PB powder?? Worth loading?

I use PB in 45 Colt and some 12ga shotgun loads. Works great.

Bet you would say good things if you try 5.5 grs. with a 230 FMJ in the .45.
I lament the passing of PB.

JT

Excellent powder. I loaded it in .38 and .45 pistol years ago. Shotgun guys loved it for soft recoil trap loads. You may have yo do some digging for data. Kinda a niche powder.

Its great to hear that someone likes it in 45acp. I have used in in 9mm during a past panic. Its maybe not great, but perfectly serviceable. I was using 4.6 grains over a 115 plated bullet.
Would I choose it over tight group? No. Would I chose it over Bullseye? Maybe.

It worked well for me in 40. I seem to remember the load data from Hodgdon for the particular 9mm I was loading would not cycle the gun. In 45acp, it was one of those powders I saw a huge velocity difference between large and small primers. Since they discontinued it, I loaded up a bunch of 40 just to get rid of it.

PB is a fairly fast, single-base powder once made by IMR. "PB" because that's the chemical symbol for Lead on the periodic table of elements. Named so because it was supposedly perfect for lead bullets. PB was IMR's next faster powder after 7625, both of which disappeared several years ago.

rfwobbly said:

PB is a fairly fast, single-base powder once made by IMR. "PB" because that's the chemical symbol for Lead on the periodic table of elements. Named so because it was supposedly perfect for lead bullets. PB was IMR's next faster powder after 7625, both of which disappeared several years ago.

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Thanks for that. Google was failing me with lots of peanut butter powders.

My feeling is powder was meant to be burned, one way or the other, If it still appears good load it and shoot it.

PB was IMR's next faster powder after 7625, both of which disappeared several years ago.

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I miss 7625, was one of my favorites.

I love 7625 and bought one of the last 8lb cans around. I was also falling in love with 4756 when IMR discontinued several in their lineup.

The story was it wasn't economical to make due to environmental concerns, but I don't think their replacement powders have been received that well.

rfwobbly said:

PB is a fairly fast, single-base powder once made by IMR. "PB" because that's the chemical symbol for Lead on the periodic table of elements. Named so because it was supposedly perfect for lead bullets. PB was IMR's next faster powder after 7625, both of which disappeared several years ago.

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I thought it stood for “porous based”.

I also remember literature stating "porous base"

I discovered PB when I started loading 25 ACP. At the time, it was the only powder I could get for which could find load data. Worked well for me. Of course, loading 1.0 grain at a time and only shooting maybe 10 rounds a year, I didn't use up the can before the powder deteriorated. The only manual I have with a PB load for 9mm is Speer Number 11 dating from 1987, which lists loads for 95 grain and 115 grain bullets, but nothing heavier.

I use it for 16 gauge.

Terrible stuff. Couldn't get it to ignite even with magnum primers. Dries my mouth out and tastes awful.....
We're all talking about the same thing...right?