IMR 7625 - Current cost/pound
 

A local auction has some IMR 7625 as well as some Clays powder. What is a reasonable price to pay/pound. I’d like the 7625 to load some 16 ga. 2 1/2” shells. The clays Id use for some 12 ga. recipes. Appreciate any input/thoughts. Thanks - Brett

7625 is whatever you can get for and are willing to pay . IMR hasn’t produced any in quite a few years . I think the last I got I paid about $35@pound .

Last year found an 8 lb bottle for $ 275.00 at a gun show

Since there are other powders which do the same things I would venture that should describe the rational market but.. if you dont have to ship it, thats worth a penny too.

I would imagine at least $40/lb at gun shows, but might be even more. A few years ago I picked up 4 1lb bottles, they were asking $30 each and bought all 4 for $100. I shot a round with 2 1/2" 16 ga at the Rock couple weeks ago, and was going to try it with 28 ga.

What powders would that be that do the same things?

7625 was a single-base straight NC powder, progressive burning with a much slower burning/pressure curve than double-base powders that have flooded the market. 7625 will produce high velocity at lower pressure and with significantly less felt recoil, that means a slower and longer recoil impulse which is kind to the shoulder and old gun stocks.

Certainly other powders can be used for 16-gauge loads and personally I reserve my stock of 7625 for heavy 12 and 10-gauge loads. Me, if I needed any 7625 I wouldn't balk at $50. per pound.

I use Hodgdon Longshot for all those reasons in bismuth hunting loads for 10, 12 and 20 gauge.

When they were still making it i used 7625 for awhile in the 10-12-16-20 and 28 so I only needed it and W296 to cover everything I loaded in shotguns , of course that was before I got the first mountain howitzer (8 gauge) . I will say when the Obamite was in I studied loading manuals and bought everything I came across that met my parameters . I may have over reacted a bit , but I’ve never been at a standstill from lack of powder or primers . It pays to be prepared and have options .

I use International Clays and 3/4 0z Down Range wads for my 2.5 16's. Very clean burning and gets it done. The problem now is finding Down Range wads.

And Int'l Clays!

I use International and DR16 for my 3/4 oz loads also. Have 1 more pound of International and 600 DR16 wads left.

My advice would simply be, buy the powder. Even if you choose another recipe, there are lots of people who would love to have 7625 to hang on 'just a little longer' to the tried and true 16ga. load. All components are fluctuating in availability, and we need to watch out for others, as well as ourselves.
Other recent threads have popped up where people are looking for shells, and reloading is still less expensive. Not only that, but the shot weight and size is within your control, rather than compromising with what's on the shelf.
Give or take a penny or two, I know my 28s are $7.25 per box with once fired hulls, and $11.00 with NPEs.
At $21.00 per box retail, you only need to load 35 boxes to amortize the cost of a 600Jr press.

16 oh my gosh about the only thing I use 7625 for anylonger is the 10 gauge . Now for the 16 I lucked into a very nice 1 ounce load using SR4756 the SP-16 wad in the old WIN 16 gauge Upland and Xpert smooth AA style hulls . Think I loaded about ten pounds of SR4756 in my 16 loads the past three years . Think I’ve got enough 16’s loaded with 7 1/2’s to last me possibly two years for clay and feathered targets .

Think I’ve got a pound of Universal Clays and two pounds of International Clays for use in the 8 gauge with 1 5/8- 1 7/8 ounce loads mostly for buck , ball or slug . Any bird loads in the 8 I use the same 11/2 ounce target load with maybe a change in shot size , I kinda enjoy taking an 8 to Prospect Hall and shoot it at one peg in the tower shoot .

One modern powder that fits that description would be vihtavuori n340 and the faster-burning n320. And yes there is some limited load data, if you search for it. Both of those powders are porous, extruded single-base

Thanks for all the input and suggestions. I attended the auction Thursday evening and came up empty. The auctioneer sold ammo by the individual lot (including .22lr bricks) but when he got to the powders much to the chagrin of many he sold them all as one lot. There was all kinds of pistol, rifle, and shotgun powders. I was interested in the IMR 7625 along w/Clays and a 4 lb container of Unique. All of the powders went for $1600 + 3% BP + 7.3% sales tax.
I’ll continue the search! Interestingly several flats of target loads (Federal and Remington Gun Club) went as high as can be bought locally. Winchester 209 Primers went for $85/1000 and that didn’t include the BP and tax. I thought things were settling down some but you couldn’t tell from this auction!