Thread: 50 plus Years using Australian Rifle Powders

Greetings All,
In my recent fumbling with BM8208 I realised that it was a little over 50 years since I loaded my first cartridge. It was a .303 with a 180 grain Norma projectile, CCI primer and 34 grains of AR2201 powder. AR2201 powder had been developed about 1960 for use in the 7.62 Aussie ammo for their SLR. It was never a canister powder and its speed varied from lot to lot and not offered directly to the public. It was sold to wholesalers in 30 pound kegs which was then on sold in smaller quantities to the public. Mine came from CAC in a tin like the one below, later used for storing AR2206. The manufacturer provided no loading data but some privately developed data was available. Mine came from Reloading Simplified by Cyril Waterworth.

AR2201 was temperature sensitive and did not store well so in the late 1970's a new powder was developed at the request of the Army and three additional powders were added. These were AR2207, AR2206, AR2208 and AR2209. The manufacturer, Mulwex, did not develop data but this was done by members of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia and published in a small pamphlet by Mulwex dated about 1985. AR2206 was the first of what are now touted by Hodgdon as their extreme powders.
By 1985 my .303 rifles had gone replaced with a .308 (later more than one) and a .223. I had fallen under the influence of Handloader Ammunition Reloading Journal and was using IMR4064 and IMR4895 plus AD2206 once my AR2201 ran out about 1983.
About 1990 the first of my 6.5x55 rifles appeared in the cupboard. Ken Waters had published some loads with the 120 grain projectiles and IMR3031 in his 1987 pet loads and AR2206 was supposedly the same speed. The chronograph revealed that it was much slower and a can of AR2209 was purchased which produced the goods.
Currently all of the powders I use come from ADI, BM8208, AR2206H, AR2209, AR2213SC and AR2217. I will try to pare this list down a little as stocks run out but I can't currently see the need for any others.
Regards Grandpamac.

ADI powders are very good. I have always appreciated that our western cousins have done pretty well keeping Kiwi shooters supplied when the Northern Hemisphere brands have been difficult to obtain. My favourites are among ADI, Alliant and Norma powders. I wouldn't like to be restricted to use of only one powder brand. I guess I enjoy tinkering too much. But if forced to ADI could cover most of my needs with the spectrum of burn speeds their powders offer.

Catching up to you GPM. Been handloading for 40 something years. Don't want to stop.

Started out in 1966. Got one can of 2201 off Dinny Collings around that time but cannot remember using it. Possibly gave it to a mate.
(Correction, I think the can from Dinny may have been 4740, not 2202.)

Loaded the 308 with excellent Nobels 2 until Nobels not longer existed although for some time after the end of that company Belmont continued to sell me Nobels from their cache.
My first 22/250 was loaded with Norma, another excellent accurate powder. Norma disappeared off the market for some time but seems to be back again. I won't be using it again as I found it quite temeperature sensitive, its only downside apart from availability.

Also used a lot of recovered milsurp 4895 in the early days when 30-06 could be bought for 2 cents a round.. A great cheap powder.

In recent years I have gravitated to virtually only use ADI the fact being that with powder shortages the Yankee brands become scarce (non existant) first. Also like the fact that the ADI powders I use are less temperature sensitive than their opposition equivalents.

Still have quite a bit of Reloder 15 (6.5x47L), VVN140 (6mmBR) and W760 (6.5AI) though. Like GPM will pare these down.
The last of my 3031 was used as a garden fertilser after it developed an acrid pong. Unfortunate, as I had a reasonable quantity of it.

Might add that after many years, I'm still learning.
Recently changed my whole reloading method and have stopped using bushing dies. Never too late to change.

I use mainly adi powders 2206h 2208 2209 and another one but I cant remember what it is off the top of my head. Lil gun gets used in the hornets and I bought a deceased estate of powder that has hodg imr and win amongst it that Im playing with. Been reloading about 30yrs

And of course ADI has long since been owned by the French Thales although I've never heard any concerns expressed about this. However, you can understand why the Yanks are getting het up about the Vista sell off.

We are certainly lucky to have a neighbor who makes decent smokeless powder

Also lucky to have excellent Black Powder being made in NZ

Lets just hope they both continue to sell to the public for ever

Now we just need some enterprising chaps to set themselves up to make primers and percussion caps

Ive still got an old paper mulwex manual..when 2213 was brand new....a couple of adi manuals and a thales one somewhere too...might have given that one to Allen????
the oldest one has some really interesting loads in it..like using 2206 in the 270...yip it worked but wasnt great. definately was some load development still going on back then.

Greetings all and thankyou for your likes and replies,
If I am being honest I likely have enough hunting ammo already loaded to see me out which leaves target shooting and pottering with my old soldiers. For this I likely have at least several years supply of components and more than that for powder and primers. Thanks for mentioning IMR4740 Zimmer. I had heard about it but can never seem to find out where. I gather it was a Canadian made surplus powder used in the .303 predating AR2201 and roughly the same speed. Cross referencing the data in the Mulwex pamphlets with later pressure tested data I found some to be quite weak and some fire cracker hot so it would be best to keep it as a curio rather than use any of it. I doubt if any of it was pressure tested.
Regards and thanks again Grandpamac.

My first powder purchase was in 1980, a kilo bag of H4831 so that may have come from over the ditch as well. I think it was 10 or 15 bucks. It went well in my Savage 243 using a whacka mole press untill i learnt about case seperation.

@grandpamac Came across this old document whilst surfing. Lists powders available to Oz and NZ reloaders. How times have changed.
Powders are listed from Page 62 (the booklet pages not the pdf document pages) onwards.
Handloading_Guide_compressed.pdf

4740


When I started reloading there still seemed to be some bulk surplus WWII powders around. Usually large containers with no label. Ex various larger calibre weapons. Very much a suck it and see. Some worked some didn't. A miracle heads weren't blown off although in most cases the powders under performed in civilian catridges.

Originally Posted by zimmer

@grandpamac Came across this old document whilst surfing. Lists powders available to Oz and NZ reloaders. How times have changed.
Powders are listed from Page 62 (the booklet pages not the pdf document pages) onwards.
Attachment 236034

Greetings @zimmer,
Thanks for that. I have added the load data to my old data file. Based on the inclusion of the 7mm Rem Mag and the price of 7 shillings and sixpence it dates from the mid 1960's. My copy of Reloading Simplified is from 1970 or a little later and has no data for 4740. I remember reading somewhere that handloaders often used the same data for 4740 and 2201 and both powders burnt out their rifle throats at the same rate. I must be a far gone handloading looney when receiving data for some long dead powder fills me with joy.
Regards Grandpamac.

I thought we used IMR 4064 at first but this must be pretty old.


I did start with the silver 180gr but soon went to 130 which were really good. Ive got half a dozen empty boxes still.

Originally Posted by zimmer

The last of my 3031 was used as a garden fertilser after it developed an acrid pong. Unfortunate, as I had a reasonable quantity of it.

Same with IMR4740 here, the nice diethyl ether smell changed to something less pleasant and the interior of the tins rusted out. I had a few tins too, originally from Din no doubt but I think mine came via Neville Orr in UH who also used to handload a bit of ammo for me in the early 90s.

Was the 4740 from pulled 30.06? I thought it might have been? Worked fine for me in the .257 Roberts.

Unwanted powder can be lots of fun for the young 'uns by having their names written in big (cursive) powder letters across the garden, and putting a match to one end, and is even better after dark. Admittedly not so good for the lawn this way though.