powder are shipped once a year. When that shippment runs out there is sometimes a delay until more gets shipped. I think I heard this in relation to Norma powder but could apply to Aussie powder.

Tim

RustyNail

Thanks DTK; I guess I'll have to use this Canadian powder as fertilizer and wait a few months for the Aussie![xx(]

nononsense

RustyNail,

"...and the new mystery product suprised me by being a little faster but with horrendous chrono spreads."

I'm not sure what you mean by 'horrendous' but these days it's nearly impossible to get consecutive lot #s that are close in performance. Norma (Bofors) seems to do the best job with their powders but they don't come close with the Reloader powders lot to lot.

I would bypass Hodgdon and call ADI direct to get the correct answer to your question. Why Hodgdon can't tell you the truth, I'll never know but it's pretty stupid. Just get a cheap calling card and make the call. http://www.adi-limited.com/handloaders-guide/contact_us.asp

Hodgdon powders are produced by ADI (Australian Defense Industries). Here are equivalents for ADI (Australian Defense Industries) powders to Hodgdon powders. Hodgdon acquires these powders in bulk and re-packages them for the North American market.

ADI / Hodgdon Equivalent

AS30N = Clays
AP50N (no match)
AS50N = International
AP70N = Universal
AP100 (no match)
AR2205 = H4227
AR2207 = H4198
Bench Mark1 (no match)
AR2219 = H322
Bench Mark2 = BenchMark
AR2206 (no match)
AR2206H = H4895
AR2208 = Varget
AR2209 = H4350
AR2213 (discontinued)
AR2213SC = H4831sc
AR2217 = H1000
AR2225 = Retumbo
AR2218 = H50BMG

This link has a reasonably complete list of conversions to common powders:

http://www.adi-limited.com/handloaders-guide/equivalents.asp

Best.