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.

[no4mk1t]

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.

Could be different lots of the same powder. Look at a selection of different manuals and they will all be slightly different for the same powder no matter which powder you pick.

[browningautorifle]

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

[vintage hunter]

Could be different lots of the same powder. Look at a selection of different manuals and they will all be slightly different for the same powder no matter which powder you pick.

Probably has more to do with varying jacket hardness and bearing surface lengths of the bullet from one brand to the next. Another factor could be slight differences in the bore/chamber dimensions of the test guns used.
Anyway, my point is even though the two powders may be identical in all aspects don't take it for granted the charge weights will be interchangeable for all brands of bullets of a given weight.
Check the data for that particular bullet before loading.

[browningautorifle]

Check the data for that particular bullet before loading

Absolutely agreed.