Powder in old 30-06

[yesit'sloaded]

I pulled the powder out of a bunch of old 30-06 I had. It is headstamped 56 WCC which I believe is Western Cartridge Co. 1956. Am I correct in thinking that this is the same as H4895? I was planning on a starting load of 46 grains behind a 150 grain Sierra Gameking. Is this data correct? Bad idea?

 

[dogrunner]

4895 is THE powder for the '06, BUT you don't know for a fact that your powder is 4895 and that's a major problem!

If YOU didn't pour the stuff from a sealed can, then God himself only knows for an absolute certainty just what it is.

My advice would be to toss it and buy a new can of 4895, then you know what you are doing and with what.


By the way, that ought to be a good starting load.....got a buddy that swears by 47.5 with that same bullet.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

I measured the powder and there are 48.1 grains in each case before I dumped them. So a starting load of 46 grains can't be worse than the original right? Bullet depth and all aside, was there any other powder besides H4895 even used by the government. It looks just like it. Or is this a case of me trying to save a buck where said buck would actually be well spent on a can of 4895?

 

[cpttango30]

Hodgdon's web site list 46 as the min load of H4895. If you want to use IMR 4895 then the bottom is 49gr.

Always had the best luck with IMR 3031, 4895, and 4064 in my 06.

As far as telling which powder is which by looking is not very acurat at all. I would get can of h4895 or IMR 4895 and start with that.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

Guess I'm going to be pulling bullets for the next hour. Powder gets trashed.

 

[Jim Watson]

Everybody tries to make it sound so complicated and scary.

This was factory USGI 150 gr ball ammunition, right?
They used 48.1 grains of some sort of powder for standard ballistics, right?
I would have no qualms about seating a 150 grain softpoint over the powder charge as factory loaded for the same weight FMJ. It is the same principle as Mexican Match, pull the 173 gr FMJ military match bullet and replace it over the factory powder charge with a 168 gr Sierra MK. Cutting the load to 46 grains would take care of any little differences in bullet diameter or seating depth.

The powder might or might not be 4895, and even if it were, it might not match the spec of commercial cannister grade 4895. But it was tested and approved for that load.

 

[tlen]

Why not just shoot the old ammo and get in some target practice ? You can re-use the brass for hunting loads.

 

[USSR]

Everybody tries to make it sound so complicated and scary.

This was factory USGI 150 gr ball ammunition, right?
They used 48.1 grains of some sort of powder for standard ballistics, right?
I would have no qualms about seating a 150 grain softpoint over the powder charge as factory loaded for the same weight FMJ. It is the same principle as Mexican Match, pull the 173 gr FMJ military match bullet and replace it over the factory powder charge with a 168 gr Sierra MK. Cutting the load to 46 grains would take care of any little differences in bullet diameter or seating depth.

+1. You can tell by looking at the primer if it's factory loaded. If it is, then leave the load as it is and simply substitute your 150gr Sierra GameKing for the 150gr FMJ bullet.

Don

 

[Slamfire]

Everybody tries to make it sound so complicated and scary.

This was factory USGI 150 gr ball ammunition, right?
They used 48.1 grains of some sort of powder for standard ballistics, right?
I would have no qualms about seating a 150 grain softpoint over the powder charge as factory loaded for the same weight FMJ. It is the same principle as Mexican Match, pull the 173 gr FMJ military match bullet and replace it over the factory powder charge with a 168 gr Sierra MK. Cutting the load to 46 grains would take care of any little differences in bullet diameter or seating depth.

The powder might or might not be 4895, and even if it were, it might not match the spec of commercial cannister grade 4895. But it was tested and approved for that load.

+2

 

[yesit'sloaded]

I didn't just shoot the old ammo because of the possibility of a corrosive primer. That and the bullets are going into .308 plinking loads. 30-06 hunting ammo isn't cheap and I have plenty of brass anyway. Unless I'm missing some way to remove a live primer safely doing it this way works out for me.

 

[tlen]

I didn't just shoot the old ammo because of the possibility of a corrosive primer.

Corrosive primer use generally stopped in 1953 [US manufacture] so your WCC 56 ammo should be non-corrosive. Even so, shooting corrosive primer is no big thing; just use hot soapy water to clean the bore and cases. Back in the 60's & 70's surplus corrosive WWII ammo was common & cheap and we shot a lot of it in our M-1 Garands.
http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/30-06intro/ammo-nctable.htm

 

[USSR]

Corrosive primer use generally stopped in 1953 [US manufacture] so your WCC 56 ammo should be non-corrosive.

+1. Your WCC 56 ammo has non-corrosive primers.

Don

 

[rcmodel]

+1, +2, & +3.

Yes, there is no way to tell what powder it is, and you can't use IMR-4895 or H-4895 data for it in another load.

Yes, it is definitely non-corrosive ammo.
All WCC .30 cal. ammo was non-corrosive after 1951.
All GI small-arms ammo in all calibers was non-corrosive after 1955.

Yes, if you pulled 150 grain FMJ bullets, you can use the same charge with 150 Game-Kings.

rcmodel

 

[ArchAngelCD]

If you are going to buy a powder I have a slightly different suggestion. Even though 4895 is the original and an excellent 30-06 powder I find the rounds I make with IMR4350 are just a little more accurate. If you try 4350 you won't be sorry.