mag primers for 4320?

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spitballer

spitballer

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Just started dialing in some IMR4320 this morning for a bolt action .223 and noticed how sooty it is. Anyone ever use mag primers with this powder? Does it burn any cleaner? Thanks.
 
I've never used IMR 4320 for loading the .223 Remington, since my go to powder for that caliber has always been Winchester 748 for 55 grain bullets. With that said, I've used a ton of IMR 4320 in .30-06 with 165 grain bullets, since it's always produced the best results on paper and on game out of my hunting rifle. I've never found the need for magnum primers with it, and I've hunted in temperatures down around zero, and shot elk at those temperatures. It may be the difference between small and large cases and primers, but I use standard Winchester primers for this powder.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Magnum primers have nothing to do with how clean a powder burns. They're only about getting it to burn. If your manual doesn't tell you to use 'em, you don't need 'em. They can help ignition in cold weather. No such thing in Florida though.
0 F isn't cold either. -40(the two scales meet about there) is cold. snicker.
 
Thanks for responses. I will not attempt to use mag primers with this powder. Cases cleaned up nicely in the wash, along with the others.
 
Is your load on the light side? Some powders will burn less efficiently when the charge is too low, thus producing excessive soot and erratic performance. If it's performing well I wouldn't be too concerned though.

GS
 
Since IMR4320 is only slightly slower than IMR4895 I completely agree a magnum primer is not necessary especially with the small charge weights used in a .223 cartridge.

Which bullet, bullet wight and charge weight are you loading?
 
GS - yes, perhaps a bit light, now that you mention it. I always seem to get a lot of pressure with my rig so I actually started at 23 grains for the .223 w/55 grain bullet, although the suggested starting load is 23.5. But even with 23 grains I had a distinctly sharp muzzle report and the bullets wandered around up higher than normal. When I got to the 23.5's I only fired two them and they were worse. Had much better luck with 22.5 grains this morning, although 22.0 is not enough. I don't think the cases were ever really that sooty they just seemed like it when compared to some cases I used with H414 that day. Today I held some up alongside some cases used with an optimal (for me) IMR 3031 load and they actually looked pretty similar, so I'm good to go. With my rig I get tight clean holes with 21.35 grains of the 3031, but I know it was used with M193 ammo at 52000 psi so in that respect these may in fact be light charges.

Ironworker - thx for advice on other thread about fully seating primers. I agree w/GS on this too.

Arch - this would be nosler ballistic tips, 55 grain. They're kind of finicky with me at the lower pressure that I use, but they will definitely form tight ragged holes at full pressure. CCI #400 primers, Nosler cases.
 
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