Which powder do you like best

[TBurnham]

pistol - smaller caliber - HP38
pistol - large caliber - H110
Rifle - Varget
No real reason that these are what I use, I had just read good things about them and they are readily available. I tried several others and these just seemed to be the ones I stuck with. Your thoughts?
Any suggestions on what you think would be a better powder? And if so why?

 

[Chuckdog]

In a standard pistol I used to use a lot of Unique and W231. Unique was always a good performer for me, but I needed to bathe after shooting. Flakes all over me, so I drifted into W231, but it got to be harder to get locally and the folks @ Ga. Arms convinced me that HP38 is the same powder, even though the older data shows different. I believe it's the same powder now, and it works great. Clean burning, meters well, and gives superb accuracy in most calibers I shoot. I've recently bought some Universal Clays. From what I've read it's basically a clean burning alternative to Unique. I haven't gave it a try yet, but the data suggest it should be a great lower velocity target .45 ACP powder. I also bought some Longshot to try for max velocity loads in the 40 S&W and 45 ACP. All I can say is "Damn this is some good stuff!" It make a 40 S&W talk, and once you get back on target it'll hit the same place again. It meters well through an Auto Disk measure, no signs of pressure and good case fill. I forgot my chrony, but the recoil tells you it's exiting the barrel at a pretty good clip.

Varget is the powder of choice for a majority of calibers I shoot. It meters well, gives good case fill, and has a burn rate that works well in my gas operated .308s'. It's the only rifle powder that I buy in 8lb lots. I still use a lot of the old standby powders though. I keep 4350/4831/4064 and the likes on hand. I use Reloader 15 in two of my .308 bolt rifles, it's my favorite in the .308, but the Vargets probably as good for most uses. Reloader 19's another good powder, it works great in many long action calibers, and meters better than some of the old standby powders. I keep a pretty good mix of H322, H335, and W748 around for the .223/5.56. The H322 works great in the 6.8 SPC. I may start buying it in larger quantities too.

As for magnum pistol powder I used W296 for years and like the case with W231 and HP38, I was told by Ga. Arms that H110 was exactly the same as W296. I don't know if it alway has been the same, but I now believe it is. I've loaded more W296 in my magnum revolver cartridges than all other powders combined. I don't shoot magnum handguns as much as I used too, but I load for the .450 Bushmaster now and have found Lil Gun to be excellent powder for heavy bullets. I also load reduce power rifle loads with IMR SR4759, it's good in magnum handguns, but it's great in reduced power rifle. I load reduced power .308 and 7mm-08 with excellent results. I'd like to keep my powders to a minimun so the don't get old before I use them. It's good to have them when I loading for something new, I usually have something suitable on hand.

I read a thread the other day about finding the perfect caliber/rifle/bullet for deer. One perfect rifle theory. I didn't say it, but I couldn't help but think, "Who wants just one rifle, pistol, revolver, shotgun, for any particular use?" Same with powder, bullets, brass, scopes, mounts, targets, ect. One? Hell no! If has to do with shooting, I want as much variety as possible! The only thing limiting me is money and making the time to shootem' all.

OK if you've stayed long enough to make it here, Thanks' for allowing my two cents. Chuckdog.

 

[TBurnham]

Chuck, Do you believe that W231, HP38 and H110 are all the same powder?

 

[Chuckdog]

Yea, from everything I read now, and from the Hodgdon site it certainly appears that W296 and H110 are identical, and the same for W231 and HP38. I went back a clarified my statement a little in the magnum pistol powder paragraph.

 

[TBurnham]

Ok I got you now......I had read the same thing when I was looking for a reciepe for the 500. It was telling me that 296 and H110 are the same.

 

[TBurnham]

Also I have not mixed them and still wouldnt but I have used 231 with the same reciepe as the HP38 and Im not sure I could tell any difference.

 

[Chuckdog]

Yea, I don't even mix the same powder from different lots. I know it doesn't make sense because I load the same loads. I guess some of the drilling into me about safety from the guy that help me get started stuck. Although I do admit to abusing some 44, 45 Colt, and 454 cases with way out of the book charges of 296. The fireball you filmed on your 500 was a regular thing with me out of my Rugers. People used to accuse me of crimping my primers in to prevent them from pushing out, and using a cheater bar on my press to seat the bullets because the case was full. That's where a chronograph is a great tool to have. You find out that after a certain point, you've maxed out all it can do with that particular powder and bullet combo, and the rest is just muzzle blast and wasted powder. I really used to push straight walled cartridges. I've never been one to abuse bottle neck cases though. Most bottle neck cartridges aren't near as forgiving as the straight wall ones. I was a lot younger when I did that foolishness, you know what they say about God looking after drunks and fools. I'm looking forward to giving the Universal a whirl in my 1911 target pistols. It's supposed to be very similar to the Unique that was always super accurate, but was just so dirty. I'll post some results after I've had a chance to give it a fair test.

 

[TBurnham]

Sounds good, look forward in hearing how it goes. Ive not used Universal yet. I have a bunch of Unique and have not used it yet either.

 

[BHJ]

IMR 4350 cause it puts 165gr sgk 30caliber bullets in the same hole when I load for my primary deer rifle. shot a 10 shot .446" group with hunting bullets from a factory savage. think I'll stick with this load

 

[rbstern]

I've never met a powder I didn't like.

Favorites:

380acp - AA No.2
9mm cast bullet plinking - 700X
9mm high performance - HS6
38 special cast bullet plinking - Clays or Scot Royal
38 special +P - Power Pistol
45acp cast bullet plinking - Clays
357 mag cast bullet plinking - WC820 (AA No.9 equivalent)
357 mag out of a rifle - Lil'Gun
223 Rem or 30 cal rifle - surplus 4895
12ga skeet - Red Dot or Clays
12ga low recoil buckshot - Red Dot or Clays

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Clays, because it is much cleaner than most of the powders out there. In very small quantities in larger cases, Clays can get a bit position sensitive, so the loads need to be made stout enough to overcome that. But, in general, I can live with just about any powder that has a reasonable burning speed for a given cartridge.