Re: Just how much does temp affect RL15 and IMR4064?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 2clicks</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My experience with varget is the accuracy/powder charge range is hotter than I want to run in my M1A. Seems to me varget likes to be run on the hot side. Plus my velocity spread is lower with the other powders. There's more to accuracy than speed. Especially when we're talking about the M1A platform. Given the fact that IMR 4064 is temp stable and runs well with lower powder charges with low velocity spread its on the top of the list for my M1A loads. </div></div>
I agree with what you are saying.
Now we need to break down why. As I mentioned earlier, Varget was initially developed to maximize heavier bullets in the .308. What is true of the .308 is almost without exception true of the .223. Heavier bullets are the best choice when using varget as a powder.
The M1A was designed around a 150/155 gr. bullet. Pushed at a nominal speed of 2800 fps. (50 fps faster than than the then current .30 Cal U.S.) When accurized for a heavier bullet, it then gets a little finnicky as to how you arrive at that.
4064 was developed as a target/match powder post WWII. As I mentioned above it was the first 'coated' powder us civilians had ever seen. It pretty much amounts to original formula 4895 that was coated. Remember, DuPont made the first 4895 that Bruce Hodgdon pulled down and sold. They then duplicated the recipe and sold their own. When Hodgdon ran out of pull-down 4895, he contracted with an Australian company to start making it for him.
Anyhow, an interesting read on 4064:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improved_Military_Rifle#IMR_.23_4064
All that said, no matter how you arrive at a workable load in an M1A, stick with it. There are a lot more parts in that rifle that need to be accounted for in comparison to a bolt gun. If your rifle likes 4895, then stick with that. If it likes a load with 4064, stick with that. I recommend Varget for heavier bullets in the .308 as it works well. I <span style="text-decoration: underline">don't recommend </span>it for the lighter bullets <span style="color: #000099">{added: in gas guns}</span>. I do apologize if I wasn't clear on that from before.