Is there any diffrence to worry about between IMR Powder and Hodgdon say 4895 or 4350. Sometimes my local gun shop may not have one or the other. Im loading 30/06 165 grain hornady. Im not talking about mixing them i just want to know if one brand is just as good as the other. I hope i ask the question so you can understand me. Thank you
One brand is as good as another. Supposedly Hodgdon powder are "extreme" powders and have a special coating that reduces pressure. I have pierced primers with Hodgdon powders just the same as any other powder, so whatever pressure reducing advantage they have, I don't have the equipment to tell the difference.
All of the powders we buy over the counter have been blended. The industry standard is plus or minus 10% (so I was told by Accurate Arms) based on a charge weight for pressure curve. The brands we buy are sourced from various vendors. The "quality" of these powders all depends on the QC at the powder manufacturer. Since I don't have any insight into powder manufacturing QC I don't know what product characteristics they control. After using all the brands, I have found little to no difference in group size on target. If you develop a load with a particular manufacturer's powder, it will shoot well. However, don't be surprised if the next lot of that brand is a little different.
I do prefer short cut powders, the short cut 4350 powders came out after I bought kegs of the long cut 4350. Short cut powders throw better which is an important consideration if you use a progressive press. Long grained 4350 throws a grain and half or more out of my Dillion powder horn, so I end up weighing 4350. This is a bother. I can throw any of the 4895 series and that varies around a half grain.
Advertising is very clever, there are people who pay a premium for water in a green bottle versus a clear bottle. Consumers pay 100 times more for bottled water than for tap water. The difference between tap and bottled water is primarily advertising. The humorous thing,
there are more standards regulating tap water in Europe and the United States than those applied to the bottled water industry."
In my experience, when it comes to gunpowder brands, buy by price.