Persistence and versatility are the keys to powder procurement in the current environment. Learning which powders are suitable for your purposes and grabbing them when available. Check out of the way spots, keep checking with local sellers, gun shows, armslist. Don't be afraid to pick up potential trade stock if you stumble on powder that you may not use, but you know others are searching for. You may be able to trade for what you need. I am fortunate to have 3 retailers within 5 miles of my house that stock reloading components. Not surprisingly, the Sportsman's Warehouse has the best prices, and the least amount available. Ranch and Home is typically $2 to $5 higher per pound of powder, but has a pretty good amount available. Griggs in Pasco sometimes has okay stocks, and sends me $5 and $10 discount coupons once in a while which I almost always use for a pound or two of powder. I check all three spots at least weekly, Sportsman's Warehouse maybe 3 times a week since it is the closest and usually the cheapest. When they get product in stock, it doesn't last long.
I always grab a pound of Tite Group when I find it. It works in all my handguns for target loads and loads a lot of rounds with a pound. I also grab Power Pistol or Unique when I find it. I almost grabbed a pound of IMR-4756 the other day, as I recall it to be decent in the .38 Spec. (But they were asking $30 for a pound and I didn't need it that bad) and should work well in 9mm and .45 ACP. I could use Accurate No. 2 or No. 5 in all my handgun loadings. i have a couple pounds of 2400 and Power Pro 300MP on hand for the .357 Magnum for max loads. I don't shoot that many of those, so those powders last a while.
For the .223, I have a good stock of Ramshot TAC and Accurate 2015. I will probably order another 8 lb keg of TAC when i find one available. If I exhaust my stock of TAC, I could substitute Benchmark, Accurate 2230, Xterminator, or Accurate 2460 or a couple of others. I also have some IMR-8208XBR on hand. My son's .338 Federal loves it, and it also has applications in the .223 Rem, the .243 Win and even the .270 Wln. While it isn't the best powder in all of those, it will work acceptably well in all of them. The same could be said for H-4895 and IMR-4064. For the larger capacity cartridges, I have some Reloder 22 and 25, as well as some Accurate Data 86 which is similar to their discontinued 3100. I lucked onto 3 eight pound kegs of it several years ago and have loaded a lot of .243 Win, 6.5x55, and .270WSM with that powder.
Like I said, the key is to stock up on powders that cover several cartridges and buy in bulk when you can. The same goes for primers and brass, too.
