You can only have 6 powders for everything. What are they?

[reloader762]

Blending powders is a risky business if you don't have specific knowledge of the process and equipment to do the proper ballistics/pressure testing.  Ammunition mfg. both commercial as well as Gov. arsenals blend powders to achieve a specific burn rate. 

There are also some loads that use what is called a Kicker or Duplux load which is a small charge of fast burning easily ignited powder on the bottom of the load column topped by a heavy compressed charge of very slow burning powder which keeps the powders from mixing together,it want hurt if it does mix somewhat but velocity variations and poor accuracy will result. 

The very slow powders used in the duplux load would only be used in a situation where the powder by itself is way to slow for the application an want produce enough pressure on it's own to be very useful without adding the kicker.  I personally don't do it or have a use to as I have none of those very slow powders or type cartridges that would benefit from the use of those type loads but there is a wealth of knowledge  past and present about there use.

To the OP's original question about only having 6 powders to cover all you needs,that really depends on the individual an what they want to accomplish with a particular caliber.  Based on type of shooting,ranges I shoot at and what the particular caliber is and used for as in target shooting,hunting or SD I can easily stock 6 powders if I want to have choices.  I can choose fewer powders if I just want a powder that will work in multiple calibers that give me a fairly decent latitude on load ranges and will work very well,it may not be the best choice but it does what I need it to do.

I have to point out that although I do shoot an occasional jacketed bullet about 99% of all my pistol and rifle shooting is done with my own cast lead bullet which I cast from different alloys and different nose styles for a given purpose,velocity and pressure and after doing so for the past 30 years I've never felt limited for the type shooting I do.  Velocity isn't really an issue for me as I can pretty much match any handgun jacketed load I shoot with cast lead and in rifle I'm pretty much limited by the twist rate of the bore and the bullets weight / length when it comes to usable accuracy.  I shoot 4 different caliber handguns and 4 different rifle cartridge in both US and Russian 30 cal.   

In my handgun calibers I like Bullseye for all the non magnum loads,for the 357 Mag. 2400 is my go to powder.  Unique will work fine in all these calibers as well.

9MM
9 x 18 MAK
38/357
45 ACP

In my rifle cartridges I mainly shoot loads composed of 2400 but I also have reloader #7 & H4895 with will work with both jacked and cast loads.  The H4895 can be used with the 60% starting load with cast lead and be worked up to a suitable velocity that a particular bullet /twist rate will allow which with the rifles like my Mosin and SKS with a 1:10 are around 2K fps. and the 1:12 twist bores are a couple of hundred fps. faster.   Bullseye also work for me with light weight cast pistol bullet for sub sonic plinker/small game rifle loads.   I shoot the same 32 cal. Lee 90 gr. tumble lubed SWC sized to either .311 or .314" in all my rifles.

30-30
300 Sav.
7.62 x 39
7.62 x 54R

So my powder choices are

Bullseye
Unique
2400
Reloader#7
H4895
And Reloader#15 to round out my top 6.

[Rastus]

Thanks Reloader. 

I'm guessing one of those will work with 300 Win Mag or 7 MM Rem ultra mag to near max performance?

[reloader762]

Thanks Reloader. 

I'm guessing one of those will work with 300 Win Mag or 7 MM Rem ultra mag to near max performance?

Well not really for the two rifle powders I mentioned like Reloader #7 & H4895  Both are actually too fast to get the correct case fill to give Max performance with jacketed bullets.   For those 2 cartridges a powder like Reloader #19,22 or 25 would give excellent results across a wide range of bullet weights or a powder like IMR or H-4831 will work in both calibers as well.

None of those powders work for me as there way to slow for my application.  Those  2 cartridges have almost double the case capacity of most of my cases,the only exception being the 54r which has a Max. capacity of 52 grs. of IMR-4350,but the powders listed above wouldn't even let me get that much volume in the case so velocity would be much lower.

[vincewarde]

So what are you going to do to replace 4759?


Also, where do you guys usually find powder the cheapest?  I get the flyers from Wideners but with their new website they went up in price.  And, I wander over to Grafs now and again.

I try to use milsurp powder when it is cheap and available.  I stocked up a few years ago 0 but I need to think about more Unique soon........

[tombogan03884]

Do I understand you to use 2400in both rifle AND pistol ? ?
What is the effect on riflerange and velocity ?

[Sponsor]

[Rastus]

I need to finish the spreadsheet I started for more comments to zero in on the "ultimate solution".

[reloader762]

Do I understand you to use 2400in both rifle AND pistol ? ?
What is the effect on riflerange and velocity ?

Well it really depends on the cartridge and bullet weight.  In rifles I only use powders like 2400,Red Dot,Unique and Bullseye with cast lead,however in the old days I used to use 2400 in my 22 Hornet with jacketed bullet and got excellent accuracy.  2400 is still listed in the Lyman reloading manual for use in the 22 Hornet & K Hornet as well as the 218B with jacketed bullets as far as centerfire rifle goes,there may be a couple more.

Red Dot will work with both cast as well as jacketed bullet for reduced load in military type cartridges using bullets which are normal for the caliber,it's called The Load http://www.hensleygibbs.com/edharris/articles/The%20Load.htm

As to 2400 I shoot that powder with cast loads in my SKS & Mosin Rifles as well as my Sav. 99 in 300 Sav. & Sav. 170B in 30-30 but it works in a wide range of cartridges.  For load data with cast lead the Lyman Cast Bullet manual #3 & #4 will have load data using 2400 in lots or cartridge calibers,the #3 more so than the #4 but most of the military type cartridges in the #4 manual still have 2400 data. 

Mr. Harris who came up with The Load using 13.0 grs. of Red Dot also developed a load called The Universal Load which is 16.0 grs. of 2400 in cartridge case like the 30-40 Krag,30-06,303 British,7.65 Argentine,7.7 Japanese,7.62 NATO.7.62 x 54r Russian & 8mm using cast bullets that are similar to jacketed bullet weight for caliber.   Velocity in general runs in the 1500 to 1700 fps. ranges,it's one of those loads that just works with no fillers required and delivers excellent accuracy.  In the Cast Bullet manuals there will be a wider load data range using 2400 in most of the mentioned calibers which will also show higher velocities but true accuracy / velocity will be determined with cast bullets more so by the bullet length / weight and the rifles barrel twist rate.  You can read more about the Universal Load here http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?13425-Cast-Bullet-Loads-for-Military-Rifles-Article