Fairly new to reloading, and was wondering how you guys choose your powder? I'm reloading a .308 and a .204. For the .308 I'm using rl15 and for the .204 imr4198. Nobody recommended these powders just looked in a reloading manual and looked at the published ballistics and chose.
How do you choose powder?
- Thread starter mooger31
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Well..forums like this are a good place to start. Some manuals (like nosler and sierra) will state which powder had the best accuracy for the test rifle and bullets.
Another good source is some of the magazines.
For the 308, I prefer RL-7, 4895 and 4064. Again, it all depends on the bullet weight and the rifle I am shooting too. My M14 - then it is 4895 because it is very close to the original military performance. My Weatherby carbine loves 150 gr with the RL-7 recipe.
The bottom line is that half the fun is working up loads. Sometimes you will find a powder is just a dud and other times you will strike gold! Happened to me with a recipe I stumbled upon with my 223, moly 50 gr, win 748 and magnum primers.
Pure gold.
Another good source is some of the magazines.
For the 308, I prefer RL-7, 4895 and 4064. Again, it all depends on the bullet weight and the rifle I am shooting too. My M14 - then it is 4895 because it is very close to the original military performance. My Weatherby carbine loves 150 gr with the RL-7 recipe.
The bottom line is that half the fun is working up loads. Sometimes you will find a powder is just a dud and other times you will strike gold! Happened to me with a recipe I stumbled upon with my 223, moly 50 gr, win 748 and magnum primers.
Pure gold.
A current reloading manual is always a safe bet. Next I would search the internet, different websites, forums... but be careful, often times guys will tell you "this is a hot load" and thats great but always start 10% lower and work up till you find a good group or start seeing pressure signs.
EVERY RIFLE IS DIFFERENT! You will here this often but it is 100% true(ask any competition shooter). What may work in your rifle may not work in mine.
Reloading is a very rewarding activity but can be dangerous.
Enjoy yourself, be safe and there are no stupid question, just ask someone and most will be more than happy to steer you in the right direction.
BTW Varget is a longtime favorite of mine and many other shooters for the .308 win. Sorry I don't shoot .204 so I can't help you there.
Ivo
EVERY RIFLE IS DIFFERENT! You will here this often but it is 100% true(ask any competition shooter). What may work in your rifle may not work in mine.
Reloading is a very rewarding activity but can be dangerous.
Enjoy yourself, be safe and there are no stupid question, just ask someone and most will be more than happy to steer you in the right direction.
BTW Varget is a longtime favorite of mine and many other shooters for the .308 win. Sorry I don't shoot .204 so I can't help you there.
Ivo
I first check to see which one fills the case the most and gives good velocity. I also like to use Hodgdon powder that is more temperature stable than some other brands, hopefully this is an option on the list. I can also be persuaded by what I might already have on the bench. For your .308 you could find a lot of info on the net as to what powder type generally works well. I recently started loading for .308 as well and chose to go with varget as it seemed to be fairly popular. It doesn't give the highest velocity but I do get very low spreads in my muzzle velocity.
I search for terms including the caliber and keywords like: loads, recipes, etc. I then collect all the info I find and pick a powder that is mentioned the most for similar guns I'm reloading for.
An example is my Remi 750 (.308 autoloader). All the info I found pointed to I4895, I4064, and RL15. I never did find RL15 in stock anywhere, and I added W748 to the list just because I had access to some. I loaded up a ton of ammo with each powder, and many different weights and found what the gun liked.
The one thing I will not do is use powder weights from the info I find, I only use published reloading information. I find a lot of reloaders like to push the limits of maximum load, and almost seem proud to brag about how much powder they jammed in a case and lived to tell about it. Work up from the start load to find the accuracy node... if you're looking for specific velocities do it safely.
An example is my Remi 750 (.308 autoloader). All the info I found pointed to I4895, I4064, and RL15. I never did find RL15 in stock anywhere, and I added W748 to the list just because I had access to some. I loaded up a ton of ammo with each powder, and many different weights and found what the gun liked.
The one thing I will not do is use powder weights from the info I find, I only use published reloading information. I find a lot of reloaders like to push the limits of maximum load, and almost seem proud to brag about how much powder they jammed in a case and lived to tell about it. Work up from the start load to find the accuracy node... if you're looking for specific velocities do it safely.
I actually looked at as many possible loads for all the calibres I reload and picked the powders that would result in me having to stock the fewest different types of powder as possible.
I chose H4895 and H4831 in the end.
H4895:
.45-70 Gov
.308 Win
.303 British
7.62x54R (150gr or lighter bullets)
H4831:
.300 Win Mag
6.5x55mm Swedish
7.62x54R (174gr or heavier bullets)
So I decided to load .308 Win with H4895 simply for an ease of inventory reason. I get good results none the less.
I chose H4895 and H4831 in the end.
H4895:
.45-70 Gov
.308 Win
.303 British
7.62x54R (150gr or lighter bullets)
H4831:
.300 Win Mag
6.5x55mm Swedish
7.62x54R (174gr or heavier bullets)
So I decided to load .308 Win with H4895 simply for an ease of inventory reason. I get good results none the less.
Key is burning rate. Logic here being:
Long rifles - slow to medium
Normal pistols & revolvers - medium to fast
Short barreled pistols & revolver - fast to extremely fast
Another determining factor is cartridge. Straight wall or bottleneck cartridge, later ones generally being considered as high pressure cartridges.
For any given cartridge usually one would chose powder that on average load would fill that particular brass casing to the point where double load will be impossible because it would spill over if it ever happens. So volume and metering (easy flow through dispenser) equally important for consistency, safety & accuracy
Long rifles - slow to medium
Normal pistols & revolvers - medium to fast
Short barreled pistols & revolver - fast to extremely fast
Another determining factor is cartridge. Straight wall or bottleneck cartridge, later ones generally being considered as high pressure cartridges.
For any given cartridge usually one would chose powder that on average load would fill that particular brass casing to the point where double load will be impossible because it would spill over if it ever happens. So volume and metering (easy flow through dispenser) equally important for consistency, safety & accuracy
It can be a bit of a crap shoot to find the best powder for an application.
I'll Illustrate: In a certain 30-06 of mine, I started my 180 grain load search with a powder that had proven to be very good in a couple of other '06 rifles.
We'll call this powder "W"
I also loaded ammo with powder "X", and powder "Y"
The resulting workup showed all 3 powders had potential, but powder "W" looked the most promising.
Found the best load by stairstep loading, which showed 60.4 grains averaging moa accuracy consistently.
The chrony said 2745 avg in the 24" barrel.
I could have hunted this load indefinitely without any issues.
Then I remembered another powder [we'll call it "Z"] that had delivered stellar accuracy and great velocity in a #1 Ruger.
Since I had a supply on hand, I decided to try it.
I started at 56 grains and worked up carefully....at 58.2 grains, I saw the group tighten up to a nice tight cluster [.61"]
[All groups on the way up were sub-moa.]
Loaded up a dozen rounds of the same recipe and went back to the range. 3-shot groups as follows: .55", .52", .72" & .33". Chrony says 2775 avg with high/low only 12 fps apart.
Do I have a winner?
I would say so, with the average of the last 5 groups just over ½ moa..
Good thing I have a decent store of this lot # of powder "Z".
Regards, Eagleye.
I'll Illustrate: In a certain 30-06 of mine, I started my 180 grain load search with a powder that had proven to be very good in a couple of other '06 rifles.
We'll call this powder "W"
I also loaded ammo with powder "X", and powder "Y"
The resulting workup showed all 3 powders had potential, but powder "W" looked the most promising.
Found the best load by stairstep loading, which showed 60.4 grains averaging moa accuracy consistently.
The chrony said 2745 avg in the 24" barrel.
I could have hunted this load indefinitely without any issues.
Then I remembered another powder [we'll call it "Z"] that had delivered stellar accuracy and great velocity in a #1 Ruger.
Since I had a supply on hand, I decided to try it.
I started at 56 grains and worked up carefully....at 58.2 grains, I saw the group tighten up to a nice tight cluster [.61"]
[All groups on the way up were sub-moa.]
Loaded up a dozen rounds of the same recipe and went back to the range. 3-shot groups as follows: .55", .52", .72" & .33". Chrony says 2775 avg with high/low only 12 fps apart.
Do I have a winner?
I would say so, with the average of the last 5 groups just over ½ moa..
Good thing I have a decent store of this lot # of powder "Z".
Regards, Eagleye.
Some powders do cover a wide range of cartridges but there's so many factors to consider. Do you want high performance hunting loads or the best accuracy? What bullet weight? How many guns do you own and in how many different calibers? Each gun can be a little different even in the same caliber and make. Barrel length, action, different manufacturing tolerances, and many other factors all can make a difference. Also there are several different powder manufactures and some of the powders seem to compete with different brands. Ramshot, IMR, Hodgdon, Alliant, Vihtavuori, all make great powder for your .308 for example.
Good advice. I used to have (probably still do but it's buried somewhere in the gun cave) a slide rule that would calculate the best burn rated powders for a cartridge based on case capacity measured in cc's of water, if memory serves. Powley, maybe? Was very useful anyway, would be nice to come across a computer or phone version for more modern powders. - dan
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There are a couple of ways to determine the optimum powder for any given application. One is to simply check your favorite loading manual and choose the powder which produces the highest velocity for your chosen bullet weight. Another way is to acquire a Nosler manual which has the powder densities for each load listed, usually the load that produces the best velocity while using 90%-95% of the powder volume is a good choice.
There are exceptions of course, cast bullet loads for high velocity cartridges usually use fast burning powders and some gas guns (M-14s, Garands, etc) can be damaged by using powders with burning rates slower than Varget. The Sierra manual provides gas gun loads for some cartridges and the Lyman manual has cast bullet loads listed for most cartridges.
There are exceptions of course, cast bullet loads for high velocity cartridges usually use fast burning powders and some gas guns (M-14s, Garands, etc) can be damaged by using powders with burning rates slower than Varget. The Sierra manual provides gas gun loads for some cartridges and the Lyman manual has cast bullet loads listed for most cartridges.
This is true. I have always used reloading manuals, this forum and the manufacture's websites. There is a ton of good advice on here. I bought Ken Water's books and they have a great resource, especially when starting to reload something new to me.
