Convention for the naming of Smokeless Powders?

[Click_Here]

Was just curious. I googled but my fu maybe weak. How do or what convention are manufacturers that use numbers to name the powders following?
XBR 8208 Whats the 8208?
H110 - whats the 110?
IMR 4895...
H4895...
N110
Reloader 15

 

[Blue68f100]

They can call it anything they want. No convention required.

H = Hodgdon's
I = IMR
Reloader is Alliant.

Some use the same number to so mfg separates it, normally not the same but close.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

I know that for a while, back in the first half of the 1900s, the IMR powders were sort of numerically ordered. Mostly in the order of development, and in the order of chemical changes.

I don't know when it spun out of control. In the 50s, I think. Or at least after WW2.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Was just curious. I googled but my fu maybe weak. How do or what convention are manufacturers that use numbers to name the powders following?
XBR 8208 Whats the 8208?
H110 - whats the 110?
IMR 4895...
H4895...
N110
Reloader 15

What name makes you trust and want to buy the brand? That is the only real convention.

 

[Click_Here]

What name makes you trust and want to buy the brand? That is the only real convention.

The ones that I have tried and gave me good consistent results. So far the only crappy powder I’ve come across is Vectan. But at the least they actually follow a power factor convention for their numbers.

 

[cfullgraf]

There may have been some rhyme or reason for powder names by company in the past but these days powders have changed owners and production facilities that the powder names don’t correlate to much these days.

Use reputable, published data and if the works for you, remember the name and load data. You do log all the reloads you make?

It is best to assume all powders are different, need their own set of data, and are not exactly interchangeable with any other powder.

Nothing can implied from the powder’s name.

There are a couple pairs if powders that the manufacture has indicated as being identical, but they are few and far between

 

[9mmepiphany]

How do or what convention are manufacturers that use numbers to name the powders following?

I always think of it as a lack of imagination...to come up with a catchy name

 

[AJC1]

I like numbers with.meaning. reloader 15 is slower than reloader 10x. I guess some of their 20 series don't fall in.line but I don't use them.... the best naming convention in my opinion is vhit. A lot of people get confused but once you get the 100, 300 500 series it's cake after that. The do have a few oddball ones like 3N37 and 3n38.

 

[9mmepiphany]

The do have a few oddball ones like 3N37 and 3n38.

I use a lot of N310 and N320. Those two threw me a bit when I first stumbled across them

 

[Click_Here]

Use reputable, published data and if the works for you, remember the name and load data. You do log all the reloads you make?

I started with a Harry Potter Hogwarts looking Journal thinking it was going to be the Book of Eli for Reloading. I ended up with 100's of half cut index cards and an Excel spreadsheet. Its a total mess and now I just look at the index cards of the ones I have stashed with current stock of chosen handloads and go from there. Any that didn't work out, I tossed those cards. If I find a card I know its workable safe load.

I always think of it as a lack of imagination...to come up with a catchy name

Almost as if they threw numbers in a hat.

 

[AJC1]

I always think of it as a lack of imagination...to come up with a catchy name

Isn't shooters world the king of fancy names???

 

[Slamfire]

Philip Sharpe's Handloading Book was first published in 1939. There is a list of the powders available, and a short history. At least with Dupont, I never saw anything to indicate there was a logic behind the names. IMR 3031 was developed before IMR 4895, nothing in the name gives a clue about powder granule length, width, nitrocellulose concentration, burn rate, etc. IMR 3031 is faster than IMR 4895, but IMR 4350 is slower than both. I don't see a pattern.

The earliest smokeless powders offered to reloaders were the Laflin and Rand smokeless powders: Infallible, Bullseye, Lightning, and Unique. None of these names really tell you much about the characteristics of the powders. Bullseye and Unique are the oldest smokeless powders still available.

Pretty pictures of Laflin and Rand powder cans https://museumcollection.hagley.org/persons/2842/laflin-rand-powder-co

Maybe Laflin and Rand should have offered a big badda boom powder. According to this link, when a Laflin and Rand plant blew up in 1911, blast was felt 500 miles away! I wonder if the ground shook or what.

 

[slicksleeve]

Seems like I read somewhere that H380 was so named because of a pet load of 38.0 grains.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Isn't shooters world the king of fancy names???

Shooter's World came up with the name just for the American market. The manufacturer, Explosia, markets their powder in Eurpoe under the name Lovex + a number starting with "DO"

I much prefer Shooter's World canister names as opposed to their Lovex numbers. It's easier to ask for/remember Clean Shot as opposed to DO32-03

 

[Show Me]

Ya, that's what I say. Catchy name like white buffalo, red mist or thirty point buck.

 

[Bcwitt]

H 110 was a militery surplus 30 carbine powder. Hodgon used the commercial name "H110" for the 110 gr bullet it used. No magic. H 4895 is (was?) surplus IMR 4895. Ditto for 4350, 4198, & various others.


L p

 

[Bcwitt]

Seems like I read somewhere that H380 was so named because of a pet load of 38.0 grains.

Yep. Was a 50gr. 22-250.

 

[cfullgraf]

Seems like I read somewhere that H380 was so named because of a pet load of 38.0 grains.

Could be.

Names of stuff have been related to less.

 

[MEHavey]

big badda boom powder.

Luv it !
(My new name for R1)

.

 

[cfullgraf]

H 110 was a militery surplus 30 carbine powder. Hodgon used the commercial name "H110" for the 110 gr bullet it used. No magic. H 4895 is (was?) surplus IMR 4895. Ditto for 4350, 4198, & various others.


L p

It could be but you have to remember that powders not developed as canister grade powders frequently have slightly different burn characteristics. They do testing before loading and adjust the powder charge as necessary.

Remember, after the war years, there were lots of IMR4895 powder surplus. Hodgdon bought bunches of it but over time folks learned that its performance was slightly different than IMR 4895. Not a big deal, but one needs to know.

When it comes to powder charges and power charges types, don't assume.

Y'all be careful out there.

 

[codytrucker]

I don't think many of the names and numbers correlate to any thing significant . All of Hodgdon's powders are rebranded and renamed or numbered from the manufacturer . If I remember right , IMR 3031 was developed to replace cordite in the .303 British , and 2400 was developed for the .22 hornet and named for the velocity it got .

 

[Skeptic13]

I think you are looking for order and common sense were there is none.

 

[SingleActionAndrew]

Titewad comes to mind

 

[.308 Norma]

Seems like I read somewhere that H380 was so named because of a pet load of 38.0 grains.

Yeah, I've read that too - that 38.0 grains of H380 behind a 52gr HP was Hornady's favorite .22-250 load. And I can confirm that it's a great load in both my wife's and my .22-250s. A lot of coyotes, rock chucks and ground squirrels have fallen to our .22-250s with that load. As a matter of fact, I watched through binoculars as my wife "vaporized" a vole (a field mouse) at about 40 yards with it.

 

[mkl]

Can't comment on others, but Hodgen got started buying up surplus military powders (eg 4831) and when his supply ran our, he contracted with some one else to make the stuff and called it H4831. Similar to BC and BC(2).