Any must have powders???

In my case, for pistol, it's HP-38 / Win 231. I use it in 9mm, .38 Spcl, .380 ACP and .38 S&W.

My must haves are:
H110/w296- magnums - 357, 454 casull
2400- magnums - 357 and sometimes 45-70
Trailboss- everything I want to be light
Unique- anything I can if it's all I've got
- I'm not that into rifles but I do load a few rifle cartridges , takes me a while to work through a pound though.

I have went from Win 231 to BE-86 for smaller pistol loads. H110 for big pistols.
Rifles are an endless can of worms. When you find one you like, buy the big jug. I like big jugs.

Shak3s1977 said:

You can use 2400 in 45-70? If so I'll have to look that up. I grabbed the 2400 yesterday and haven't really looked at any load info yet.

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You can, you aren't going to find the load data - for some reason it's a loading that's been lost to time. It makes a fairly light load but does work well and is very accurate, I haven't chronographed .

That's a screenshot for the data @AJC1 was kind enough to provide.

If you're curious where that came from its from the Lyman 45th Edition. I found it on eBay for like 10 bucks

Pistol- Unique is a catch all. Even some of the dot powders in a pinch. Also, TiteGroup is my go to for 9mm these days. Plus any of the first mentioned will cross over to shotgun loads if i feel like cranking those out.

Rifle- As stated above, find what works and buy the big jug. Benchmark, Varget, and Tac all have found there way to my powder storage.

One of the powders I have never tried but on the list is universal. It's supposed to be very versatile like unique but I cant find any.

Shak3s1977 said:

Universal and 231 seem pretty popular around the internet. They are on my to do list, along with sport pistol. 3031 is on the list for rifles, but I can't seem to give up my IMR 4198 yet so I keep pushing that one back.

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Imr 4198 is my primary 45-70 powder, I've looked for alternatives simply because it doesn't meter well in my powder drop. That's why I was tinkering with the 2400, it meters great. I just wish I had another cartridge to use the 4198 on, when I settled on my standard 45-70 load a few years back I bought about 9# of it and I've only made my way through maybe 2.5# so far. Not a bad thing but I wish I had another load to use it up.

Universal is my go to pistol powder mostly for 9mm. For rifle the best I have tried so far is Varget. Varget produces my most accurate loads in .223 and .308. Right now though powder is very difficult to come by. I have been branching out and trying some new powders that are available and seem to suit the applications I am loading for.

Skeptic13 said:

Universal is my go to pistol powder mostly for 9mm. For rifle the best I have tried so far is Varget. Varget produces my most accurate loads in .223 and .308. Right now though powder is very difficult to come by. I have been branching out and trying some new powders that are available and seem to suit the applications I am loading for.

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Try ar comp. Its temp stable and has a huge following from those tired of waiting on varget.

Don’t load much anymore but in the past Varget, H110, Trail Boss, W296, and sometimes Lil Gun were all I kept.

Shak3s1977 said:

Universal and 231 seem pretty popular around the internet. They are on my to do list, along with sport pistol. 3031 is on the list for rifles, but I can't seem to give up my IMR 4198 yet so I keep pushing that one back.

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3031 is something my dad loved and we shot for years. It's a powder I would use if I could not find what I wanted. It's supposed to be great for very stout 45/70 loads if your just hankering for some abuse.

Two that I will never be without are Unique and IMR 4064. Unique simply needs no introduction. I can load pretty much any handgun cartridge with it. IMR 4064 can be used for any rifle cartridge from .223 to .45-70 with peak performance falling in the "medium" rounds akin to 30-06 and .308. Even many of the overbore magnums can be loaded with it if you find the old data, albeit at rather lackluster velocity levels.

I use my 4064 across the board for M1 Garand, .308Win hunting loads, .300 Savage hunting loads, and military match/practice loads in metrics such as 7,5 Swiss, 6,5 Swedish, and 7,62x54R.

I've been finding Bullseye for 9mm and 45 workis very well. Power Pistol for heavier loads. W231 for 38spl.

Universal and H110/296 for me

IMR4350 for rifle
Unique and 2400 for handgun stuff

Those cover a very wide range of cartridges, and shotshell stuff too.

Unique, obviously; Green Dot, Bullseye, BL-C(2), Varget, IMR4064, and IMR 3031. Shotgun and Pistol the first two, Pistol the third, and the other 4 rifle.

Arkansas Paul said:

IMR4350 for rifle
Unique and 2400 for handgun stuff

Those cover a very wide range of cartridges, and shotshell stuff too.

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I was wondering where the 4350 series crowd was. Seems like anything with a larger case likes that series of powder. When I started loading ramshot hunter was available "thanks dad" and it works great for a lot of stuff. Seems like the go to for all the older military surplus guns.

IMR-4895 , is by far the best powder I’ve used . Ok now what does best mean . It depends on what you want out of it . When I say best in this case it means easiest powder to find a good load . In every cartridge/caliber I’ve used IMR-4895 with I’ve found a good load on the first load development with out needing any other fine tuning . This is not to mean fine tuning couldn’t or didn’t make it/them better . Only that the loads were more then exceptable right off the bat .

That said ,it’s not the most temp stable , it is not the best metering powder and it’s shape makes for more compressed loads in small cartridges like 223 .

There are many powders that one could say must have IMR-4895 is mine .

Shak3s1977 said:

Are there any powders you all recommend trying?

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The ones you can get your hands on. I work up loads for lots of different powders just so I have them in my hip pocket. Picking a favorite is like picking my best kid. Good luck!

I am loading .223, .30-30, .30-06 (Garand), and .30-06 hunting rounds with H4895. The results in each were good enough for my purposes, temp stable, and relatively easy to find.
I am loading .40S&W, have loaded .45ACP, and a friend is loading 9mm, all with HP-38 (WIN231). Again, it works, and is fairly available, so I stay with it.

There is no perfect powder for everything. How boring would that be? But, some can do *very well* for multiple loadings. I just prefer to have the two powders, so there is virtually no way for me to charge with the wrong powder. If I am loading pistol, yellow label. If I am loading rifle, turquoise label.

Rifle - H4895
I can reload for every rifle cartridge I own with it

Pistol - HP-38
I can reload every for pistol cartridge I own with it