Improvising...

[tark]

With the current shortages on powder and especially primers, I have found my self improvising lately, as in...

IMR 4227 is not the first choice for your average 45-70 reloader, but I have found it works rather well for the lighter bullet weights. It's a bit fast burning for 400-500 grain bullets but it works well with 300-350 gr. bullets. I use up to 40 grains for the former and 35 gr. for the latter. It burns clean and gives good accuracy with no pressure signs.

4064 is not my first choice for the heavier bullets but it will work. Reloader 7 is better, but I get acceptable accuracy with the 4064. It does leave some residue in the bore as it is a bit slower burning than is ideal. But it works.

Same with primers, I sometimes use magnum where standard would do, but I just reduce the charge a bit.

Sometimes you just have to improvise...

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Yup. I've had to improvise often, especially when reproducing older loads for antique guns. A lot of powders just aren't around anymore or are different now than they were way back in the day. The old Colt New Police loadds weren't just S&W loads with Colt's name on them, they were different bullets at different speeds and typically at much higher pressures than their S&W counterparts. And then there's the whole "Chambering That Never Existed" thing with rounds like .455Webley/Auto-Rim/ACP and the very rare, home-grown rounds like .25-303 Australian. For some of those cases it might not be possible to look up a load or find the same components as were used to develop loading data and you have to improvise.

 

[Bearded Phil]

I worked a load with IMR 4227 in 45-70 with a 405gr coated bullet that works pretty well for what I need it for (informal target work). 22.7gr gives me about 1077 FPS out of my 18" barrel Henry. Decent accuracy from me and soft shooting enough that 20-40 rounds in a session doesn't break my shoulder.

I got 8lbs of 4227 when it was available for a while and I saw data for 45-70 and 357 mag. Like you said @tark not everyone's first choice for 45-70, especially those that want full power, but it's nice to know there's an option.

I'm focusing on 4227 for 357 mag development right now but I also have about 4lbs of AA#5 that I've been using in 38 Spl and I think I'll eventually get around to trying it in 357 mag as well just to see what it can do.

Experimenting.. improvising.. call it what you will. This is some of the fun I get out of handloading. In better times it's easier to grab a 1lb of a couple different powders and try them but in times like these being able to grab what you have and try a new combination (within data of course) and work a usable load is part of the skill set that hand-loaders benefit from.

 

[AJC1]

I worked a load with IMR 4227 in 45-70 with a 405gr coated bullet that works pretty well for what I need it for (informal target work). 22.7gr gives me about 1077 FPS out of my 18" barrel Henry. Decent accuracy from me and soft shooting enough that 20-40 rounds in a session doesn't break my shoulder.

I got 8lbs of 4227 when it was available for a while and I saw data for 45-70 and 357 mag. Like you said @tark not everyone's first choice for 45-70, especially those that want full power, but it's nice to know there's an option.

I'm focusing on 4227 for 357 mag development right now but I also have about 4lbs of AA#5 that I've been using in 38 Spl and I think I'll eventually get around to trying it in 357 mag as well just to see what it can do.

Experimenting.. improvising.. call it what you will. This is some of the fun I get out of handloading. In better times it's easier to grab a 1lb of a couple different powders and try them but in times like these being able to grab what you have and try a new combination (within data of course) and work a usable load is part of the skill set that hand-loaders benefit from.

4227 in 38 is chunky but accurate. It got a little better at the top with 357 with a mag primer.... still playing with this myself. No observed chunks in 308 cast loads, and when I get a chance I'll test in 30-30.

 

[FROGO207]

Way back when things were pretty much available I would take the first 6 loads for a particular weight bullet in the Lee book for that cartridge. Then work up loads for each one. It's all in my data records. So I have 6 choices of what to try. Should I ever run out of components I will start again but that might take decades to do at this point. So I guess I am happy with where I am now.