How do you pick a powder?

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

I can't speak for pistol powders to much. Although I have enough knowledge to stay out of trouble in my choices of powders for my sidearms. But I know first hand some rifle calibers preform better with one or the other >Stick verses Ball. Most smaller calibers prefer Ball powder where as larger bores prefer Stick. As far as Unique. I prefer not to use it as I consider it a middle of the road universal (one size fits all type of powder.) 2400 usage. Again I prefer not to use it. As I know there are better choices available for my applications than 2400. Where Alliant powders do come into play for me. >shotgun!! Alliant makes outstanding powders for shotgun reloaders. In regards to what you are thinking of using (unique & 2400) its your preference and a good one it is.

[bamiller]

Been reloading for a few months now strictly for range/target shooting. To this point have been using only Bullseye and Precision Delta or Berry's plated bullets. Not having any problems with Bullseye but was just curious if there is a differnet/better/more economical/whatever powder to use for .380, 9mm, and .45 ACP target loads.

[Misssissippi Dave]

One thing to think about when you are choosing a powder. Not counting the very expensive powders like VV, powder generally is the cheapest component when you are loading for pistols. Even primers cost more per round you reload. If you are happy with the powder you currently use then maybe you need to look into buying it cheaper. Bulk purchases from some place like Powder Valley can help. It is cheaper for me to get 5k of primers and 8 pounds of powder from them even with shipping and HAZ-MAT fees than it is to purchase the same items locally. Buying double or more add up to even greater savings for me.

I don't like trying to load all pistol calibers with a single powder. When you try this you tend to never get the results you are looking for in all of them. Sometimes not any of them really. I prefer to match the powder to what I want to achieve. It might be an accurate soft shooting that burns clean or it might be a fast accurate round that burns clean but has heavy recoil. I would use totally different powders for these in the same caliber. I can load .38 specials and .357 mag with the same bullet and powder but only one of them will probably work well and the other will work but it won't be great.

If you are really wanting to save money, you might do better with cheaper bullets. Sometimes doing this will add other problems. Leading the barrel or loss of accuracy are two things that come to mind. Again buying in bulk should lower this price as well. Casting your own probably is the cheapest. PD bullets are quite good and so is the price.

[Shootest]

Been reloading for a few months now strictly for range/target shooting. To this point have been using only Bullseye and Precision Delta or Berry's plated bullets. Not having any problems with Bullseye but was just curious if there is a differnet/better/more economical/whatever powder to use for .380, 9mm, and .45 ACP target loads.

Bullseye is a good powder, I use a lot of it, it does burn a little smokey / dirty with lighter charges. With heavier charges it’s not too bad though. But there are always alternatives, Win231 or HP38 (same powder with a different label) is the first thing that comes to mind. Not more economical than Bullseye but it does burn a bit cleaner and run through a measure better. And it works well in 9mm and 45ACP. I haven’t loaded 380ACP for quite a long time and can’t comment on its performance there. You could try buying a pound and see what you think. AA #2 Imp is another choice, but I don’t have as much load data for it.

[Blindmike]

Myself, I find it best to decide what function the round is expected to complete before worrying over what powder to use. Ask yourself is it for long range target practice or for shooting in low light situations, is muzzle flash a concern or do I want a high degree of flash effect? It is not just a matter of first looking in a load data book and choosing what looks good. Personally, I find I have powers based on objective first in the same way I have made a choice on what brand, type, and weight of bullet is to be utilized. Reloading is a great hobby even if you buy a pound or two of powder and find it is not what you really wanted that is fine, trust me you will come up for a use for it later. Powder never goes to waste.


Happy shooting.

[hulley]

I loaded up a few rounds last night and I'll try them out tomorrow at the range. My first recipe is,
Missouri 158gr Hard Cast RN
CCI small pistol 500
4.0 gr Unique, starting load, max at 4.5gr.
1.420 OAL.

I'm gonna work up some at 4.3 and 4.5gr and shoot all 3 loads for tomorrow.

[Jimro]

I firmly believe that you can accomplish over 90% of reloading with just one pistol powder and two rifle powders.

I started reloading, and settled on:
Unique
IMR7828

With those I reloaded 38SPC, 45ACP, 223, 270, 308, 9.3x62, 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag.

Since then I branched out into spherical rifle powders, Power Pro 2000-MR and WC872, since the 2000-MR meters better than 4064 for a progressive, and WC872 because it is cheap.

Jimro

[Sevens]

I currently load for 17 different handgun chamberings.
If I eliminate .223 (in a 14-inch Contender) and the .460 & .500 S&W Magnums, that leaves me with 14 different handgun rounds -- to say absolutely nothing about the differing bullets weights I enjoy in some of those calibers. (in .357 for example, I load cast lead, plated and jacketed in 125, 130, 148, 158 and 180 grains)

For me to even consider loading 14 different handgun rounds with Unique is completely ludicrous. Even if I covered "90%" of those, that's 12 different chamberings... all with Unique?

Yeah, sure, if I'm on a deserted island and I can have 1000 pounds of any ONE powder, etc etc.

I could probably spit a bullet out of all of these with black powder, too, but I have zero desire to do so.

I currently use around 7 different powders for those 14 different chamberings, dabbling with another 5 powders when I feel like experimenting.

I could list those powders but I'll simply close with: -NONE- of them is Unique.

Your suggestion may work, but I like my method much, much more.

[dunerjeff]

I started out by looking for the powder that generally fills the case to 80% or so.I found many loads in all calibers that shot great with a few different powders.I got bored because all there was left was to reload and shoot. So I started experimenting with faster and slower powder in each caliber.I now have 22 pistol powders and 8 rifle powders,add to that about 5 different bullets per cal plus finding what loads shoot best in which guns, well its what is fun for me. I do have a couple main loads that I keep.
Now I'm casting my own so that adds a whole new area of playing.

[oldnbroek]

I have known several commercial reloaders who have done all of their pistol calibers with two powders: HP38 (W231) and H110. That said, I don't like to work that way.
Generally, when looking through the loading books, I'll find the powders listed with the bullet weight I'm loading for, and look for the highest average pressure. Why?
Because SAAMI max pressures for each given load require that when EVEN ONE round loaded goes over that limit, that's the end of testing with that powder; it goes no higher. Therefore, a powder with a high average pressure is exhibiting extremely stable and consistent combustion porperties and is likely to be very accurate. I have proven this (to myself anyways) in several calibers and powders, most notably with .30-30 and .303 british and RL-15 powder. In the Hodgdon book (highly recommended, as they list competitors loads as well), RL-15 gives substantially higher velocities in these two calibers than with any other, as well as showing consistently high average pressures. In my rifles, they are also the most accurate I've yet tried. I have found SR-4756 to be the single most accurate 9mm powder I've ever tried. I haven't yet tried it in .40, but it will happen.

Other variables guide my selection as well. When a load has to be clean burning, like loads for an AR or gas shotgun, I'll stay away from ball powders if I can. If I'm going to burn thousands of rounds at the range with lead bullets, ball is the only way to go for ease of loading. Stick powders or enormous flakes can be a hassle to load with, but sometimes their accuracy and clean burn are well worth it.

[Edward429451]

I just checked and I load for 14 different cartridges, and have 17 different kinds of powder in stock. I think nothing of buying a specific powder for a certain cartridge if it excels in same. I do use quite a bit of Unique, and have used it in everything, pistol, rifle and shotgun. It is not the do-all powder. It is versatile enough though that I always try to have at least a couple LBS of it around.

In pistol & revolver rounds it is good, and like an old friend. I know exactly what to expect from it. In 308 Win at least, I can put 12.0 gr of Unique under any weight cast boolit and be ready to plink, small game, or big game in a pinch. A staple load of 308 Win. Unique excels in 12 ga Foster slug loads. Where factory slugs I am able to hold to 50 or 60 yds, I can extend that range to about 80 yds with my Unique Slug load and short barrel. Keeping them all on a 9" paper plate.

I don't think anything about buying a so called specialty powder for a particular load. Even if some powders typically use more than others, it is still economical in the sense that the specialty powder lets you achieve better results than factory ammo. Match ammo if you will. There's your value. Even 2400 & H110 that use so much powder, so you only get around 300 rounds per LB. It's still only like 7 cents or less for the powder to get some one ragged hole ammo. Compare this to the cost of factory premium or so called Match ammo and it becomes clear that hey that is a good deal.

[Jimro]

Sevens, thank you for adding so much to the conversation. I really appreciated how you explained HOW you picked out each of the powders you used. I mean, wow, such a clear and scientific method for ensuring you get the performance you want.

Jimro

[tkglazie]

Bullseye is a good powder, I use a lot of it, it does burn a little smokey / dirty with lighter charges. With heavier charges it’s not too bad though. But there are always alternatives, Win231 or HP38 (same powder with a different label) is the first thing that comes to mind. Not more economical than Bullseye but it does burn a bit cleaner and run through a measure better. And it works well in 9mm and 45ACP. I haven’t loaded 380ACP for quite a long time and can’t comment on its performance there. You could try buying a pound and see what you think. AA #2 Imp is another choice, but I don’t have as much load data for it.

I am going to take that advice myself, Shootist. I read about Bullsyeye in nearly every handgun reloading thread and certainly appreciate the role is has played in the history of reloading. As a relatively new reloader with an appreciation of the history of the craft, I think I owe it to myself to pick up a pound and work up some of the classic .38 special and .45 acp loads.

Sounds like a great way to spend a weekend, actually.

[Sevens]

Sevens, thank you for adding so much to the conversation. I really appreciated how you explained HOW you picked out each of the powders you used. I mean, wow, such a clear and scientific method for ensuring you get the performance you want.

Yes, I did that in post #5 before you arrived.

Appreciate your addition also.

[Mike Irwin]

For the most part, I've never found it necessary to pick a new powder unless I add a cartridge to my collection that doesn't do well with the powders I have.

I've been using WW 231 for .38, moderate .357, .380, .32 Long, and lite .41 Magnum since the 1980s.

I've been using WW 296 for .357 and .41 for about the same length of time.

When I got a 10mm I discovered I needed to branch out because 231/296 don't do well with that cartridge. So, I spent a ton of time online going through reloading forums, talking to other reloaders, and reading reloading manuals.

I finally decided on AA 7 as a powder that would not only work well in the 10mm, but would also do well in my .357 and my .41 Magnums. I really like it in the .41 Magnum.

I gloamed onto Trail Boss almost immediately after it came out because it is the closest thing we have to a bulk smokeless replacement powder, which I've contended we've needed for years.

Bulk smokeless powders were brought out and could be substituted measure for measure for black powder. They petered out after WW II, and we were left without really good powders for the old black powder rounds with huge case capacities but very low working pressures, like one of my personal favorites, the .44 Special.

I originally started reloading the .44 Special with WW 231, but it required such a tiny amount of powder that it led to very erratic ballistic performance.

But, Trail Boss nearly fills the case, and ballistic uniformity is excellent.

These days it can be hard for someone to pick a new powder simply because there are so many choices. It was never like this. Whereas 50 years ago there may have been 4 or 5 powders that could be used in the .38 Special (and some of them, like 2400, are now considered to be way too slow for the application), today there so many that it's not even funny...

For a 158-gr. .38 Special load there are a dozen powder choices from Hodgdon/Winchester/IMR, another two or three from Accurate, Alliant adds another... five maybe?, and finally there's Vhitvhouri (no clue how many are suitable).

A total of nearly 20 powders.

No wonder it's tough to make a choice!

[Mike Irwin]

" You won't see me building .357 and .44 Magnum loads with Bullseye and Titegroup even when my load calls for three times as much 2400 than you can get with W231."

Sevens,

Here's where I differ from you a bit...

I am more than happy to use a powder like 231 in .357 Magnum or .41 Magnum, as long as the load is within guidelines published by either the manufacturer or a reloading supplier.

Typically this means two things:

1. The load is in the bottom half of that cartridge's powder spectrum.

2. It's a lead bullet load.

It all depends on what you're looking to do with the loads you're developing whether you'll find the best application with a slow or fast burning powder.