Help for one back into reloading

[DavidAGO]

I have decided to get back into reloading after a 24 year absence. I got out all my equipment and ensured it was free of rust and functional, but after lurking on this forum for a few weeks, find that some things have changed. Since I do not have a local source for powder, primers, bullets, etc. I will be making a trip into the big city for that. My question: I will be reloading .45 ACP, .44 Mag, .38/357 in pistol, and .270 and .303 British in rifle. What powders are recommended? In pistol, I will be shooting light loads for punching holes in paper, the rifles for hunting whitetail deer. I assume primers haven't changed much, and I assume cast bullets for pistol haven't changed much, but at this point, I don't know what I don't know about powders especially.

Also, I have 6 boxes of small and large pistol primers, also about 24 years old, any problem with using them? The bullseye and 2400 powder of the same vintage I will burn.

Thanks for any help.

David

[Starvingboy]

I go with the powder that has the load data for whatever I'm reloading on the side of the can. Then again, I don't reload that many calibers.

Not a lot of help, but there is a large amount of load data available on the internet.

[BigJimP]

I load the same pistol calibers you are looking for and I load them all with Hodgdon TiteGroup. It's a very consistent powder in terms of the drops / and very clean in all the calibers you are considering ( I also load it in 9mm and .40 S&W ) I like the Hodgdon powders in general - and I load a lot of them in shotguns as well.

I do not load rifle calibers anymore - but its my opinion that Hodgdon H4895 will probably meet your needs on 270 and British 303. H 4895 is one of their older powders - but its well tested and I understand its very accurate. If you can't find it - Hodgdon Varget is another popular powder - my buddies that still reload their hunting ammo speak highly of Varget.

Using those old primers should be fine as long as they've been kept dry and have not been thru extreme temp swings. But even at that - I might suggest you pick up a couple of cases of new primers since you're making the trip anyway / personally I like CCI primers. On your old primers / I would certainly load a few cartridges / and test them before you run any volume - but I do that as a routine if I every develop a new load, change powders, etc.

Good luck, and welcome back to this side of our hobby .... I love it / its great to have some peaceful time in the shop, listening to some good music, doing a little reloading... / cleaning some guns / whatever ...

[pps_dad]

First thing I would do is get a load data book or two, you will be able to look up the different grains of bullets and calibers you plan to reload. It will tell you what powder to use according to weight and style of bullet, so you can narrow your choices by that. I use unique powder for all my handgun rounds.

Good Luck and Welcome Back

[Dr. Strangelove]

I was in your same position 9 months ago, getting back into reloading after a long break (about 17 years for me, except for some Lee Loader stuff here and there). I wouldn't worry about the primers, I have fired hundreds of my old ones (vintage 1988, and that's when I bought them, who knows how long they were on the shelf) with nary a problem. They were stored in unheated or air conditioned basements, attics, and storage units over that time. Would I trust them on a $50,00 African Safari - probably no, but for most anything else, sure. The powder? I used mine, no problem. If you feel better throwing it out, go ahead.

I only load 9mm in pistol, so I can't help you there. Rifle wise, my .270 always loved IMR 3031, MIR 4064, and MIR 4895 in that order. Big Pimp is right on the with Varget, I've been testing it for .270 and .308 and it seems very promising. It also is very accurate in .223 Remington. You're right about the primers, they haven't changed much over years except they seem more consistent according to those who track such things. Powder, on the other hand, has become very much tailored to specific cartridge families, or at least that's how it's advertised anyway. I've been trying Reloder 22 for .270 Win and 7MM Rem Mag, although Alliant advises Reloader 19 for .270 Win. It's the "powder of choice for .270 Winchester and .30-06" according to their website.

http://www.alliantpowder.com/

http://www.hodgdon.com/ For Hodgdon, IMR, and Winchester powders

http://www.accuratepowder.com/


Hope that helps, good luck.

[jamaica]

May I suggest 4831 powder for the 270?

[TRX]

Some gun shops still keep the little reloading booklets from the powder manufacturers on hand.

Some manufacturers have their loading data online. An example:

http://www.lapua.com/uploads/media/V...wdersUS_01.pdf

[Sturmgewehre]

Things haven't changed much at all regarding pistol powder. You will be hard pressed to find a better pistol powder than Bullseye. It's about all I use.

[abber]

Like BigJimP said, Titegroup. One other thing about Titegroup, is throughout its useful range, the charges are relatively small. Some say it should be called Titewad. A little goes a long way, unlike the 2400. I also like Universal Clays a lot. It is the cleanest powder that I have used, and it also uses relatively low charge weights. Neither of these is really good for hot loads, but for plinkers, they excel. For hot loads, 296, or Lil Gun fit the bill, but they are dirty. I use IMR 4227 for the hotter magnum stuff. Not an economical powder, but clean and it feels good. There are many I havent tried yet, but I'm workin on it. I am planning on trying out some Ramshot offerings soon. Have fun, and welcome back to the bench.

[zxcvbob]

For those pistol cartridges, I'd recommend Bullseye. It has longer legs than Titegroup. Also get a pound of AA#7 or 2400 if you want to load the magnums up hot occasionally.

I can't really help with the rifle powders, I'm just getting started in that (I'm gonna try AA-2495 first for .30-06 service rifle loads.)