good cold weather powder.
 

Question, what is a good powder that works well in ALL temps? I have always used Winchester 760, 748, in mild weather they shoot great but now that I am target shooting in Feb in MN not so good. Hornady rep said H4350 great all temp powder, any others?

I might be useful if you indicated what cartridge you are shooting.

As a general statement, for similar burning rate powders I have had good results in varied temps with H4831, IMR4831, and IMR4350. Other powders work very well for me, but these have been reliable.

Sometimes otherwise good powders have lot-to-lot variations that will cause inconsistent results. The only to tell for sure is to check speeds and SD with a chronograph.

Shooting 30.06 and 308 and the chronograph is a good idea

Cold weather doesn't matter much, the hot weather is where it shows most, I shoot a lot of temp sensitive double based powders in cold weather.
RR

Sauer14,
I been on the same quest for a good while! Now,with a ruff time finding powders, I have tried to adjust the loads to the Temp. Ball powder seems to be too hard to be consistent.
I've had the best results with stick powder,like H-4895,Varget,IMR-4064 and IMR-4895. In my 30-06's, the 4895's seem most dependable! In my 308"s,the Imr-4064 is all i load.
I am in Pa. and the temps really are up and down. I don't load for maximum velocity,but i do load for consistent groups. I do keep a record of temps and the group sizes for each rifle.
IMHO,different primers,in different Temps,can be a variable?

This is the OP, went out in Jan,Feb in MN (very cold) shooting my pet loads in 30cal with Win760, it seems like I was getting two explosions, KA-BANG not the usual single CRACK. Never experienced this before but I have never shot in this temp 10F. I have been told Win powder need mag primers for cold weather and this might be right. Groups were off slightly.
Went out couple of weeks ago with H4350 with my favorite bullets for this rifle, Hornady and I was impressed. Best 3 shot group ever with this rifle, and it was VERY cold. groups were constant, maybe the Hornady rep was right.

I use IMR powders in all my center fires. the IMR 3031 is what I use for the 308 and soon the 220 swift.
IMR 4350 in the 243, 7mm08 and the 300 win mag.

Have been youte hunting in well below zero weather all winter with the swift loaded with IMR 4064 and it has worked even at a wind chill of 28 below. Windy days used the 243 and it didn't miss a beat either. Been a lot of windy days this winter along with the cold & snow .


:D Al

Only time I've loaded W760 was in a 375H&H, but that thing gets 215 primers only. It's a nice measuring ball powder but I've had better luck with RL15 for my use. For the '06, look at IMR4350 and H4350, and IMR4064. Those tend to be more tolerant powders. IMR4350 works good in so many things(H4350 as well) that may be the only thing you buy from now on.

I have had good luck with IMR 3031 and 8208 XBR

+1 for the imr powders, .223 is a tack driver with the 3031 and 50 gr v-max and cci #41 primers. 25-06 and .270 shoot 4831 very well as well. The only rifle I have that I do not shoot imr in is the 7mm rem mag. My pet load for that calls for 139 gr sst's and reloader 19 powder. when I start shooting reloads out of my 7.62x54R, I hope it will like the 3031 as well.

Cool weather propellants
 

Don't think I have seen H4831 or Imr 8208 listed depending on your bullet weight they may be a good consideration.

And while I have not worked with the new Enduron powders by IMR they may be a good choice. IMR 4166 & IMR 4451 may deserve a honest look. supposed to be temp insensitive and reduce copper fouling. Should be good if you look at the price:eek2:

IMR 7828 here. I used WW748 exclusively in the 222.

ball powders are double based, they run as good in cold weather as any, heat is the enemy of ball powder consistantcy. you can switch to another powder or use a magnum primer, rework your load in cold weather, you'll probably hafta up the charge to get the same velocity, not a big deal if you keep your warm and cold weather loads separated.
RR

I've not done a lot of cold weather experimentation with a rifle, but have done a good bit with pistol. The theory/experience is likely to be similar with pistol and rifle.

I was getting high hits in cold weather when pistol shooting. And finally hit on the idea that a pistol or rifle rarely recoils directly to the rear, on many rifles (and most all pistols) some of the recoil is up, it is in the design of the stock angle. I eventually hit on the idea that that fraction of second more the powder took to burn in extremely cold weather, was causing the barrel to recoil up higher before the bullet made it out of the end of the barrel. That was the only plausible reason I could think of for my consistent high hits in very cold weather.

This was kind of the opposite of what I expected, you'd think lower temps would lower velocity and cause bullet drop???

Another oddity I noticed was at the range I used to shoot rifle at long distance, out to around 350 yards, the air layers seemed to have a rather profound effect on bullet drop and/or where it would strike. The way the range was set up was it had a berm on three sides and raised shooting mounds every hundred yards. The farther you wanted to shoot, the farther back you moved and shot over the raised shooting mounds closer to the target. My groups were consistent, but the strike point would change as the air warmed up in the morning. The right conditions (a little ground fog) and you could actually see a vapor trail from the bullet. I have no idea if the visual path changed due to refraction or the actual bullet path changed as it passed through the different air temperatures between the mounds, but I found it interesting. My groups were good, they would just move around the bullseye in rather random ways.

IMR 3031 is my go to powder for my .308. The manufacturer said the rifle was designed to shoot 167 gr PSPBT bullets at around 2750 FPS. The rifle shoots way better than I do, so I decided to follow their recommendations.

I may be wrong but I think I remember reading that H4831SC is not suppose to be affected by temp change???

A lot of Hogdon powders are extreme extruded powders. While still being effected by temperatures, they vary a lot less than others.