powder why
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FearNoWind
Well-Known Member
Reloading is about powder, brass, primers, bullets, seating depths, neck tension, in various combinations. Some powders may work better with one caliber than another, sometimes depending on the type of primer. I shoot a .284 in competition. I load with H4831SC and I get very good results. My son has an identical rifle and he gets good results with Reloder-17. My rifle will shoot RL-17 but not as consistently as I like; it tends to be temperature sensitive. So there is no magic formula. Best suggestiion I can make is talk to other shooters (or read as much as you can) and identify a powder that provides the type of results for them that you would like to have. Try it; start low move slow. If it works for you - that's great. If it doesn't you'll have identified one that you will want to avoid for your rifle. gun) - - - - - - - - - X
Understand talking to others but is there any information other than trial and error and asking others. Guess what I asking is what is the reason one works over another what is the property that one powder has that makes it better. One burns faster or slower what let's me know that.
Usually....... The powder that fills up the case the most is the better one. I always try to pick ampowdernthatnfillsnthe cartridge case to 80 - 90% of capacity. This usually give more consistent velocities which gets important a longer ranges.
Choose which bullet weight best suits your rifle twist.then choose 3 powders that have the best combination of velocity and highest grain weight, so the powder will fill the case as much as possible. This does 2 things, creates consistent powder column and keeps you from double charging a case. Velocity does not mean accuracy, consistency does
FearNoWind
Well-Known Member
There are a number of sources published that list powder burn rates.
Here's a start:
https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Burn%20Rates%20-%202014-2015.pdf
http://www.reloadersnest.com/burnrates.asp
http://www.accuratepowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/burn_rates.pdf
Be careful ... understand that handgun powders are much faster burning than rifle powders and they are not the same.
rh, there are well over a hundred powders available in the U.S. They are categorized by the speed by which they burn. The fastest are used in shotgun and pistol with the slower half used in center fire rifles. Many reloaders research which powder is most accurate for a particular caliber, bullet and barrel combination. Using the Internet, forums and manufacturers you will find quite a few combinations submitted by every reloader who has had success with their pet load. Needlessly said, trying all suggestions would cost a fortune. Pick 3 or 4 submitted the most. Ask plenty of questions here on this forum. No question is stupid and not all responses will work for you. There is no magic load. The reason one combination that performs well for an identical rifle does not work for your's is no two rifles are that alike, (Just Physics). Do your research and ask questions and you'll do well. Good luck.
Jerry M
Well-Known Member
Nosler reloading manual gives the most accurate powder for a particular cartridge. I'd start there.
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
In the post Sandyhook world, you will find that you have a lot less options in the way of reloading supplies than you might think. It can be a real bear finding the right powder, even 3 years later.
My suggestion is for you to determine which brands of powder are actually stocked by some local suppliers ? Do some price comparisons to Grafs.com to see if your local store is totally ripping you off or in the ballpark. Remember that you pay at least $25 hazmat shipping on powder and primers if bought online, so take that into account when buying locally.
My suggestion is to stick to a single brand and then for rifles buy several different burn rates. I work with Hodgdon almost exclusively and they have a line of "extreme" powders which are less temperature sensitive than most, but they are typically "stick" powders and hence do not meter well in regular powder measures. So you have to take the good with the bad. I do not shoot a lot of volume, so I do not need to load hundreds of cartridges at every sitting. So I trickle the stick powders to final weight and weigh each and every charge. That would not be acceptable for a competition shooter, but that's not me.
The problem with my choice is that a lot of other shooters have the same strategy, so it can be very difficult to find some of these powders in stock. Sometimes I might have to wait 6 months or more before something pops up in stock. Buy 1lb for load development and once you have a good load worked out, try to get 8lb so that you are working with a single lot of powder as long as possible. Else you may have to tweak the load with every lot change of powder which can be a pain...
My suggestion is for you to determine which brands of powder are actually stocked by some local suppliers ? Do some price comparisons to Grafs.com to see if your local store is totally ripping you off or in the ballpark. Remember that you pay at least $25 hazmat shipping on powder and primers if bought online, so take that into account when buying locally.
My suggestion is to stick to a single brand and then for rifles buy several different burn rates. I work with Hodgdon almost exclusively and they have a line of "extreme" powders which are less temperature sensitive than most, but they are typically "stick" powders and hence do not meter well in regular powder measures. So you have to take the good with the bad. I do not shoot a lot of volume, so I do not need to load hundreds of cartridges at every sitting. So I trickle the stick powders to final weight and weigh each and every charge. That would not be acceptable for a competition shooter, but that's not me.
The problem with my choice is that a lot of other shooters have the same strategy, so it can be very difficult to find some of these powders in stock. Sometimes I might have to wait 6 months or more before something pops up in stock. Buy 1lb for load development and once you have a good load worked out, try to get 8lb so that you are working with a single lot of powder as long as possible. Else you may have to tweak the load with every lot change of powder which can be a pain...
