Powders

[greg_r]

Just curious. How many here have a single powder for each load? How many try and find an all purpose powder. One that might not be optimal, but that will be adequate for a number of cartridges?

I buy powders for individual cartridges such as TrailBoss, Varget, Leverevolution, Lil'Gun, etc. But I always keep on hand a few powders that are Jack's Of All Trades.

One I keep on hand is Unique. It's actually a favorite in many cartridges. I have loads for it in 32 Long, 38 Spl, 44 magnum, 45 ACP, 45 Auto Rim and 45 Colt. It works well in 12 and 20 gauge shotgun, and for reduced loads in rifle cartridges.

IMR 3031 to me is the Unique of the rifle world. I keep a supply of it on hand as well. It works well in 223, 30-30, 308, 7.62x54R, 30-06, and 45-70.

296 is my magnum pistol, 22 Hornet, 410 shotgun, 300 blackout and 450 Bushmaster powder. I am liking Lil'Gun in the Hornet and Bushmaster though. Lil'Gun just may replace 296 as one of my Staples though.

There are my thoughts on three powders that will load probably 90% of what I load for. 280 Remington and shotgun slugs are about the only exceptions. They get their own powder. Reloader 19 and HS6 respectively.

 

[Hunter86004]

Unique and IMR 3031 are numbers 1 and 2. IMR 4895 would be number 3.

I've used Unique in 9mm, 38 special, 357 mag, 41 mag, .30 carbine, 7.62x39, and 45ACP at one time or another.

Used 3031 in .222. .223, 22-250, .243, .308, 30-30, 30-06, and 45-70.

 

[JO JO]

I can get buy just fine on 3 powders for my rifles and handguns, but luckily we are now enjoying stocked shelves again so I have been experimenting with more powders , but if things dry up again
I will be fine with my stock of Trail Boss , HS-6 and TAC ,

 

[Blue68f100]

I try to have at least 1 backup powder just encase the one I like can not be found. Which is not likely to happen since I stock for 3+ yrs. I do like experimenting though looking for a better combination.

 

[Average Joe]

I have it down to this:
1. Red Dot for shotshells
2 .BE- 86 for all handgun loads
3. Winchester 748 for rifle loads..

 

[FROGO207]

I have about half of the propellants available on my shelf for working up loads (57 at last count). I could easily get by with four of them if I had to. BUT those four would only be "good enough" for general blasting ammo in my book. Loading to get the maximum performance out of each and every firearm is always my goal. Depends on your need per load IMHO.

 

[taliv]

for pistol and ar15 ammo (high volume practice) I buy the cheapest thing i can find. everything else gets covered by h4350, varget, or reloader17, each of which i buy 30-40 lbs at a time. got a shelf full of 1lb cans for testing various stuff. i'll eventually buy in bulk for the 300NM too. haven't decided what powder though. prob R26

 

[Hokie_PhD]

I like having a few powders tha5 I use. But also like to have a few others to fall back on if I can’t get the ones I prefer.

 

[hdwhit]

I could get by with Bullseye for all my pistol cartridges and with IMR-4198 for all my rifle cartridges, but adding just two or three more powders to the repertoire proves a lot more flexibility.

 

[Condor]

I like to have at least two powders for each cartridge (IMR 4064 and H4895 are my two favorites). IMR 4064 is very accurate for me in most cartridges, but meters with difficulty. I set the powder measure a bit below and trickle up for each charge. I enjoy the process and 50 per hour is reasonable for me. I am currently loading for .22-250, .308 Win, .30-06, and .30-30. I do like working up loads with other powders just to see what they will do and have a pound of Varget waiting for some load testing.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Regular readers have seen this many times but since you ask, I can load all handgun cartridges and load them well with only three powders. They are W231/HP-38, W540/HS-6 and W296/H110. I do however have a bunch more other powders that I use for special one cartridge use.

As for rifle powders, I mostly use a different powder or more than one powder for each rifle cartridge. For example, I use either H4198 or AA5744 for the 45-70. I use H4350 for the 30-06 unless the ammo is for the M1 Garand and then it's H4895. IMR-4064 is for the .308 Win or Varget. The 30-30 gets IMR-3031 or LVR. There are more but I will stop here.

If I had to I can could get along with two or three rifle powders, AA5744, 4895 and 4350. If only two remove 4350. You consider 3031 to be rifle Unique, for me it's 4895.

With all the choices available I see no reason to compromise and not generate the very best results. Also, it's very good to have many tested and varied recipients in case there is another shortage and our favorite powders are not available.

 

[cfullgraf]

While I have a number of powders that could be used in multiple cartridges, along the way I've found powders that work well in one or two cartridges and other powders that work well in other cartridges.

For many of the cartridges that I load for, I have good loads worked up using different powders so that I can weather shortages more easily.

Trying to minimize the different powders that I keep on hand just does not seem to work for me.

I could get by on just a few powders if I had no other choice.

 

[Bfh_auto]

4064, w760, H1000, universal and h110 would cover me.
I have 7 handgun/shotgun powders and about a dozen rifle ones.
The fun is in learning what you don't need.

 

[2ndtimer]

Ramshot TAC for .223 can also be used in .338 Federal
IMR-4064 for .308 Win, can also be useful in .243 Win and 22-250
IMR-8208XBR heavy bullet 5.56 NATO and primary .338 Fed
Power Pistol for 9mm, .357 Mag performance loads
Titegroup for 9mm, .38 Special and .45 ACP mild loads
I have very specific powders for .270 Win, 270 WSM and 243 Win Varmint loads.

 

[Grumulkin]

One could "get by" on very few powders. At the radical end, just use Trail Boss or Blue Dot for everything. You will find as you load more cartridges that what worked well in say a 223 Remington won't be optimal in a 308 Winchester.

 

[Toprudder]

As I was just getting started when the big shortage was happening, I started to buy a pound of whatever I could find at the local gun shows. Then I started testing them all, mainly in 45acp, but also 9mm, 40, 380, 38spl, 357mag. One that stood out for me was BE86. It works very well in the semi-auto rounds, and gives good mid-range performance in the magnum calibers. But for all my handgun calibers, I could get by very happily with 3 powders - Power Pistol, BE86, and H110. 300-MP would be the next one I would add, for my pistol caliber carbines (357 and 44mag).

I have not gotten as deep into rifle as I am with handguns, so I can't say yet what powders would serve me well, but it appears that H4895 and Varget would be good ones.

 

[Jack B.]

When I first started reloading, Hercules Powder( Alliant) was the only pistol powder available to me. Bullseye , Unique and 2400. To this day they are still my favorites but I experiment with others now a days. IMR 4064 is my go to rifle powder. However there are others I try. I am finding that I like Vihtavuori Powders a lot , but they cost a little more.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I have 7 or 8 different powders on hand right now, and about 13 pounds stashed away. I am fairly new to reloading so I'm just looking for loads that shoot well in my guns at this point.

Once I discover those loads, I will likely stick with that recipe and maybe keep a few all purpose powders around for shortage times. Unique seems a good one to have on hand. Accurate #9 seems a good all purpose magnum pistol powder capable of loading a bunch of revolver and a few semiauto cartridges. I am fortunate to have a career that affords me the option of buying and stashing loading components when I see a sale. Accumulation is a good thing right now while availability is there.

 

[Zendude]

I regularly use Bullseye for all my handgun loads. Sometimes I like to experiment with other powders but Bullseye is still my favorite.

 

[ATLDave]

To me, the whole point of reloading is to be able to tailor loads that are optimal to me and what I am trying to do and my loading processes. I have little interest in things that are "universal" just to have something that is universal. If I wanted ammo that was generically-functional, I could have bought finished rounds.

I have some Unique on hand, but not primarily because it is a swiss army knife of pistol powders - it's because I like it for "service level" loads in revolver cartridges. There are certainly other powders that I use in multiple applications, but I really like those powders in each of the loads.

 

[jmr40]

I don't understand the logic in trying to make do with 1 powder for 5 different rifle cartridges. In the long run costs are exactly the same to buy different powder for each. While it can work, and in some cartridges the loads may be optimal, you're really short changing yourself with others. Depending on the bullet weights it is common to use 1 powder for 2-3 different cartridges with very good results. But with other bullet weights no. In 30-06 for example 150-165 gr bullets can use the same powder and be optimal, but going up to 180 gr bullets the same powder is borderline. Certainly anything heavier than 180's and you'd need a different powder, and that is with the same cartridge.

 

[someguy2800]

I usually tailor my powder usage to the specific cartridge but some are close enough to share powders.

 

[Dudedog]

If civilization was ending and I could only have 1 I would probably have to take Unigue.
(I don't use it but....) it shoots decent in most things it has loads for.
I could do .380, 9mm, .357, .45, shotgun, and some kind of reduced rifle loads with it.

Otherwise I have more but mainly use
Pistol
AA#2, HP38, WSF, CFE-P, H110
Rifle
TAC .223
H4831 7mm Rem Mag.

Haven't loaded any shotgun in a Longtime but
Red Dot for the Light stuff, and hmmm maybe Herco for everything else.
(maybe new powders that are better here but those two are what I used 20 years ago)