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Old May 28, 2013, 05:13 PM   #1
Scottish Highlander
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What's your pet powder

I was just wondering what everyone's personal preferences were with brands and types of powders. I'm quite new to it all and I've started with IMR 3031....for my 308. I've just about run out of that 1 kg tub so I'm moving on to IMR 4895 which is slightly slower burning on the burn speed charts. I've had quite good results from the 3031 and it seems to be used a lot with heavier bullets.
Up till now I've tested it for the Hornady 168 A-Max and 150 Grain Nosler BT BT
What kind of powder do you use ??
And how do you like it ??


Jamie

Last edited by Scottish Highlander; May 28, 2013 at 05:28 PM.
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Old May 28, 2013, 05:20 PM   #2
LE-28
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Your not saying what calibers you are loading for.

I have several pet powders, one for each caliber.
8mm IMR 4895 for 150gr
32 Win special IMR3031
30-06 IMR 4350 for 165 and heavier
308 IMR 4064 for all
30-30 IMR 3031
357 mag 2400 for mags and Power Pistol for target
9mm Titegroup
327 Fed mag Longshot

and so on.
There is no such thing as a pet powder for all calibers.
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Old May 28, 2013, 05:26 PM   #3
David Bachelder
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.40/.38Special/9mm/45 Colt - Hodgdon Universal
38S&W/38 Special - Titegroup
.243/30-06 - Varget
45 Colt/.357 - Alliant 2400
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Old May 28, 2013, 05:36 PM   #4
ShootingNut
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Started with Titegroup, but switched to Accurate #5 and found it to be
more accurate powder drop through my Lee equipment.
Load 9mm, .40SW, and .45ACP currently.
Love the AA5, works great for me!
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Old May 28, 2013, 05:48 PM   #5
Roughedge
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unique
varget
3031
4064
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Old May 28, 2013, 06:14 PM   #6
BumbleBug
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.270 Win Favorites are:

H-4831
IMR-4831
H-4350

...bug
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Old May 28, 2013, 06:52 PM   #7
chiefr
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Handguns: If I had only one powder, it would be Unique.
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Old May 28, 2013, 06:58 PM   #8
Brian Pfleuger
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So far, I really like Win748, IMR 3031 and Hodgdon Benchmark for rifles and Power Pistol for 10mm and 357sig.

Those 3 for rifles, they've produced excellent accuracy AND velocity. I haven't tested all 3 in all cartridges yet but they are all in the range for everything I shoot (.204Ruger, .22-250, .243, .243AI, 6mm Rem, 7mm-08) so I'm hoping I can get down to one. If not, it's not the end of the world but it'd be better for buying bulk quantities.

Right now, if I had to guess, it looks like I'll have to stick with 2, being 748 and 3031.
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Old May 28, 2013, 08:15 PM   #9
Hydrostatic Shock
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What's your pet powder

Handguns: universal clays, does why unique does without the poor metering dirty burning.

Magnum revolver: 2400

223 sa rifle: H355

308 and similar: Varget is da bomb

270 and similar: H4831sc
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Old May 28, 2013, 08:18 PM   #10
tahunua001
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well I'm primarily a military surplus loader but surprisingly I have yet to get me some H4895 which is pretty irritating because it's like the milsurp jack of all trades almost every battle cartridge I've looked at has 4895 data.

however heavier bullets in my 6.5x50 japanese do very well with IMR4064 while lighter bullets are deadly accurate with IMR3031. I have quite a bit of varget which is nearly as universal as H4895 but everything I've seen it loaded with has had less than impressive accuracy. I have yet to personally load anything with it.
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Old May 28, 2013, 08:27 PM   #11
Jeff2131
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IMR 4320!
Love it because i can reload my .223, .243, & .308 and only need that one powder.
Im shooting a core15 AR, Howa, and a Ruger M77.

Just started pistol today so i dont have a favorite powder.
I bought bluedot and im reloading .40s&w for my berretta px4 storm
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Old May 28, 2013, 08:31 PM   #12
hodaka
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My favorites are:

Pistols - WW 231(with a little Unique from time to time)
.357 Mag and 30 carbine 296
.223, 6.8, 7.62x39 - H-322
30-06, Swiss, 308 - IMR-4064
25-06, 6.5-06, Swede, etc. IMR-4350
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Old May 28, 2013, 08:34 PM   #13
Lemmon
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IMR 4198

IMR 4198 Great for 221 Fireball, 223 Remington and 444.

Lemmon from Rural SC
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Old May 28, 2013, 08:40 PM   #14
taylorce1
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I really don't have any one pet powder I try a lot of different ones from time to time. I have several that I like.

H335, H4198 and BLC(2) for my .223 and 6x47 Rem.
IMR 3031 for the .30-30
I4350, H4350, & H4350 SSC for .30-06, .300 H&H
H414 and W760 for .375 Ruger and .243 Win
IMR 4064 for .243 Win
IMR 4831 and H4831 SSC for .270 and .300 H&H
RL-15 for .338-06 and .35 Whelen
RL-22 for .300 H&H and .243 Win
H1000 for .243 Win
TAC for .358 Win
Big Game .35 Whelen
Accurate 5744 for .45-70 and other cast bullet loads
H4198 for reduced loads for my daughter and .375 JDJ when I owned one
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Old May 29, 2013, 09:03 AM   #15
Rifleman1776
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For my shooting, real black powder.
Goex, Schutzen and Swiss.
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Old May 29, 2013, 09:40 AM   #16
Mike Irwin
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For almost all chores handgun, my go to powder is WW 231. I've been using it since the early 1980s, and don't see any reason or need to try to find something else for the vast majority of my handloading duties.

For heavier loads in .357 and .41, my primary powder is WW 296.

I do, however, have a bunch of AA 7 left over from when I was loading 10mm, and I'm finding it also to be a very nice powder in .357 and .41.

For light loads in my older handguns, and exclusively in my .44 Special, I use Trail Boss.


Finally, for my .45 Long Colt, I been using primarily Universal Clays. It seems to have a lot to recommend it.


For rifle, .243, .300 Savage, and .30-06, I use IMR 4064. But, I've not loaded or shot much rifle in the past 20 years.


For 12-gauge range loads, Red Dot.
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Old May 29, 2013, 11:17 AM   #17
coldbeer
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9mm and 38special - unique
30 carbine - h110/w296
357mag - 2400
45-70 - reloader7 and imr3031
25-06 - imr4350
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Old May 29, 2013, 11:58 AM   #18
thump_rrr
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.308 from 168gr and up Varget
.223/5.56 IMR XBR 8208

9mm and .45ACP Titegroup
7.62x39 IMR 4198
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Old May 29, 2013, 12:41 PM   #19
spacecoast
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H110 is my most fun powder, because the rounds that use it make by far the biggest booms. That said, I shoot way more Titegroup and Bullseye.
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Old May 29, 2013, 05:49 PM   #20
hooligan1
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IMR 4350 for 30-06, IMR 7828 for 160's in the 7mm rem mag, IMR 4350 for 85's in the 25-06, H4350 for almost any 130 grain pill in my .270 winchester, Winchester Supreme 780 in .243 win. that bout sums it up.
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Old May 30, 2013, 02:39 AM   #21
Hammerhead
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4198 & Universal
(since you didn't specify rifle or handgun, you're getting both)
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Old May 30, 2013, 05:28 AM   #22
TheNatureBoy
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.308 - IMR 4064
7mm - Reloader 22
.280 - IMR 4350
.243 - H414
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Old May 30, 2013, 10:35 AM   #23
Tomas
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10mm/.40/.45 acp - Power Pistol and Longshot

.308 - 748 and Varget
.223 - 8208, CFE 223, AR Comp
7.62x39 - H322, AA2520
7Mag - RL 22
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Old May 30, 2013, 11:08 AM   #24
Salmoneye
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Red Dot
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Old May 30, 2013, 11:17 AM   #25
ntg
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For pistol Titegroup is great. Unique works but it's dirty and takes more per load.

H4831, H414, Varget cover most of my rifle loads well.
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