Standardizing, If you could only buy 4 powders........

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SARuger

SARuger

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My wife gave me marching orders to buy powder/bullets/primer, and with that we agreed on a budget of 1k. I plan on at least half of that to be spent on powder.

We load for the following calibers/bullet grains;

handgun
.380 100g, I'm using W231
9mm 124g lead, I'm using HS-6
.38spcl 125g jacketed, 158g jacketed, 148g lead, I'm using W231, Bullseye, Unique, and a few more
.357 158g, I'm using H110
44mag 240g, I'm using 2400

rifle
.223 60-77g, using all kinds of powder now but I'm starting to like H335, I have used Varget, CFE223, BLC-2, IMR4064
.243 95g, I'm using IMR4064 right now
30-30 165g lead, I'm using IMR4227
30-06 165g I'm using RL15

I plan on four or five 8# bottles of powder but what do I narrow it to? I use a little of everything now. I know that Varget would do all of the rifle calibers/bullets that I use with the exception of the 30-30 coated lead.

Handgun is where it gets confusing. I think I could standardize to W231 and 2400, using the 2400 for the magnums.

So if you took my list, what four or five powders would you buy?
 
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If I could standardize, I'd probably break it down into categories. Slow pistol, fast pistol, slow rifle, fast rifle.

Fast Pistol: either Bullseye or Unique (as compared to 296)

Slow Pistol: Win 296/H110

Fast rifle: H4895 or IMR 4895

Slow(er) rifle: IMR 4350 or H 4350

You can reload ALMOST any round with a combo of 4 of the above. Even 30-30, which I reload for. I currently use LeveRevolution.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I could get by with 4 powders, in fact I pretty much do now. I have a 22-250 that excels with H414, but does real good with IMR 4064, that being said, I would stock....

Unique for plinking pistol and shotguns
IMR4227 for heavy pistol and 35Rem and 30/30
IMR4064 for fast rifle
H4831SC for slow rifle
 
WHY? I like beans, Taters, Rice and Steak .... but I like a lot of other "stuff" too ...

If it gets down to the "shortage" like in the recent past .... a fellow better "know how" to cook up about any powder/bullet combo ....

I for one am glad I had a lot of powders setting around that I didn't normally use .... if I hadn't I would not have been shooting much during that shortage .... I shot "stuff" that I never thought was very good ....Only to find out I like it better than some of my "main" powders !!!
 
The trouble is with standardizing you will have a few propellants that will work OK across the board and will often not work best in anything. You could choose whatever is best in the firearm you want to be most accurate and get what accuracy the other will give for the rest. OR you could figure out what amounts of propellant you use in each loading for a certain time period and get the best for each in proportion to anticipated use. I use this method for both propellants and primers. Both of these are what you want to buy ahead for if you are worried about future shortages/price spikes IMHO. Buy in bulk and pay the Haz-Mat fee, you will still save money. Most on line sellers will combine primers and propellant in one Haz-Mat box up to 45 LBS IIRC. Bullets/brass will be available mostly so I do not worry about them as much. If you want to standardize only a bit you could go with eight choices. The above list in post 2 is fairly comprehensive for what you have listed for OK loads BTW. BUT you will have to work up those loads again if not already using those propellant/load combos.

FWIW I have a bunch of 1 LB containers that I use to test out new loads left over from reloading for many years. When I experiment and find a good to excellent load that I am happy with I buy a 8 LB keg for that particular load if I do not already stock it.
 
It's going to be hard, if not impossible, to get your powder cost for four 8# jugs to $500.00.

Running the numbers from post #2 on the 4 powders mentioned that are the cheapest at Powder Valley:

IMR4895 = 164.50
IMR4350 = 161.50
H110 = 148.50
Bullseye = 126.00

Total = 600.50
HazMat = 28.50
Shipping = 19.95
Insurance = 3.00

Total 651.95

Might be more realistic with three powders where you use 4227 for 357 Mag, 44 Mag, and 30-30. Bullseye for fast pistol and as you said Varget for rifle. But then you're compromising what might be cheapest, to what might be best for each caliber.

Bullseye = 126.00
IMR 4227 = 173.25
Varget = 168.00

Total = 467.25
HazMat = 28.50
Shipping = 15.95

Total 511.70 + Ins.
 
You are making it hard to achieve the most from each caliber by limiting the powder available for each. If you are just making plinking ammo, then you will be OK, but for anything more serious, you will be limiting yourself to a lower expectation of performance.
 
.
And you might expect at least 3-week lead times before product ships! when you even find it "in stock".

Procure your four powders, but they won't be your last or your only. Trust me. :D
 
For 9mm, 38 special and 45ACP, I have chosen CFE-Pistol. It is great in 9mm and 38 special and does good in 45ACP. I shoot 45ACP the least, so I chose CFE-Pistol. It meters awesome and is extremely accurate in the 9mm and 38special. At this time I only load 223 for rifle. I like both BLC-2 and H335 in this caliber. Both meter great and work great. All three powders are easily found and fairly low in price compared to some. Let's just say I am not worried about a shortage any time soon.
 
Hhmmm
I don't load .243, 30-30 or 30-06 or .44 but if I had to pick 4
Fast pistol HP38/231
Slow Pistol H110/W296

For .223 I like BL-C(2) which also has loads listed for .243, 30-30 and 30-06.
No idea how well it would work the in those 3.

Then maybe a slower for a rifle powder or a medium speed pistol powder.
Instead of 8lb jugs you could buy 4s and get more flavors.
You save a little more on 8 pounders but not a lot over 4s.
It would be easier to cover every thing with say 6 powders.

Rocky Mountain Reloading sometimes has some great deals on pulled bullets (and new) 5% discount to THR members
https://rmrbullets.com/product-category/bullets-for-reloading/bullets-for-reloading-243-6mm-19/
https://rmrbullets.com/product-category/bullets-for-reloading/bullets-for-reloading-308-7-62mm-8/
https://rmrbullets.com/product-category/bullets-for-reloading/bullets-for-reloading-224-5-56mm/

This might let you save a bit on bullets for the rifle calibers.
I really like their plated bullets in 9mm as well.

Let us know what you pick.
 
witchhunter said:
You are making it hard to achieve the most from each caliber by limiting the powder available for each. If you are just making plinking ammo, then you will be OK, but for anything more serious, you will be limiting yourself to a lower expectation of performance.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't say that. I used three powders exclusively for many years. I was always able to find an accurate load. Sometimes it took a long time to find it. And they might not have been the most economical. But I was able to find a load at the end of the day.

If I had to pick four powders it would be an easy decision.
- W231/HP-38
- W296/H110
- W748
These were all I used for years. Then I bought a 375 H&H so the fourth would be.
- W760

I have a lot of different cartridges to reload for now compared to years ago. And I know those four would not be optimal for everything. But I'm sure I could make them work. Reloading for a cartridge like 10mm means I have powders that are only for it. I don't have a lot of overlap in this area.
 
SARuger said:
I plan on four or five 8# bottles of powder but what do I narrow it to?

So if you took my list, what four or five powders would you buy?
Click to expand...


I'd buy the slow burning powders in 8 # jugs and some of your faster handgun powders that are used in very small quantities in 4#ers or even 1#ers. I would forget about 2400 for the .44 mag and just use your H110 or IMR4227. Both do as good or better in .44 mag than 2400, and that alone will eliminate one unnecessary powder without sacrificing performance. Still, for the variety of loads you are trying to accomplish, why the big desire to limit yourself to only 4 powders? You're not really saving money by buying larger quantities of powder that are only going to give you mediocre performance in some of your firearms. It's always been my opinion that one is better off buying smaller quantities of more powders and getting the best performance outta all their firearms, than buying large quantities of fewer powders that only perform well in a few. One may save money overall by buying larger quantities of fewer powders, but is not getting the most bang for their buck.
 
If I had to the 5 powders I would stock:

W231 and 2400 for handguns although I would rather 3 powders, W231, HS-6 and W296
For rifles and what you're loading I think I would go with IMR3031, IMR/H4895 and IMR/H4350.

If it were me I would stock AA5744, H335, H4895 and H4350 because of what I load.

You want 4 or 5 powders, I can go with 7. Of course I could actually use only W231 and H4895 but I would not like it. I do have the biggest stock of those 2.
 
I would buy H-4895 for your rifle loads and CFE-Pistol for your pistol loads.

For the magnum revolvers, I'd go with 296.

H-4895 works pretty well in everything from 223 to 30-06.

You really need 3 powders.

I just checked Hodgdon's data, H-4895 produces good loads in all of your rifle calibers. In 223, it really fills the case, which I really like.
 
I dont shoot rifle, but I am with RPegram on the CFE Pistol, it's now my go to powder, backed up by HS6 and Universal. I load for 9, 40 and 45
 
That's an easy one....

Unique and H110 for handguns

H335 and Varget for the rifles

As a matter of fact these powders find their way into roughly 90% of my reloads....If I didn't have any other options I could easily get by with these 4.
 
Currently I use four powders.
WST - .38 Special, .45 ACP
WSF - 9mm
IMR-4895 - .223, .308
H4350 - .30-06

I could load all of my pistol ammo with WSF and all of my rifle ammo with IMR-4895, and I don't think the animals, the steel targets, or the paper targets would know the difference. I just get really really good results with WST in the .38 and .45, and the H4350 load I use in the .30-06 with 180 Nosler Accubonds gets Sub-MOA accuracy and .300 H&H Magnum velocity.

With the cartridges the OP listed, WSF and IMR-4895 could handle most, if not all, of those chores too. I don't see any WSF data for the .380, so W231 would load all of your handgun cartridges, including the magnums.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
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Also - balance bullets/primer/powder costs

32-40 lbs of powder at (let's say 25 grains per charge) = 8k to 10k of loaded ammo....give or take

10k primers: $300'ish
10k bullets: could be $1k++ this varies widely depending on bullet....
 
I want to echo what FROGO207 and Witchhunter suggested; by standardizing on just four powders you may sacrifice the ability to optimize your loads. You might be better off to select powders optimized for each cartridge, bullet and barrel length you shoot and just buy what you need for each cartridge.
 
I'm currently using AA-2460 for my 223 loads, have 10 lbs of it.

For .308, I'm using IMR-4895, have 8 lbs of it.

For 40 cal and 9mm, its 6 lbs of Longshot and 8 lbs of CFE-Pistol, respectively

I bought 8 lbs of H-4895 as well, as its a good cross-over powder between 223 and 308.
 
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