Powder question

[hammer111]

Well I have to admit I am a hoarder of gunpowder. It is a proven fact that I have more gunpowder then our local gun stores do combine. I don't know if the gunpowder is more of a problem than it is primer. I'm not sure if I went down the right Road a long time ago tried to become a perfectionist on my hand loading. Once I find a load that works great for one calibre and one bullet weight I always have to tweak it a little bit more every time. Some days it's for the better some days not so good..lol. I guess that's why it's called reloading. One never knows if they're doing the right thing until they try it.

I'm fairly new to reloading, so I don't know what I don't know, but I'm a sponge and trying to soak up as much as I can. Have 3 different powders right now , with a need for at least 2 more . I can say this it's very addictive.

 

[jimbires]

I love the 260 round, but I can't find in platform I like. Remington made it one year in the 5r gen ll, then stopped before I had the money for it. I think I like rl17 . What I don't know is what is the difference between rl16 rl17,or rl26.

the difference is powder burn speeds . 17 is faster burning than 26 . there are powder burn charts that will show you burn speeds from fast to slow , you should be able to google up a powder burn speed chart . there is more to it than this though . just because two powders are similar on the burn chart does not mean they will produce the same velocity in that given cartridge . usually heavier bullets like slower burning powders . I like the computer program " quickload " it really helps with powder choice .

 

[waveslayer]

Well I have to admit I am a hoarder of gunpowder. It is a proven fact that I have more gunpowder then our local gun stores do combine. I don't know if the gunpowder is more of a problem than it is primer. I'm not sure if I went down the right Road a long time ago tried to become a perfectionist on my hand loading. Once I find a load that works great for one calibre and one bullet weight I always have to tweak it a little bit more every time. Some days it's for the better some days not so good..lol. I guess that's why it's called reloading. One never knows if they're doing the right thing until they try it.

Have any RL 26 to sell?

 

[LVJ76]

Depending where you shoot and hunt you might need to avoid some powders due to being sentitive to temperature changes, when it gets to hot you'll have preasure spikes and can cause injury and damage your rifle, examples are RL19 and RL26 amongst other.

Some that are not temp sensitive are the Enduron line from IMR, from Hogdon there's H1000, H4831 and others.

As Frog4aday mentioned some powders will work for multiple bullets/cartridges but you'll sacrifice some speed/accuracy.

You can provably get away with only 3 or 4 powders.

 

[Possum Cop]

I pretty much stick to the powders that shoot well in my rifles. I use Varget for all of my .223 and .308. I use H414 for my .338-06 and 30-06. I use H1000 for my .338 Lapua. Winchester 296 for supersonic .300 Blackout and H110 for subsonic .300 Blackout. I use H110 for .44 Magnum also. VihtaVuori N120 for .45-70.
Best of luck in your powder selection.

 

[LVJ76]

I pretty much stick to the powders that shoot well in my rifles. I use Varget for all of my .223 and .308. I use H414 for my .338-06 and 30-06. I use H1000 for my .338 Lapua. Winchester 296 for supersonic .300 Blackout and H110 for subsonic .300 Blackout. I use H110 for .44 Magnum also. VihtaVuori N120 for .45-70.
Best of luck in your powder selection.

Wider selection than a lot of shops Lol.

I'd say that 4064 and Varget are common and work good on smaller cartridges like the 223, 7mm-08 and 308, H1000 pretty common on magnums.

 

[waveslayer]

I'm new to reloading.
So my question is , do you change powder for different grain bullets or one powder for all grains.
Using the same rifle of course.
Thanks

I look at previous PET loads for others and start my own work ups. XBR, H335, Varget and CFE 223 for .223, Varget and 4064 for .308, H4350 for 6.5 Creedmoor, retumbo, H1000, RL33 for my .338 and Warbird plus SAUM. The list goes on and on.

Do some research on snipers hide for some load data and go from there

 

[Possum Cop]

Wider selection than a lot of shops Lol.

I'd say that 4064 and Varget are common and work good on smaller cartridges like the 223, 7mm-08 and 308, H1000 pretty common on magnums.

I use the Varget because it doesn't seem to be so temperature sensitive, I go from over 100 degrees in the summer to low 30 degree in the winter. I shoot the same load year round. I keep a good stock of Varget.

 

[LVJ76]

I use the Varget because it doesn't seem to be so temperature sensitive, I go from over 100 degrees in the summer to low 30 degree in the winter. I shoot the same load year round. I keep a good stock of Varget.

I keep hearing 4064 is temp sensitive but I've never had an issuewith it, though my loads aren't very hot so thats provably why and I always check zero before the hunt.

I will switch to Varget but need to use up the 8+ lbs of 4064 I got left.

 

[freddiej]

I'm new to reloading.
So my question is , do you change powder for different grain bullets or one powder for all grains.
Using the same rifle of course.
Thanks

Hammer, I have found that both can be true. I have a couple of rifles that absolutely like one powder for many different projo weights and I have other rifles that like one powder for one slug.
as an example my 300 win mag (Sako 995) it loves only H-4831 SSC for every slug I tried. I have 125 through 190 grain slugs.
Now to contrast that with my 270 Win (Winchester M-70 Featherweight carbine) 110 grain slugs (Barnes TTSX) loves 59.3 grains of H-414. if I go with any other slug in 110 grains it wants something else like Hornady V-max will demand 58.4 grains of H-4350. Hornady 110 grain HP demands 56.5 grains of Win 760. I have come to realize my gun is picky and weird. Like some people I know.. but that is an entirely different thread/discussion.

 

[MachV]

For me the Nosler book has been a great place to start. Thier prefered powder and loads seam to be preaty close.
Sooner or later your gonna end up with a few pounds of 4831,H414,H4350 and varget so it dont hurt to add soom when you can find it ;-)

 

[hammer111]

I'm beginning to see that. I've got 2 more test sessions in me before ill start pulling my hair out. My cartridge length was 2.75. I'm hoping 2.80 will be magical with 47 grains of rl 17. If not , well I don't know I haven't thought that far ahead.

 

[Ol' Red]

hammer111 When I started reloading over 30 years ago, I tried to stay with a couple powders for all my guns. I now have about 35 different powders, but load for many handguns and rifles. I am always looking for a new bullet or different weight bullet in one caliber or another and find that most of my rifles perform best with different powders for different bullet weights. That is not to say they won't work with one powder, but just not the best. In the end you have to decide if you can settle for OK or if you want the best accuracy or highest velocity for that firearm. Enjoy your reloading and shooting.

 

[Wolf76]

I pretty much stick to the powders that shoot well in my rifles. I use Varget for all of my .223 and .308. I use H414 for my .338-06 and 30-06. I use H1000 for my .338 Lapua. Winchester 296 for supersonic .300 Blackout and H110 for subsonic .300 Blackout. I use H110 for .44 Magnum also. VihtaVuori N120 for .45-70.
Best of luck in your powder selection.

FWIW...Winchester 296 and Hodgdon H110 are the same powder.