Powders you have stuck with.

[Waywatcher]

In a response to Mr. Eick's very helpful thread, I thought we should have one specifically where people list their favorite powders and favorite uses. I'll start:

Trail Boss: I load this to its "max" in .38 special, which duplicates factory ballistics with 158 lead. It gives 100% case fill, which is a miracle in .38 special, and is extremely clean burning. It also meters well.

2400: I like this powder for .357 magnums; it doesn't need special primers, and it doesn't need to be loaded near the max all the time. It also meters well and burns clean enough for me. The boom and flash are very satisfying.

Benchmark I like this powder in .223 with 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. It gives very good groups in my AR, is very good metering (the kernels are exactly half the size/length of a Varget kernel), and it is not temperature sensitive. It also does not need compression for powerful/max loads.

Those are currently the only 3 with a "permanent" place on my bench. How about you?

 

[rfwobbly]

For pistol.... the N300 series powders from VihtaVuori... especially N320 in 9x19.

 

[wanderinwalker]

For me it is Winchester 231 for pistol loads and Hodgdon Varget in rifle. They're not very fancy, but they do seem to work well. And I don't have the metering issues with Varget many report, even with an inexpensive LEE powder measure. (Which is odd, because I'm in the "won't use Unique because it meters to poorly" camp.)

 

[BBDartCA]

IMR4064 and 4895 for the Garand. 4895 works a little better it seems with 150g. 4064 better for heavier.

IMR4350 for other '06, especially 165 and 180g.

IMR4227 and # 9 for 357.

748 for 308 but rethinking this.

Ap70 for 9mm.

 

[J_McLeod]

HS-6: It seems to do everything. Fairly high power, low recoil, easy to measure.

Not set on anything else yet.

 

[Damon555]

H110 for magnum revolver loads.
Unique for every other handgun application.
H335 for some rifles and Varget for others.

I have other powders on hand but as my reloading years have progressed I have narrowed it down to a few simple choices. Usually if one doesn't work the other will. The powders I have listed have consistently proven themselves so they dominate my limited shelf space.

 

[john wall]

Titegroup for non magnum handguns, standard loads.

HS-6 for full throttle loads in 9X19 and 40.

Accurate #9 in Magnum handgun and 357 SIG.

Accurate 2015 for 223, 5.56mm. Accurate 2520 for 308, 30/06, 8X57S, and 35 Remington.

Alliant RL-7 for 45/70. RL-15 for 30/30.

Alliant Red Dot for 12 ga.

 

[Oklacoyotekiller]

4227 for hornet. 4320 for22-250 and 243 light bullets. 4350 for heavy 243. hp38 for 45 acp. all meter perfectly in my old lee powder thrower

 

[cfullgraf]

Favorites include Unique, 700-X, True Blue, Blue Dot, AA#5, AA#7, W296, AA1680, AA2230, Varget, and H4895.

 

[beatledog7]

Bullseye for .38SPL and .40S&W

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Power Pistol...I like it because it meters better than Unique and it can be loaded from mild to wild (I do use some Unique, but I load them single stage)

H322...best 45-70 powder ever, IMO.

Reloder 15...best 308 powder, IMO.

H4350...this is a new one for me, I've only been loading the 30-06 for a short time...but I see no reason to change powders...its accurate, gives plenty of speed, and burns clean.

 

[oldreloader]

Red Dot, Clays, And Longshot for shotgun
AA #5 and Bullseye for pistol
AA2230,Big Game (Ramshot), and 4350 for rifle

 

[Mike 27]

IMR 4064 for my 30-06 outstanding accuracy
Bullseye in 45ACP, and 9mm again great
AA2 in my snubby .38 sp after some bad luck with HS 6 (I see others love it)
Blue Dot I just started using in my 10mm but so far so good
TAC in my 30-30 Mod 94 works great

 

[res7s]

With jacketed loads I use W748, BL-C(2), IMR-4895, IMR-4064, IMR-4350, for rifle, and Unique, Red Dot, Bullseye, 2400, AA#7, and IMR-4227 for handgun.

With cast bullets I use, Bullseye, Red Dot, Unique, Blue Dot, 2400, W748, BL-C(2), IMR-4064, IMR-4895, and IMR-4350 for rifle, and Bullseye, Red Dot, Unique, AA#7, and IMR-4227 for handgun.

I broke it down like that because with some of these I only use one powder for a particular cartridge/bullet combination. They are my "one trick ponies", but the "trick" is good, so to speak.

 

[JO JO]

4064 = 308
2400 = .357
power pistol = 9mm & .40
red dot = 12 ga trap

 

[mcofboise]

I must be old, I'm so old school...

For years my handguns were fed a steady diet of Hercules powders: Unique because of its versatility in all the popular calibers (and I must be the only person on this board that's mystified by all the poor metering complaints, because that has never been the case for me), Bullseye for specific applications, and 2400 for the hotrods (perhaps because Elmer Keith and I are/were twin brothers from different mothers... born a few generations apart). Today the cans say "Alliant," but there they all sit. Somebody somewhere along the line introduced me to 231/HP38 and my .45s thank them for it. 748 maintains the big-can footprint on the shelf because both the .223 and .308 prefer it. And try as I might, I can't rid myself of IMR-4350 because this late in the game I refuse to look for a new load for the .30-'06, and I've got a cranky old Remington 788 in 22-250 that shoots 3-shot Mickey Mouse heads at 100 yards with a case full of those DuPont Lincoln Logs and a 55 grain JHP. Since we all know it won't run through a powder measure worth sour owl poop, I must concede to being enslaved by this rifle. The alternatives I've tried fill 3 pages in my reloading logbook, leading back to the inevitable spoon feeding and trickling of each and every load so this pile of plywood and plumbing won't suffer indigestion in the springtime when the varmints come out to play.
When do we get to do the "one-gun, one-load (or not)" thread?

mike

 

[69Falcon]

H4350: .30-06, .270
H4895: .308, developing .223 and .30TC loads
748: .30-30
IMR 8208 XBR: Got for .223, going to try out some other things
Clays, Trail Boss: .38 Special and .357 Magnum (158 LSWCs for both)

 

[bandit7.5]

red dot in all rifles and shotguns ,good for my needs.
I do have a can of vv n310 that was gifted to me by a friend with no reloading knowledge.

 

[777TRUTH]

Unfortunately I am limited to Alliant powders locally.

Bullseye in 45 and light .380 loads, Power Pistol in 9mm, .40 & standard .380 loads.

I like these threads, I will start loading .223 this year and am getting a lot of great ideas.

 

[Muddydogs]

(and I must be the only person on this board that's mystified by all the poor metering complaints, because that has never been the case for me)

Nope, I run Unique in all my pistols as well as lead shotgun loads. No problems with the metering.

H110 for heavy pistol loads.

W748 for 223

Re 22 and Re 15 for rifle

Steel for waterfowl loads.

CCI mag primers in everything.

 

[MtnCreek]

IMR4895. This was the second powder I purchased; still use it today for several rifle loads.

 

[Bud0505]

I've been using Unique, W231 and AA#9 since I started reloading. Never found any reason to change.

Bud

 

[wr400]

Unique,Power Pistol,Bulleye an H110! does it for me!

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

*Unique for pistol.
*4895 and BLC-2 for the .30cal service rifles
*4064, Varget, and 8208 for the varmint rifles

 

[BullfrogKen]

Unique is quite versatile, but it's so dirty I rarely use it for anything at all.

I've used AA No 5 in 38 Special, 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, and 38 Super. It's my go-to pistol powder for anything I want in standard-pressure and medium velocity.

I've become a big fan of Varget for rifles. If I get something new I try Varget first. Only until I find that it doesn't work well will I move onto something different. But it usually does. If not, I try an IMR powder. 4895 is great for 30 calibers and 4198 for 22 calibers.