Last I checked, there were several hundred powders. And for most applications, there are at least a half-dozen alternatives. So what processes do you go through when picking the powder you'll use for a particular load.
Here's the process I went through. I'm a cheapskate, and am trying to minimize the powder inventory.
Pistol: I want a powder that will give good velocities in both 9mm and .380acp. I tried Unique cuz the manuals seemed to show good results in both cartridges. Yeah, its dirty, but it meters well for me and performs in both cartridge.
Rifles: I started with a .17 Wildcat, and inherited a recipe with H4198. Some study indicated a slower powder might work better, and a buddy let me try some H335. Worked great and I still use it. As I expanded into reloading .308, .223, and 7.5 Swiss, there were good H335 loads for each and I kept using it. Tried a bottle of Varget, and got loads that were identical in velocity. The H335 seemed a tad more accurate, so I've stuck with it. I tried some IMR 4064 for the 7.5 Swiss because the folks at the Swissrifles board recommend it heavily. But my H335 loads seemed more consistent in velocity and accuracy. So I'm pretty much an H335 guy in rifles.
It all seems pretty simplistic to me. So what do you go through in order to select a powder for a given load?
Here's the process I went through. I'm a cheapskate, and am trying to minimize the powder inventory.
Pistol: I want a powder that will give good velocities in both 9mm and .380acp. I tried Unique cuz the manuals seemed to show good results in both cartridges. Yeah, its dirty, but it meters well for me and performs in both cartridge.
Rifles: I started with a .17 Wildcat, and inherited a recipe with H4198. Some study indicated a slower powder might work better, and a buddy let me try some H335. Worked great and I still use it. As I expanded into reloading .308, .223, and 7.5 Swiss, there were good H335 loads for each and I kept using it. Tried a bottle of Varget, and got loads that were identical in velocity. The H335 seemed a tad more accurate, so I've stuck with it. I tried some IMR 4064 for the 7.5 Swiss because the folks at the Swissrifles board recommend it heavily. But my H335 loads seemed more consistent in velocity and accuracy. So I'm pretty much an H335 guy in rifles.
It all seems pretty simplistic to me. So what do you go through in order to select a powder for a given load?