Reloading start-up

[Varminterror]

Showing up to football practice wearing a hockey helmet won’t get you very far.

Might as well take the advice of folks more experienced instead of taking a hard road intentionally.

 

[FROGO207]

The old saw slightly modified is: Jack of all calibers is master to none.
That said I now find that for reloading the assorted calibers I do, I mostly use 3 rifle and 4 handgun propellants. BUT have about another 10 or so one pounders hanging around for load workups andseldom loaded stuff.
If you are going to ship in then Powder Valley is a great choice. I buy from them several times a year. They combine propellant and primers in a single Has-Mat box. I would order at least 1K primers of each type and an assortment of propellants in one pounders to begin with. You will save money in the long run. One Haz-Mat fee spread out over several lower cost items is better than no Has-Mat and steep prices/shipping costs.
You have to be careful with other companies and Has-Mat. Some will ship primers seperately and a second Haz- Mat charge. Ask up front. PV and Natchez SS ship both together am unshure about others.

 

[mdi]

Showing up to football practice wearing a hockey helmet won’t get you very far.

Might as well take the advice of folks more experienced instead of taking a hard road intentionally.

The only problem with this is finding a trustworthy source of info., which many loading forums ain't. A newer reloader hasn't developed their "BS filter" to the extent they can tell factual info from "opinions" and "old wives tales" (aka BS). I started reloading pre web so any questions I had needed to be researched mostly from reloading manuals and texts. Starting to read info on forums after I had been reloading for 20 years was really eye opening, many opinions that barely related to the OP's question and some just showing off their "expertise". Of course there were facts presented and good info but a newer reloader may not be able to differentiate between fact and fiction...

 

[MGMphy]

When I started reloading a few years back, I had similar notions of single or limited powders. However I now have over 15. The reality is that I wound up trying at least three powders on every caliber and then trying various bullets, weights, brass, OAL etc etc in order to get the most accurate loads possible.

My advice is to try and master one cartridge first. In this case the .243 as it is more economical to load and less recoil as you start to figure things out. And get at least two good manuals. Once you have the manuals, then Read them and read again. Follow the advice on the manuals especially relative to case prep and over pressure signs. Then look at the forums for favorite powders.

You will find different powders depending on bullet weight for each caliber etc. So for example I knew I wanted to shoot a certain Barnes bullet out of my kids .243. We referred to the Barnes manual (and online load data) and tried various powders and load combinations, keeping detailed notes. We found that load performed best with one powder above all and then Played with oal etc. Anyway we wound up with clover leaf groups. And the fun was not just shooting those, but all the experimentation getting there.

So, if you spend hundreds in reloading equipment, another $25 or so for a second powder option every couple months isn’t gonna kill you. And you will have more options for future cartridges. Btw, I do load .375. And it is vastly different from the .243 and others...etc.

Have fun, start low and work your way up. And be patient!

 

[Varminterror]

I started reloading pre web so any questions I had needed to be researched mostly from reloading manuals and texts.

This was the condition in which I learned to reload, plus mentorship from other experienced reloaders.

So considering this particular educational path in the context of the OP’s question, how many reloading manuals and texts would recommend a new reloader choose only one powder and primer for 243 to 375 H&H? As I don’t seem to recall that recommendation from any reloading manual or book I have ever read, not that advice from any of the reloading mentors I have had. I can confirm it is certainly not a recommendation we are counseled to make as instructors in the NRA Metallic Reloading Course.

I’d be very interested to learn which reputable publication DOES make such recommendation. Certainly some publications might note the great versatility of some powders, but I’ve never heard/read advice to select only one powder to shoehorn into all of a reloader’s cartridges. Not any source I’d consider worth while - recognizing such a recommendation would absolutely cause me to question the worthiness of the source.

 

[mdi]

We seem to be in agreement of that fact, but since you quoted me, I'll explain. My questions, when I was a beginner reloader in '70 were all answered by published reloading manuals and texts and powder characteristics are commonly explained in manuals and texts. I would get load data from manuals only (I had no friends that reloaded) and stuck to what I read there. I have never seen an instance of the example your mentioned for a single powder for a 22 cal rifle up to a 37 caliber magnum, and the thought never occurred to me until I started reading that kind of questions on forums. In gist; a reloading forum may present some facts/good information, but getting important info from an anonymous screen name is not recommended at all especially when there's about 50,000 psi just inches from my face (30-06) .

 

[AJC1]

We seem to be in agreement of that fact, but since you quoted me, I'll explain. My questions, when I was a beginner reloader in '70 were all answered by published reloading manuals and texts and powder characteristics are commonly explained in manuals and texts. I would get load data from manuals only (I had no friends that reloaded) and stuck to what I read there. I have never seen an instance of the example your mentioned for a single powder for a 22 cal rifle up to a 37 caliber magnum, and the thought never occurred to me until I started reading that kind of questions on forums. In gist; a reloading forum may present some facts/good information, but getting important info from an anonymous screen name is not recommended at all especially when there's about 50,000 psi just inches from my face (30-06) .

This can be boiled down to in the modern age that people don't want to take the time to read a entire manual or several entire manuals to get the base knowledge that's required. They want to use the power of the internet to answer any question they can dream up.

 

[hdbiker]

Keep detailed records !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hdbiker

 

[Swampman]

I’m using Hornady Handbook vol. 2 and it shows 4895 for nearly everything.

H4895 is an extremely versatile powder and will allow you to load most bottleneck rifle calibers from .223 to .375 H&H. It may not be OPTIMAL, but if you can find reasonably current data, it'll work.

When you say "Hornady Handbook vol. 2", do you mean the second edition of the Hornady Handbook? What's the publishing date?

I ask because I've had their fifth edition since about 2003 and I consider it out of date.

Powders can change over the years.
For instance, back about 1998 Hodgdon contracted with ADI in Australia to make H4895 an "Extreme" (temperature insensitive) powder.

I don't know how much (if any) this affected their data, but if Hornady's old manuals listed it and the newer ones don't, that's a caution flag (although probably due more to lack of space and the availability of better performing powders).

Fortunately, you can just visit Hodgdon's website where they have H4895 data available for .243 Winchester, .375 H&H, and a bunch of other calibers.

 

[film495]

depends what you want to do. most likely can have a couple rifle powders and made may very good cartridges out of a couple versatile powders. if you want to tune endlessly for performance and perfection, you'll end up with many many cans.

 

[gillmeister692]

I use only cci primers now but everyone has a favorite. There really is not one powder that can do a great job. Unique will make almost every cartridge on the planet go boom, but might not be optimized to any of the guns you want to shoot. H4895 is close to rl-15 which is close to ar-comp which is close to varget. This group of powders is very popular and in high demand. The 4350 burn rate is also very popular and may serve your larger cartridges better. Rifles eat a ton of powder so a pound will go fast and you will not a bunch laying around if you dont care for it.

Did you know that CCI Large Rifle Primers measure 0.126" in thickness, compared to 0.129" for both Federal and Winchester? This is why I've settled on CCI primers.

 

[AJC1]

Did you know that CCI Large Rifle Primers measure 0.126" in thickness, compared to 0.129" for both Federal and Winchester? This is why I've settled on CCI primers.

Weird reason considering cup hardness is an additional critical factor