I've got 8 pounds of this stuff and no gun that needs it.

Anyone know of cast bullet loads using it with either a 30-40 Krag or a 30-06?

IMR 4831 is only marginally slower than IMR 4350, so just about anything that will shoot well with one will do with the other.

As to cast bullet loads, just make sure that your case is at least 90% full. I would think that IMR 4831 would give about the right velocities/pressures in either caliber you mention with cast bullets and a 90% loading density. Can't say what the accuracy would be until you try it.

KLW - I used to load 42 grs of 4831 behind my cast bullets.......170gr....for my 30/06. It shot very good but you may have a few grains of partially burned powder after each shot. Not that this was ever a problem. I loaded and shot tons of it this way many years ago simply because I had tons of it given to me. Try it.

Stone - The load I just suggested was nowhere near a 90% loading density but it worked very well and I shot literally 1,000s of rounds like this...as did a couple of my shooting pals who loaded the same thing.

I think the "loading density" is something we only need to worry about on rare occassions with certain powders and certain cartridges.

4831 is extremely well behaved and I've always been able to load it just about any way I wanted. It didn't matter. It's a great powder and does wonderfully well in 270/06 size cartridges.

42 grain of IMR-4831 behing a 170 grain cast 30-06 bullet. Now that's really useful. Thanks!

KLW, man don't believe these other guys. There is not a single cartridge that does well with that powder. Please E-mail me your address and I'll come up and get rid of it for you.

Muzzle, if I didn't know you better I would be a tad suspicious of your motives here.

klw - If my memory still holds, I used to use that same 42 grs of powder on up thru the full range of cast bullets in my /06 from 170 gr up to 205gr. It worked good with all of them, actually burns cleaner as the weight goes up naturally. My /06 would stay 1" at 100 with all of them.

Shoot that 06 lead bullet 4831 combination over a bed of freshly fallen snow, perhaps in Congress AZ. Better yet over a long white sheet.You'll be able to collect the residue and use it again.Talk about weight retention.

8 pounds of 4831 and no gun that uses it?! Time to get another gun. - Dan

KLW:

Muzzel is right. I couldn't find any IMR4831 cast bullet loads in my Lyman loading manual. That said, let me pass along a couple of things that over the years have become to me, self evident.

Fast and medium burning rate powders always seem to work best with cast bullets. I personally have never used a powder slower than IMR 4064 with cast bullets, in rifles cartridges. There are velocity limitations, under 1800fps or so with just a gas checked wheel weight bullet, 2300fps + - with heat treated gas checked wheel weight bullets. If these two generalizations as to velocities, are not followed, severe leading and bullet tumbling will result.

If you try the IMR4831 load, let us know how it works out.

Jerry

I was given about 5 pounds of H4831, and have fiddled with it a bit. I've tried some in my 7.62x54, and it comes in about 100 fps slower than H4350.

Since I needed a good place to burn the powder, I started checking over the reloading info for the 06, and everything indicates that by the time you get up to a 200 grain bullet, it pulls even with H4350, and at 220 grains, it surpasses it.

I'm relatively unburdened by any practical experience, but it would seem that if you could cast a 220 grain bullet, you'd be able to get a very nice performing load without excessive leading.

Ackley does warn strongly against reduced charges of slow-burning powder. Nobody knows where the ogre "lives", but apparently when you get down to half charges, they work right 99.9% of the time, and blow your gun up the other .1% of the time. Ackley was of the opinion that magnum primers would help prevent this. Is this true? Heckifino, but I thought it would be best to mention it.

You might take a look at the LYMAN CAST BOOK. It has nothing but cast bullet loads in it.

I don't know about cast bullet loads, since I never use them, but I can state that IMR 4831 is one of my long-time favorite powders for the .30-06 with full-power loads featuring 180 gr. bullets. I've always gotten great accuracy out of that powder, and usually about 50 fps. more velocity than with IMR 4350, plus very reasonable pressures.

I also prefer IMR 4831 in the .270 Win. with 130 gr. bullets. Come to think of it, certain .338 Win. Mags. and .300 Win. Mag. rifles I've owned have done very well with that powder as well.....

Keep trying - you'll find a solid use for it!

AD

Like Pecos I shot up a keg and more of surplus 4831. I even got it to cycle a Garand with cast bullets and that powder.

We did not know about the SEE then nor magnum primers.

I would find another place to use that powder.