What powder manufacturer do you use MOST often?

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Pops-in-law is a two powders man. W231 for .45ACP and .38Spl; W296 for .357Mag. He doesn’t load anything else. Doesn’t shoot anything else anymore, either so, it works for him. I suggested he try Accurate 4100 for the magnum and he looked at me like I was crazy.

 

[twarr1]

I can't be the only Accurate powder guy??? I do use Ramshot, Alliant, IMR also but I probably use more Accurate than the others.

I’m the other Accurate loader! Just kind of gravitated to Accurate over the years. I occasionally use Ramshot as well since several of their powders are rebranded Accurate products. E.g., Ramshot X-Terminator / Accurate 2230
I’m not surprised to see Hodgdon at the top, but it’s enlightening to see Alliant so high. I would’ve guessed Alliant and Accurate swapped.

 

[kalielkslayer]

Alliant!

huge fan of the RL series.

But I have powders from all the manufacturers mentioned.

I use a lot of HS6. It works well for me plus I use it for 1 1/4 and 1 13/8s 12 gauge loads.

Back in the day I used 8 lbs of Win 540 every 2 years just for shotgun, then we had to shoot steel for waterfowl. HS6 is identical!

 

[IALoder]

I seem to keep gravitating towards Alliant's new powders. For me AR Comp does great in .308 and .223, RL16 has been awesome in .243 and 6.5 Creedmoor, and RL23 has been doing pretty darn well in the magnums I've tried it in. It's awful hard for me to get away from TAC and AA2230 for plinking ammo though.

 

[CptnAwesome]

Hodgdon for me but Alliant is a close,,, very close second.

 

[Trey Veston]

I voted for Ramshot since I LOVE Silhouette for my .40 S&W and 9mm match and defensive loads. Second place would be Win 231 for pistol. For rifle, I use either Varget or IMR 4895.

10mm gets Power Pistol or Blue Dot. Trying to experiment with IMR 4227 for some plinking loads.

 

[jebova2301]

I can't really pick one. For my varmint rifle, imr 8208xbr gives me the best results. For my 450bm and 50ae, I get excellent results from hodgdon h110. For my 9mm, I get excellent results from unique. For my 10mm, I go with longshot. For blasting ammo in my rattle rifles, I can't really beat surplus wc-844.

It all comes down to using the right tool for the job.

 

[Austin Albright]

I can't be the only Accurate powder guy??? I do use Ramshot, Alliant, IMR also but I probably use more Accurate than the others.

Me too. The more I use Accurate and Ramshot the better I like it.

 

[tominboise]

Looking at my inventory of powders, at the moment I have 9 different Alliant powders on hand, and 7 different Hodgdon powders, along with a couple Winchester and one IMR, but I have used others over the years and will use others going forward, as I run out and need to replace.

 

[snuzzo29]

I use Hodgdon the most, followed by Ramshot and Alliant. Only IMR I have used so far is 3031 and only Accurate is #9.

 

[P Flados]

I buy on-line in bulk. Have not bought any since before Covid.

In terms of pounds purchased in the last decade, Western Cannon. Milsurp WC 680 and WC 844. Used for IHMSA capable handgun loads and AR-15 rifles.

In terms of rounds loaded:

• Alliant is number 1. Promo (bulk version of Red Dot). Handgun ammo with low cost per pound, low charge weight per bang. Better fill on revolver rounds than Titegroup.
• Hodgdon is second. Titgroup provides a similar low cost per pound and works a little better than Promo for a couple of handgun loads.

In terms of brands I would like to try more, Shooters World. I swapped over from H110 to Heavy Pistol (about the same as AA 9) for some loads as it is much less finicky. I would like to try some Clean Shot (about the same as AA 2). When my stash of either Promo or Titegroup gets low (in a year or two), I will look hard for Clean Shot or AA 2. However, I have never seen AA 2 at a price I was willing to pay.

 

[Archie]

When I was a boy... (always wanted to say that) Pretty much all that was available (that I knew about) was IMR for rifles and Hercules for handguns and shotguns. So that's what I used.
As I got older, the supply of powder changed and I used a wider variety.

About the only 'fast' (handgun/shotgun) powder I use any more is Alliant (they bought out Hercules powder) and I'm tending toward Alliant rifle powders as they are largely spherical and work better in volumetric measures.

However, I do have a couple loads for some rifles using Hodgdon powers and I'm really satisfied with how they work. Perhaps if I could find an equivalent load ...

I'd have to say Alliant is what I use the most. But I do use Hodgdon as well and IMR as I have established loads.

 

[AK Hunter]

It looks to me to be Hodgdon first with IMR a close 2nd & Shooter World filling in the rest of my needs.

 

[entropy]

It's actually the first 2 for me; I like Green Dot, Red Dot, and Unique for shotgun, and Bullseye and Unique for handguns, but the only rifle powder of theirs I've ever tried is Power Pro Varmint for .223.
Hodgdon makes a lot of powders I have used and liked; 700x for both pistol and shotgun, (and 800x), and for rifle, IMR's 3031, 4064, 4198, 4350 (and 4320) as well as Varget and BL-C(2) and Winchester WST and way back before Hodgdon, 452AA and 473AA for shotgun also. I recently loaded up some Trap loads with Titewad and RamShot Competition; while neither will be be on my favorites list, they go bang and break targets.

 

[Charlie98]

I checked IMR... because by quantity, I use more IMR than anything else... but, generally, I'm an Alliant pistol powder guy, and an IMR rifle powder guy.

I have several caveats... I never really was a Hodgdon guy, but I use H335 in my AR's. I like Winchester powders... W296 and WST in particular, and lately W244, but I don't use them in volume. The trump card would be Ramshot TAC... that could very well replace 2 or 3 of my IMR powders on the shelf. Testing continues...

 

[wasa]

Like others, I use any powder that is available. At gun shows I'll pick up older containers at (hopefully) good prices. I haven't bought a new container of powder in many years. That being said, each caliber I reload for has it's "favorite" powder.

9mm - was W231 but now it's AA#5
45acp - CFE Pistol
45 Colt - Trailboss
38 Special - Bullseye or Trailboss
357 Mag - 300-MP
7.62x25 - AA#9 or AA#7
10mm - BlueDot
243 Win - AA2700
300 Savage - Varget
303 British - AA2700 or Varget
7.62x39 - was AA1680 but now AA2015
7.62x54R - AA4350 (formerly used AA2700)
30 Carbine - AA#9
7mm Weatherby Mag - IMR7828

 

[EricBu]

Over the course of your reloading, have you found you're gravitating towards one brand of powder or another? If so, which brand?

None of the above these days. I've moved almost everything to Shooter's World (Lovex) powders. Mostly Clean Shot, Ultimate Pistol, Heavy Pistol, Buffalo Rifle, Match Rifle, and Precision Rifle. Cleaner shooting, as consistent as any other, and a price point in some cases as low as half. Heck, my Varget load work ups ended up being identical with Precision Rifle! Not even kidding there! I think right now, the only mainstay powder I haven't replaced with a Shooter's World equivalent is H1000, but that's because they don't make a powder that really compares...for the 300 gr 338LM bullets I like to shoot. I may try their BMG powder one day, but not really in dire straights so no rush.

 

[Lee Q. Loader]

I typically use Alliant stuff: BE-86, 2400, 300MP, Herco, Unique, Bullseye, RedDot, and my new favorite, RL16. RL16 recently replaced my old favorite rifle powder, IMR 4350. I use Hodgdon Benchmark and H335 in .223.

I ran out of 2400 during the height of the panic and replaced it with AA9. AA9 is pretty good stuff in .44mag with 240 grain jacketed.

 

[jmorris]

I have used Hercules for the longest period of time, still using it and they haven’t been around for more than a decade. I have probably loaded more rounds with Vihtavuori powder though.

 

[Charlie98]

I have used Hercules for the longest period of time

I still call it Hercules, too...

 

[Pivot Dr]

I’d hate to guess, I’ve got lots of all of them, probably at least 70 different numbers total. What I have most of is the old AA 2200, probably 50# of that and probably 15 to 20# of surplus H-4831. Quite a few 8, 4, and 5# ers lots other powder brands. Alliant and VV probably the most. Western Powder/Accurate/Ram shot has been moving up my list though. Mostly it’s what my powder sources carry and have in stock at a good price at the time. I can’t say any one brand is all that much better or worse than any other, they are just different for one application or other.

 

[twarr1]

I notice some people have a different favorite for rifle vs handgun. I voted Accurate because I use their powders for pistol, small rifle and large rifle, but I also use 700-X for 9mm. It isn’t as ‘snappy’ as Accurate #5 in that caliber and in my experience, counterintuitively, the 700-X seems to throw more consistently than the water-like AA5.

 

[kcofohio]

My vote was the Hodgdon lines. Mostly, because of availability when I bought most of the powders.

But 2400 and 300-MP are the only magnum handgun powders I use. The recently acquired AA#9 is for 357 SIG.

A few powders that I wanted to try were unobtainable 7-10 years ago. And I filled those slots up with Hodgdon, mostly.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

Accurate and ramshot for me.

 

[film495]

not really. I started out Hodgdon and Winchester .. and just due to availability over the last couple years and wanting to do other things, have used Norma and Alliant as well ... and would use any others from brand name or common manufacturors.