Powder choices for 30 Carbine

[gatorwade]

Started reloading for my war babies recently, using H110 and 110 grain Sierra and X-treme bullets with CCI 400 SRP. Encouraging results so far, but I am down to the bottom of an old can of powder. How old? Dunno, but it is priced $16.79. I have more H110, plus LilGun, and IMR4227. Should I keep going with H110, or has anyone had good results with the other 2 mentioned powders. Or are there any others? Haven't seen any H110 for sale in my area, northern Calif., in over a year.

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[browningautorifle]

I used IMR 4227 but it's not as easy to use with a powder measure as H110 is. Still, I used it effectively for years.

[no4mk1t]

H110 and W296 are the exact same powder. They were marketed separately for years before Hodgdon became the distributor for Winchester powders. Both are made by St. Marks powder in Florida. These are the original powders for the 30 Carbine and these deliver the highest velocity.
H4227 and Lil Gun will also work. They just deliver slightly less velocity. Not enough to matter. With today's hard to get powder situation, use whichever you can find.

The Hodgdon website has data for all these powders.
Take Aim at Rifle Reloading Data | Hodgdon Reloading

[browningautorifle]

H110 and W296 are the exact same powder.

Excellent, excellent info to find out. That's why we're here.

[no4mk1t]

For those that doubt this, you can look at the data on the Hodgdon website and see that the charge weights and pressure/velocity data are identical for both powders.
If you need further convincing, email the Hodgdon tech folks and ask them. They will tell you it is so. This was once a industry secret as Hodgdon did not advertise that their "Spherical" powders were the same as Winchester's Ball powders.

[vintage hunter]

For those that doubt this, you can look at the data on the Hodgdon website and see that the charge weights and pressure/velocity data are identical for both powders.

My Hornady manual shows the same thing. However the two Speer manuals I have shows the max charge to be a grain different. I've seen data from other sources that show a difference as well.

[browningautorifle]

Don't doubt it at all, just never heard it before...

[USGI]

My understanding regarding these powders being exactly the same is that in recent years, that's true. Previously, they were different and that's why you see differences when looking in the older reloading manuals. The same goes for HP-38 and Win W-231 - used to be different, but now identical. - Bob

[WarPig1976]

Varget and IMR4895 are also very, very close too.

[TDH]

And try to find 231. Also add H4895 to the Varget and IMR. they are like 7 spots different on the burn chart