Is there a universal powder.

[entoptics]

This is pretty easy for me. Here's my 5 powders for everything. Not just OK, but outstanding. I've given 2-3 choices for each category (availability insurance), but any one of them would be great as the only choice in that category for me. The five that I actually use almost exclusively are underlined.

Powder 1 = Autoloaders = Longshot or Unique or CFE Pistol (all these are good for shotguns too!)
Powder 2 = Magnum revolvers (subsonic rifles too) = H110 (W296) or 2400 or Lilgun
Powder 3 = Bulk loads for just about anything rifle wise, best in the game for 308 or 556 = CFE223 or Varget
Powder 4 = Slightly overbore rifles = H4350 or Reloder 16/17
Powder 5 = Magnums and overbores = H1000 or Retumbo or IMR8133 or RL26

Wildcard #6
Powder 6 = Crazy big fellers = Reloder 33 or US869

5 powders to load everything I can possibly think of (6 if you got a fiddy), and not just "it'll sorta work", but any of the above choices are, IMO, outstanding for their respective niches.

You could probably get it down to three if you're dead set on "works with everything" and not as concerned with awesome performance, by tossing powder 2 and powder 5.

 

[sea2summit]

Kind of wondering what you're trying to accomplish?

I understand wanting to stash a bunch and have it as versatile as possible, it's within the realm of possibility to do that with less than half a dozen powders.

I'm trying sort of the opposite approach and testing a bunch so I can go with what's available. My job moves me every 48-36 months so I can't keep the amount of powder on hand I'd like to get through the lean times.

 

[25WSM]

Rl26 is a weird powder in that it's really slow but works so very great in many medium cases. Rl26 could load from 22 250 with heavies up to most any of the big magnums.
Very versatile and will turn a 243 or 6.5 Creed into a beast. I'm sure it does the same with most cases. It's 150fps in my 6.5saum also.
Hard to find most of the time is only draw back.
Shep

 

[bikerbowhunter]

great thread - very helpful as would be the chart jimisbell

 

[thwatson2]

It's like putting grease or kerosene in a diesel truck. It works but the efficiency sucks

 

[misterc01]

I believe someone recently posted a Burn Rate Chart recently which might be helpful in your quest.

 

[Bravo 4]

Trailboss is stated to work in any cartridge on Hodgdon's website.

 

[Chuck32571]

For pistols you can't go wrong with Bullseye.
Varget will cover the smaller rifle cartridges.
H4895 for 308 and up.
US869 for magnums.

 

[RetiredSniper]

WOW! I can't wait to hear what everyone comes up with! I have been trying to come up with slimming down my powder collection also. For all my pistol loads I use Winchester 231 2400 or Unique. For rifle I use 4 different powders. Powder isn't cheap when you have to buy 7 different types. I would like to get rid of a few at least.

 

[epoletna]

Sometimes the questions people pose here make me go "huh?" and sometimes they make me sit back and think -- often for days or weeks. This one falls into the latter category.

I just counted, and I have 18 different powders on my shelves. Only one is for pistol cartridges, so I clearly have too many different types of rifle powders. But when I was trying to work up loads for this cartridge or that one, I'd read an article or a blog post and think "why not try XXXX?" That would usually work just a little better than anything else I had tried, but it would add another powder type to my shelf, and somehow I have ended up with a range of powders that I never use up, and likely never will.

15 years ago I moved to my present location and ended up giving away a similar number of powder types because I didn't want to move them across the country. So maybe I have some kind of condition that is akin to women and shoes.

The point of all this is that I think we as a group could very well do with fewer powder types and never notice the difference. There was a time when I was living internationally and had to minimize the number of powders and bullets I carried with me. Turns out, that was not a major hardship.

So I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Then maybe I can permanently dispose of about 12 different powder types and free up self space.

 

[johngibbs222]

I use CFE 223 for my 308 and 223 full loads and hodgdons titegroup for plinking loads in them and my 357 mag win 94, with gas checked cast boolits.

 

[Iron Worker]

I said in the post that I didnt expect one powder to do the job but that I figurd 3 or 4 might have the overlap to cover them all. So what you are saying is that no one has compiled the data.. Its out there, just needs to be compiled. I look forward to doing this. I needed something to do anyway.
Listing what I currently load would be an excersize in futility as it is constatly changing and it would be asking others to do my work for me. But if a chart existed it would be valuable to many.
So if it doesnt exist, I will compile it.

What specific calibers both pistol and rifle are you loading for ?

 

[Iron Worker]

Unique ,Blue Dot, Varget H4350 and Re#26

 

[chanceinmt]

I load for 44 special/mag and 45acp and keep a big supply of Unique and W231. I also load for 223 and 6.5 Grendel w/CFE 223. For my bolt guns from .270, .280, 30-06, 300wsm and .338 win. I keep 4350, 4831 and RL22. I keep on hand a wide range of suitable powders and should never run out. So my picks would be Unique, CFE 223, 4350 AND 4831 and I have at least 8plus lbs of each on hand.