Has the great powder depression caused you to develop new favorites?

[Potatohead]

On the surface, this sounds great and convenient.

Unfortunately, a bazillion other folks will sign up for the service and if you do not react in nano-seconds of the posting, you will never see any powder.

By not having the alert service, it, at least, takes lazy folks like me out of the equation.

Yea, that's a lottery I never win. Gave up on it.

IMR 7625 (too bad Hodgdon is tanking that one).

+1

 

[TwoEyedJack]

I am down to a few pounds of 231, some H335, some 4064, and not much else. I figured out how to make black powder and load it in a Remington 1851 cap and ball revolver. I cast my own lead balls. All I need from the store is percussion caps, which thankfully are plentiful. I have not found a pound of anything useful at Sportsmans Warehouse in many moons.

 

[Dudedog]

Tried IMR 7625, 4756 Autocomp and others when I could not get Universal clays for my pistol loads. I liked really liked IMR7625 and 4756 but they are being discontinued. Longshot works well for 9 on the high side and can be used in .45 in a pinch. Tried Unique, about like Universal, not as clean and has well Unique metering qualities. Still just starting with Bullseye looks promising.
The list goes on no BLC(2) so I have tried 8208 and H335 in the .223, liked both ok.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I've decided that large quantities of a few powders is better than large numbers of many powders in small quantity.

Here's my approach:

For .45 ACP and .38 Special, an 8-lb keg of Bullseye

For .22 Hornet, .357 Magnum and .45 Colt, an 8 lb keg of Li'l Gun.

For everything else, from .223 to .35 Brown-Whelen, a keg of Varget.

 

[jell-dog]

I got back into reloading in January of this year.
So....bullseye, hp38/w231, unique, universal, and other GO TO PISTOL/REVOLVER POWDERS missing in action IN MY WHOLE STATE of NORTH DAKOTA.
I finally found 2lbs AA#2 in feb (use for .380), 2lbs AA#5 in march (9mm), 1lb
Power Pistol in april(.38/357) and CFE PISTOL 2lbs just today (haven't
worked up any loads with CFE PISTOL yet), and scored 5lbs Tightgroup @Recobs Target Shop (no loads worked up with Tightgroup) (and a couple bricks of Winchester SPP).
I know I missed some shotgun powders I could have used, but I was going for pistol powder.
The powders I have will work for the calibers I reload, but the calibers I listed behind powder are my best performing (for now) loads.
These powders are my new favorites, so I may not buy any bullseye, hp38/w231, unique, universal, and other GO TO PISTOL/REVOLVER POWDERS.
More for you!!
After all, how many different powders do you need (not how much) in your stock?
Really?

 

[cfullgraf]

I've decided that large quantities of a few powders is better than large numbers of many powders in small quantity.

Here's my approach:

For .45 ACP and .38 Special, an 8-lb keg of Bullseye

For .22 Hornet, .357 Magnum and .45 Colt, an 8 lb keg of Li'l Gun.

For everything else, from .223 to .35 Brown-Whelen, a keg of Varget.

A good approach.

Maybe an improvement might be is to have loads developed for alternate powders. It would improve the chances of finding powder during the shortage and not have to start over with load development.

 

[Louca]

Has the great powder depression caused you to develop new favorites?

No, but it has caused me to think of how I could use 50BMG for all my handloads!

Everyone should have at least one good air gun. They have several great attributes which are even more apparent now.

Lou

 

[LiveLife]

Disclaimer: Following post lists loads currently not published by the powder manufacturer - Use them at your own risk.

Has the great powder depression caused you to develop new favorites?

Yes.

When the shortage of 2008 hit, I tested Promo using Red Dot load data and Green Dot and found them to be useful for some of my 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP and 45Colt loads. Thanks to the shortage, I found new favorites of lead 9mm 124/125 gr, 40S&W 180 gr and 45ACP 200 gr using 4.0 gr of Promo. With Green Dot, I found I needed to add about .3 gr to my W231/HP-38 loads - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=518185

During the current shortage, I tested Herco for 40S&W using 2004 Alliant load data and found 6.1 gr worked particularly well for 180 gr lead and plated bullets that burned clean - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=743416

6.1 gr of Herco also worked well with 9mm 115 gr FMJ/plated HBRN bullets along with 5.2 gr for 124 gr lead RN - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=745656

 

[Tony k]

I started reloading just after Sandy Hook. I rarely find the same powder twice. I'm pretty much in a perpetual state of new load development. I'm just gonna roll with that for now. Once things get better, I'll have a broad set of loads worked up and I'll be able to pick my favorite.

Here's what I've tried in the past year and a half

38 special/ 357
Unique
PB (too light)
800x (favorite)

9mm
Longshot
800x (great with 147 grain bullets)
Powepistol
Greendot
Bullseye
PB (good with 115 grain bullets)

45 auto
700x (works decent, generally available)
Powerpistol
Longshot (ridiculously loud, heavy recoil)
Bullseye

223 Rem
H322
H335 (favorite with 65 grain Sierra Gameking)
CFE223
H4198
W748 (favorite with 55gr FMJ)
IMR4064

7.62x54
IMR 4064

270 win
Hybrid 100v (shot all my game with this last year)
IMR4064 (soft recoil)
IMR 7828
IMR 4350 (not tested)
AA 4350 (not tested)

 

[LiveLife]

I rarely find the same powder twice. I'm pretty much in a perpetual state of new load development.

Some of us reloaders do that just for fun.

 

[cfullgraf]

I rarely find the same powder twice. I'm pretty much in a perpetual state of new load development. I'm just gonna roll with that for now.

Keep good records and you will have developed loads for alternate powders in the future.

Then it will not be so traumatic when your favorite powder is not available. You will have something to fall back on. With a larger choice of powders, it will be easier to find something you can use without starting from scratch.

 

[Tony k]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony k
I rarely find the same powder twice. I'm pretty much in a perpetual state of new load development.

BDS Said: Some of us reloaders do that just for fun.

I do too, but there can be too much of a good thing . At least when I go to the LGS, the powder shelves aren't bare and dusty like they are in some places. I can almost always find something that will work.

cfullgraf Said: Keep good records and you will have developed loads for alternate powders in the future.

Then it will not be so traumatic when your favorite powder is not available. You will have something to fall back on. With a larger choice of powders, it will be easier to find something you can use without starting from scratch.

That's the silver lining here. If I had started reloading when powders were plentiful, I probably would have picked one powder for each caliber and just worked with that. All the load development I've done over the past year will eventually pay off (except for the IMR PB, which is being discontinued) . I have a few friends that have been reloading for much longer than me, but they don't have half the loads worked up that I do.

 

[Potatohead]

I'm pretty much in a perpetual state of new load development. I'm just gonna roll with that for now

Some of us reloaders do that just for fun.

Im in this boat too. If i aint mixin' up something new, I'm not nearly as excited about it.

 

[horseman1]

Im in this boat too. If i aint mixin' up something new, I'm not nearly as excited about it.

This ^. I was borned into reloading in the great component depression. All I have known is scarcity and want. So, I got pretty flexible and resourceful. If I had been born to reloading in a different era, I might not have tried all these different powders and worked up so many different loads. That's fun too.