[gbran]

Does anybody know what type (brand?) and amount of powder Federal uses in their 185gr and 230 gr Hydra-Shoks?

[Jim Watson]

No.
Federal's not telling.

And you can't tell by looking. Factory loads may use a bulk lot of powder not exactly the same as the cannister lot you can buy. They don't care, they have a carload of powder and a lab to determine the load to use. On the other hand, it might be the same as the cannister lot sold in stores, but how could you tell? At one time the old Hercules plant made nine different grades of Red Dot, but only sold one at retail. The rest went to ammo plants.

They might change next week anyhow. Somebody else might get the contract for powder to the Federal plant. Glen Zediker wrote about Federal Match .223 coming in on military contracts loaded either with a Ball powder or with a Vihtavouri powder. The VV was preferred but the guys on the teams didn't write the specifications and had to check what came in and hope for the best.

All you can do is look at your manual and pick a common powder and load that will give the same velocity with the same bullet weight. Good enough for practice, Hydrashok bullets are not available anyhow.