IMR 3031

i've wondered about ADI AR-2206 (not AR2206H), is (or was) AR-2206 a ball powder or an extruded powder? I've broken down Aussie military 7.62x51 ammunition and most of it had ball powder.

John Coleman wrote: i've wondered about ADI AR-2206 (not AR2206H), is (or was) AR-2206 a ball powder or an extruded powder? I've broken down Aussie military 7.62x51 ammunition and most of it had ball powder.

     AR2206 is a funny powder it's extruded but has the appearance of a Ball powder it's burning rate is in the ball park of BLC (2) ,but sadly has been discontinued I still have about 5kg (roughly 10lbs ) ,but have been using a lot of AR2206H & BM2 (roughly the burning rate of Bench mark or 3031 years ago when ADI was still Mulwex  3031 & the Old AR2206 was interchangeable ,but that changed with the advent of BM2

      Dave

dave h wrote: John Coleman wrote: i've wondered about ADI AR-2206 (not AR2206H), is (or was) AR-2206 a ball powder or an extruded powder? I've broken down Aussie military 7.62x51 ammunition and most of it had ball powder.      AR2206 is a funny powder it's extruded but has the appearance of a Ball powder it's burning rate is in the ball park of BLC (2) ,but sadly has been discontinued I still have about 5kg (roughly 10lbs ) ,but have been using a lot of AR2206H & BM2 (roughly the burning rate of Bench mark or 3031 years ago when ADI was still Mulwex  3031 & the Old AR2206 was interchangeable ,but that changed with the advent of BM2       Dave

Thanks, I didn't think ADI made ball powder but I'll have to look at the Aussie military powder more closely. I've often read about AR-2206 being compared with H-335 in burning rate. H-335 and BLC-(2) are from the same factory and in low pressure cartridges like 30-30 Winchester they have similar burning rates (charge weights) but in higher pressure cartridges like 308 Winchester BLC-(2) acts like a slower powder and H-335 acts like a faster powder.

normally the Winchester and Federal primers are the hottest. Remington primers are USUALLY the mildest. Some people claim best accuracy with IMR powders using Federal or Remington primers which are very different primers. Almost always people claim best results with Varget and H-4895 using CCI primers. When I switch primers with IMR powders I usually don't get much difference in point of impact. When using ball powders I usually get a noticeable difference in point of impact.

 Now almost always and especially with IMR  and ball powders Remington primers seem a bit milder than CCI primers. In 303 using H-4895 and Varget I got a surprise. I was loading right around max loads with 174 grain bullets and no pressure problems using CCI primers. I switched to Remington primers which are usually milder and starting having a sticky bolt with H-4895 and overpressure signs and high velocity with Varget.
 
I don't use Winchester primers at all and I use Federal 215 magnum is belted magnums and 426 Rigby. I noticed in the Hornady load guide the H-4895 and Varget loads seemed a bit light but Hornady uses Winchester primers, so maybe there's a reason for the lighter max loads.

i'm still surprised at the Remington vs CCI primers though. I wonder if the Remingtons were magnum primers in the wrong package.