Does the cost of a specific powder determine if you use it?

[A_Gamehog]

If there was a magic powder that produced 1/4" groups in your rifle would you pay 5$ more per pound for it? Like say the Vihtavuori line of reloading powders. Be honest here, I have seen many different types of powders and
found some that worked well and stayed with them. Never loaded VV myself.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Well, I'm brand new to this reloading business so I can't say that I've tried too many powders but for cartridges that I am currently reloading or planning to reload a $5 difference in price would mean AT MOST a 3.2 cent difference for each round and as little as 1/2 a cent. As such, no, $5 would mean nothing to me if I really thought that the powder was better.

[Jim243]

No it is not based on price. Yes there is a magic powder it's called H-4895, but to be honest most powders will produce 1/4 inch groups with the right bullet and correct powder weight for your gun at 100 yards. Now 600 yards that's a different story but we really need to look at 1/4 MOA and not inches.

Jim

[Slamfire]

I know a lot of serious highpower competitors who use Vihtavuori. I have used the stuff, found it was excellent, but I am good enough groups with surplus 4895, or IMR 4895.

My bolt rifle gunsmith is a Long Range National Champ. He likes Vihtavuori for its lot to lot consistency. He can just load and shoot the next lot without having to go through load development.

This is a reason why most competitors I know walked away from Accurate Arms powders. You develop a fantastic load with one lot, the next lot you are blowing primers.

If you are trying to shoot your way to a National Championship, you just don't have the time to test each and every keg, so you will pay more for consistency.

[zippy13]

Hey, I just paid $5 more for the powder I've been using all along. It was a case of being ripped-off by a LGS, being ripped-off by the UPS hazmat fee, or being ripped-off by higher gas prices while I driving farther for cheaper powder.

[Wildalaska]

I love the VN powders, as stated, for lot to lot consistency

WildsoiusesasmuchaspossibleAlaska ™

[That'll Do]

I'd buy a specific powder if it produced excellent groups, regardless of the price.

For example, I've found that IMR 4227 produces incredible groups with a 168gr. Keith-type SWC out of my S&W 686.

IMR 4227 is nearly $30/pound in my area (versus $18-22/pound for other "regular" powders), but I still buy it.

[DiscoRacing]

if that was possible... yes.

[Rembrandt]

Cost doesn't matter......performance does.

[colospgsAVID]

for such a small, charge for charge, difference in cost I would buy what performs best. I opine that it is all expensive. Get what gets you.

[WESHOOT2]

No.
The cost may determine how much I buy at one time (and I no longer need pallets-full).

[TheNatureBoy]

Right now I'm getting good results with RE-22. If I found something that produced better results yes, I would pay the extra $5.

[Sevens]

Long answer:
There are a few different ways to look at powder cost. If you aren't a match shooter than you don't need to go through a pound of powder each month and it lasts much longer.

So you have to not only look at the price of the powder, but you have to look at the charge weight. In some handgun loads, you can be talking about a 100% swing in charge weight. So no matter what it costs per pound, if you use DOUBLE the charge weight to make it work, you have to obviously consider that when you shop.

But that's not the bottom line. If you load many calibers, you might use a more expensive powder, or even one that uses a heavier charge weight IF you can use it across a few calibers instead of just one. That means it makes fiscal sense to buy the powder in bulk which drops the price rapidly.

Sure, you could buy powder in bulk no matter how much of it you use, but it's not exactly feasible to buy a powder in an 8-pound container if you only use it in a round that burns a 5 grain charge and you only shoot 1,500 rounds a month in that caliber... ya know?

Short answer to the question: Yes, economy is important to me and I like to save money where I can. But it's probably 3rd, 4th or 5th down the list of things that matter to me. And also, if some new powder company introduced a direct competitor for my favorite powder and sold it for a couple bucks cheaper per pound, it would take a LOT more than that to get me to even try that powder.

Of course, I'm about 95% a handgun shooter. So like peetzakiller, my powder costs are somewhere around "insignificant." (that's why I can keep a dozen different powders in my cache without breaking the bank...)

If most of my shooting was rifle charges between 25 and 70 grains per shot, I'd probably consider the economy of it more than I do.

[HiBC]

It is a balancing act.If an exotic powder offers a little more,I balance that against stocking/inventoying another powder,and availability.
Norma powdersm ight be another example.I won't invest my load development time in a powder I have to special order and may not be available.

For myself,I try to keep H4831 SC,RE-19 and 15,Varget,H-110 and HS-6.These are loading what I shoot quite well.I have a variety of powders from Bullseye to H-1000 in smaller qty for experimental purposes.I just bought some Ramshot TAC to evaluate in some AR loads.If it gives me accuracy along with the extra velocity,I may consider stocking it.

A couple of other factors I consider:Temperature stability,I might shoot from near zero to 100 deg temp,and on a sunny day ammo can get pretty hot.

While I do not know too much about powders vs barrel life,old H-870 was known to be hard on barrels.Something about Nitro and high flame temperatures.
Yesterday I offered my brother some 155 gr MK loads and some of the new 155 Siera Palma bullets to try in his AR-10 T I think maybe the Palma bullets need a certain throat,bbl configuration to perform,and results were mediocre.But the 155 gr MKs ,one ragged hole a penny would cover.(just 3 shots)
He said,"You know,I have over 4000 rounds through this barrel.I wonder how long it will continue to shoot?"

Nearly all of his ammo has been 168 gr Nosler Comps or MK's driven by Varget.

No,we don't really make our choices on a few dollars a pound.It might be a tie breaker.

[alloy]

If there was a magic powder that produced 1/4" groups in your rifle

Now that would be magic. 5 bux sure....but until the pixie dust gets invented I gotta accept that my rifles won't do 1/4".

[bobelk99]

Tis best to buy what works for your gun/load. If it costs 10$ more, that's rough but necessary. Magic was the key word I believe.

Best groups are the result of much effort and expense, not a special powder.

[RamSlammer]

No. Powder cost is a negligible fraction in per round reloading cost and the difference between the most and least expensive powder influences total round cost so marginally it is not a consideration IMHO.

[riverwalker76]

The magic powder is ...... IMR 8208 XBR and it's in VERY short supply right now. I have 12 pounds, and no one is getting them !

Would I load them in my .223 plinking rounds? Absolutely not.

Would I load them in my .223 hunting rounds? Yes.

In my plinking a.k.a. "Can Shooting" rounds I load Accurate 2230. It's cheap and reliable. But ... we are talking about loading upwards of 3k rounds!

My .308 would never see anything other than Benchmark, H4895, or IMR 8208 XBR.

In other words ....

What type of shooting I am going to be doing governs what powder I use, and for what. I will never 'Plink' with my .308 because I won't be firing hundreds of rounds down range.

My Mini-14 Tactical could easily spit out 100+ rounds a day if I'm just having fun.

[NCMountain]

If there was a magic powder that produced 1/4" groupings minus my pathetic talent then I would pay $100 per pound!

I believe any powder can produce great results. It is just finding the right combo of bullet weight with powder charge then practice.....practice....practice! But if I could just buy like the magic bullet then I would gladly pay!

[WESHOOT2]

Assuming the gun goes bang, I then look at other factors like accuracy, cleanliness, flash and recoil signature, ease of use in manufacturing, and some other stuff.

Sometimes a powder seems incompatible with a specific individual launch platform.
That's why I stock over twenty.

[nick270]

I wnt through 2 kgs of 4350 in 4 diferent 270s 130 grn sst if i did my part gt hlf inch groups 65 dollars nz hlf kg. vv n560 190 dollars kg beter velosity hlf inch groups. 3 diferent loads 2 diferent projectiles well worth extra dollars.

[Blue Grass]

I guess I did yesterday. Went to Bud's in Paris to get a pound of AA-2460 to load some .223's. H335 was $3.00 cheaper per pound so I got that instead. I've always been satisfied with -2460 so I've never tried H335. These loads will be for plinking and paper punching so I thought I'd give H335 a try.If I dont like it, my friend just got 14,000 CCI LR primers and 10,000 SP primers so I can probably work out a trade.

[Skewed]

Cost is always an issue but I do not mind paying a few bucks more for something I am happy with. Currently, I use 231 for my .45 and 9mm and I am completely happy with it, but would not have any problems in switching to something else that may cost a little more if I liked the results.

On the other hand, I recently bought an AR-15 and I am going to start reloading for that as well. I just need to find a recommendation for a good powder that would have similar qualities as the 231 does but suitable for .223.

[wxl]

If it was a magic powder (all other factors temp tolerance, clean burning, etc equal), YES I would pay extra $5 for target and deer loads if they were more accurate. I like Barnes TSX for hunting, more costly but great performance; yes I have used many other bullets and takened many whitetails with them but in my rifles the Barnes is worth a few more cents. Yes I know 1/4" is not necessary for whitetail but every extra advantage is worth the small cost.

[amamnn]

I use N-120 rather than H4198 in my 30BR because I get more constant groups. I use N-135 rather than H335 in 22BR, 6BR and .223 rem for the same reason. I do not currently have much use for either H322 or N-133, as I gave my 6PPC to my son. I used to use HS-6 for loading .38 spcl, 9mm, and .45 acp. I now use N-340. I like Lil Gun a lot for the .32 HRM, .357 mag, and .44 mag. W231 or bullseye either one work well in my .32 acp. and .380. ,I like N-540 in my .30-06 and .243WSSM.


I have leftover W760, IMR 4064, HS-6, H322, H335, and W748 that I load in plinking rounds. I will load these until I use them up and then stick mainly with Vihtavuori powders. The selection of N-120 over H4198 had more to do with the related bullet selection. I can get the H4198 to work equally well if I buy Fowler or BIB bullets, but I can get the same groups with N-120 and less expensive Berger bullets.

I load a lot of match rounds but I like to try to load for the best accuracy I can afford no matter what the application. This question could apply equally to bullets, triggers, barrels, brass, primer seaters, bench rests and on and on....... If I were shooting only plinking or deer hunting rounds I would probably not spend the extra money for Vihtavuori.