What powders

38 special & .357 Mag
45 acp
45 colt

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Alliant Unique.

357 mag & 30 carbine

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Alliant 2400 or Hodgdon H-110.

243/7mm-08/308
30-30
45-70
25-06
223

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Depending on bullet weights, you could get passably by with IMR-4895, or Varget, or something like that.

Not the best choice for all of them certainly, but it will work in all of them.

rc

Your best bet is a reloading manual and a paper & pencil.

Go through it and write down what top three powders give the best performance in each caliber, with the bullet weights you plan to use.

Then go through and scratch off ones that don't work in some of the calibers.

When you get done, narrow it down to what is on all the lists and pick something.

You really do need a slower rifle powder for best performance in the .243 & 25-06, and then a slightly faster one in all the others.

rc

Your best bet is a reloading manual and a paper & pencil.

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My "good" is probably not going to be your "good" for 2 reasons: load recipes and powder availability. Follow your trusted load data (whether from a reloading manual or off the powder makers web sites), and then go to your local store and see what you can actually buy.

XYZ powder might be the choice of world champion shooters, but if you can't obtain it, then it's all academic.

Agree with rcmodel's advice.


A good manual will often comment on what worked well in testing.


Since you're try to achieve a compromise and not so much interested in top performance, find what is listed frequently across those calibers, pick up a pound, and test it.

For your rifles --

If you like the IMR brand... 4895 is very versatile. It’s a good Goldilocks powder -- not to fast, and not to slow. Just right for plinking in just about anything. It and a jug of 4350 (a slower powder) would cover a lot of territory. Add some 3031 (ideal for the .30-30, good with a lot of others) and you got the fast end of the spectrum too.

For the Accurate brand: A4350, A4064, & A2015 would be a good spread. (Going from slow, to medium, to fast).

For Alliant: RL-17, RL-15, & 10x (or some RL-7).

Hodgdon: H4350, H4895 (or Varget, speedwise they‘re in the same ballpark), and H322 (or maybe Benchmark).

If you could have just one, get a medium speed powder. Add slower and faster powders as your budget permits.

I would say the bare minimum for the pistols would be HS-6, Longshot, Unique or something with a similar speed. You could do well with only one pistol powder but you'll have to willing to accept less than full power from the 357.

You aren't really getting into reloading seriously until you have about 10 cans of propellant laying around to choose from and try with your next experimental load. I have settled down to about 15 eight pound canisters of propellant for my needs but the manufacturers keep coming up with new offerings.:banghead: My latest was to get a large can of Trail Boss but looking seriously at adding the Superformance now. I tell ya it never ends.

Walkalong...you need a can of 800X to make it(photo) better....

Okla Cave you mentioned casting in your original post. If you are looking for powders to load with cast bullets as well, the recommended pistol powders would stand, but the powders for use in your rifles would be a little different.
You mentioned overlapping use with you powders...Unique is just about as close as it gets with a pistol powder and works very well for cast loads in most rifle calibers as does 2400. Red Dot is another extremely versatile powder as it will work for standard loads in your pistols and is close to ideal for cast bullets in rifles. In fact if I had to have only one powder for cast bullets in rifles, it'd be Red Dot. I use it religiously with .30 caliber cast loads and a buddy of mine uses it in his .223 with cast bullets.
A word of caution: be very careful using H110/W296 (same powder). Most data does NOT have a starting load because this powder for some reason is very dangerous in less than maximum charges. I've loaded gobs of the stuff in .410 shells, but for heavy loads in my .357, I steer clear of it as 2400 serves the purpose well.

35W

Walkalong Where did you get a picture of my pistol powder stash?? Really mine looks about the same but is a bit more of a heap style of storage.

If I had only one it would be WC Blank. It is going to be a sad day when the 10B101 is gone but is is a bit slow for some of the stuff I load. WC Blank will load everything from .380 ACP to 30-06 Springfield well enough to keep me happy.

Walkalong, I like the second pic better. I thought by looking at the first you skipped AA #7..LOL.

All good sugestions. I wolud add AA#5 to the list for 38,45,and 45colt.

I am slowly expanding in to different calibers and am just bewildered at the sheer number of powders so,

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To address that, most powders are duplicated by all the powder companies. For the most part IMO you can pick a powder company that had powders available in your area and be well served.

As for what to use, that has been covered quite well already but I have to put my 2 cents in too! LOL Like said above, you can load most calibers fairly well with 3 powders for both handguns and rifles.

I do most of my handgun ammo with W231 (HP-38), HS-6 (W540) and W296 (H110). I have and do use other powders for "specialty work" but 3 will do it... Rifle loads are a little different for me. I have bought a powder specifically for 1 caliber and sometimes 2 powders for only 1 caliber. (like H4198 and AA5744 for the 47-70 and nothing else)

In any case this is what I would use: (but I'm no expert, just a reloader)

38 Special - W231
45 ACP - W231
45 Colt - W231 or HS-6

.357 Magnum - W296 or HS-6
30 Carbine - W296/H110

7mm-08 (sorry, don't load for this one)
30-30 - IMR3031 or Leverevolution
45-70 H4198 or AA5744
.243 & 25-06 - H4831
.308 4895, Varget or BL-C(2)
223 - H335, Varget or BL-C(2)

BUT, if you are trying to keep the powder count down and I think that's what you're looking for I would think:

38 Special, 45 ACP and 45 Colt - W231
.357 Magnum and 30 Carbine - W296/H110

30-30, 45-70, 7mm-08, .308 and .223 - BL-C(2)
.243 & 25-06 - IMR/H4831
Getting it down to 2 powders for each isn't all that bad IMO. (although I worry a little about the 45-70)

is there any need to try both 4895 and varget? or are they about the same powder and just redundant to have both?

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Yes, redundant. No reason to have both if your primary goal is to limit the number of powders you have on-hand.