What is IMR 3031 generally used for ?

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rfwobbly

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Cleaning out a very sick friends storage unit today and found the mother load of IMR 3031 (in steel cans !) marked "1993", so I might need to buy a new gun !! I see 308, 35Rem, 243, 223, and 30 Carbine brass in here also, so give me a hint what my next gun is going to be. :D
 
From the IMR website:

A medium burn speed propellant with many uses, IMR 3031 has long been a favorite of 308 Match shooters using 168-grain match bullets. It is equally effective in small-capacity varmint cartridges from 223 Remington to 22-250 Remington, and it’s a great 30-30 Winchester powder.

IMR recommends always consulting www.IMRReloading.com for the most accurate, up-to-date data.
 
IMR 3031 is a little fast from my experience, so it'll work well for bullets on the lighter side of average for the caliber in those rrifle calibers you've mentioned. Probably too slow for .30 Carbine, but I've never loaded that one.
 
It's great in 223 and 35 Whelen in my experience.
My Grandpa used in instead of cordite in elephant guns.
Pretty much it it uses 4895, benchmark, 8208xbr, etc it will use 3031.
I started using it last summer and was amazed at the ease of finding accurate loads even if it's giving up 100 fps to other more finicky powders.
 
You may want to confirm the powder is still good before going out buying a new gun. Have you done a sniff test and poured some out looking for the dark cloud and rust flakes? I've had 1 powder go bad from that era. Luckily it was just a partial can.
 
It's an excellent powder and has bumped IMR4895 as my Favorite Rifle Powder. Primary use is .30'ish cartridges for me, but it works well even in something as big as the .45-70. I've not tried it in the .223 (I have H335 for that,) but I have heard good things about it there, also.
 
Like many of the others I bought 3031 when I started loading for the 30-30. I don't use it regularly for anything else because I'm a little nuts and use a separate powder for each cartridge I load trying to achieve the best accuracy with each. 3031 works in the 30-06, .223 and 303 British from my testing. Others above have given you more choices already. It works very well in the 45-70 too especially with jacketed bullets.
 
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Are you sure? I thought it was developed for the 30-30. 30 Cal - 31gr powder, 3031.
Nope, DuPont R&R "Powder .303 #1" developed for pre-WW1 (1914) British contracts. Resurrected with WRA 303 British cartridges sent to Great Britain for "lend lease" 1941-1945. Nothing wrong with using IMR3031 powder in the .30-30 (or .30WCF) as it is my most favorite powder for both cast and J-word bullets! Original smokeless .30WCF were loaded with 30 grains of a proprietary powder similar to the commercial brand; Laflin & Rand "Lightning."
 
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