IMR PB Powder Opinions

[arakboss]

I bought some bullets from a member today and he generously threw in some old powder. One of the powders is a shotgun powder labeled IMR PB. There is very limited pistol load data in my books and not much more on the Hodgdon website. It appears to provide low velocity to pressure ratio and the start to max load window is narrow. If you have had good success with this powder in pistol cartridges let me know what you liked it in.

Read More

 

[arakboss]

This link is to thread that discusses some uses for the IMR PB in reduced rifle loads. It appears some old Lyman books had loads for the IMR PB in rifle loads.

IMR PB powder in cast loads? [Archive] - Cast Boolits

I know IMR PB powder is mostly used for shotgun shells. I'd like to use it for reduced loads in 30'06 and 308W and 7.62X54r. Does anyone have experience using it with cast bullets? 102 grain, 155 grain or 200 grain boolits? Thanks.

castboolits.gunloads.com

 

[WillametteWill]

I picked some up just as they or after they stopped making it. Was told it works well in 45 Auto and exceptionally well to make low recoil 12 gauge target loads. With one can (14oz, not even a pound) it will not go far in the shotgun, so I'll eventually play with it with 45 loads. I have some old manuals that IIRC have more load data, but it is nice that there is still at least something on Hodgdon website.

 

[arakboss]

I picked some up just as they or after they stopped making it. Was told it works well in 45 Auto and exceptionally well to make low recoil 12 gauge target loads. With one can (14oz, not even a pound) it will not go far in the shotgun, so I'll eventually play with it with 45 loads. I have some old manuals that IIRC have more load data, but it is nice that there is still at least something on Hodgdon website.

Same boat here, I received about half of a 5lb container and don't expect I will ever get my hands on anymore so I will probably stick to using it in pistol cartridges. I might try a few rifle loads just to see how it functions.

 

[DLS]

PB was discontinued in 2014. Good powder that meters well. The IMR site has drastically dropped the charge weight compared to older published data. The current 9mm 115gr. max load won't cycle any of my semi's, which includes Sigs, CZs, Glocks.

I'm currently loading up the last of my PB in 9mm Luger. It works well in .45ACP too. I'm sorry it's almost gone!

I can dig through my old manuals and send you the data if you like. Let me know what cartridges.

 

[gmerkt]

Here are the pages from the 1990 IMR Handloader's Guide. It isn't copyrighted, it's in the public domain, so okay to reprint it here. A characteristic of Dupont and later IMR data was to recommend the widest possible range of powders for every application. PB is pretty fine grained, meters better than some of of the other "shotgun" powders from DuPont/IMR. In handguns, it is used on small quantities so any quantity of it will last a long time.

 

[padraig]

I bought some bullets from a member today and he generously threw in some old powder. One of the powders is a shotgun powder labeled IMR PB. There is very limited pistol load data in my books and not much more on the Hodgdon website. It appears to provide low velocity to pressure ratio and the start to max load window is narrow. If you have had good success with this powder in pistol cartridges let me know what you liked it in.

I love PB for 9mm and 45acp. If you want to part with it, let me know...