newbie picking powder

pointandshoot

pointandshoot

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hey guys, i've gotten a ton of free info from these forums and hoping for a little more. i'm just getting geared up to start reloading my own rounds. my question is how do i go about picking out powders? there are a ton of different recipies for different bullets and different powders, but how do you choose the first one to try (just pick one out of the book at random or is there a strategy)? i will be doing mainly 30-06 with a 180 spitzer bullet but also some 303 brit and 30-30. i've seen a lot of guys using imr4350, but in most recipies the hodgdon h4350 uses a little less or the same amount of powder and on average produces a little more fps with the same or a little less pressure than the imr. so do i instantly go for the hodgdon or is there more to consider? thanks guys, any help or suggestions on what powder to choose (doesn't have to be 4350) would help me out a lot. thanks
 
usually there's a fairly narrow burning rate band for your caliber, that is the powder burn rate shown to produce best velocities and accuracy. That narrow band will be diff. between the 30/30, the .303 and the 30/06, although you may get away with one powder; it may not be most effective in any of them.
 
My experience has been that certain powders tend to be more accurate in certain calibers even though several other powders can be used.
As an example, .223 Remington is very good with H335.

So what I do is search around different web sites & reloading manuals & see what powders are preferred for a caliber and bullet weight . Then I will see if that will fit into other calibers that I plan to reload. This way I have been able to reload several different calibers using only 3 different powders.

Once you start looking , probably a couple of powders will look to fill your needs. Then the testing starts. That's the fun part.
 
... IMR 4895 is not a bad all round Powder.... 'does just about everything OK, but nothing outstandingly good. Also local availability can play into your choice of Powder(s) Also keep your eyes open for smaller than usual, "Trial Sized" cans ( I think "Reloader" has some, and in a variety pack ) .... David K
 
How to pick powder start by reading a bunch of manuals you have a grasp on fps vs pressure vs weight of charge....ect... I try to find a powder that will give me a decent fps it doesnt have to be the fastest in the book but I like to load my bullets closer to the lands this raises pressure so I like a lowed pressure.
 
thanks for the quick replies guys. i'm not looking for a do-it-all powder, i was just informing what i will be re-loading. i have looked at some different recipies both on the net and in the manuals, but usualy they just give a whole list with different powders (which is fine but i'm wondering which one to start with). that being said what powder should i start with each cartridge (30/06, 303brit, 30-30, 223 and its ok if its a different powder for each round). thanks again
 
you may find your gun shoots both powders the same or a bit different.all you can do is to go through trial and error.
 
Win748 will take care of the .223 +30-30. Then IMR 4350 or IMR 4064 for the other two.JMO............results may vary...Harold
 
30-06 with the 180 grain bullet will likely love IMR or H4350. Others that have worked very well for me in the 30-06/180 application are: IMR4831, RL22, RL19, Norma 204 and MRP, H414. The 303 is great with RL 15, IMR4320, 4064 and H380, and W760. 30-30 works good with IMR3031 and W748. Regards, Eagleye
 
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Typically within a cartridge load specs there will be a min-max powder amt. Those with the biggest window are usually the most accurate/consistant because they are more tolerant to slight variation. ie: if a cartridge says from 40-70 grs of powder X. powder X will prove more accurate than powder Y's data that says 51-53 grs. Have a peek here. Pretty fair guideline from a safety standpoint. plus it tells you how broad the operating range of given powders is, thusly their potential for consistancy.

http://stevespages.com/page8a.htm
 
What Eagleye said.

Also it won't hurt try to choose a powder which will pretty well fill the case up, and still accomodate the bullet without much compressing. In other words, try picking a powder near the middle of the manual's list, which generally are in order of burning rate, and may be shown from the fastest practical to the slowest practical.

My '06 with 180 bullets loves H 4350.
 
I think one thing to keep in mind is powder availability.
I built up my first handloads for my 30-06 with AA2520 powder on a reccomendation from a loading manual. I found a load that worked though trial and error but later had difficulty finding the AA2520 powder. I've switched over to H4350 since its seems to be easier to find. Best part is, now I have 2 separate loads that both shoot good.

I've also found that if you buy 1lb of powder and it doesnt work for what you need, just pack it away and you'll have it on hand if you need such a powder in the future.
 
As the guys above said... whatever is available and what works best in your gun.

An exotic or not-readily available powder is of no use to you when you run out and can't get any more right away.

As for your gun, it's trial and error. Just like with handguns. Take what you read and what people tell you as a base to work on and build on from there.

The best is if you know people with different powders on hand who can "loan" you a cup or two. That way you can see which powder and load works best for you and you're not stuck with a canister of something you won't ever use again.
 
thanks guys, i ended up grabing some imr 4350 and stuffed 53 grains into each case to start off with. not to hijack my own thread if thats possible, but how do i know when to up the powder or back off the powder. i hear people say "look for signs of excess pressures" but what does that mean? or that by sometimes by raising the powder charge will help get tighter groups. if something is bulging or cracked hasn't the damage already been done? this is my hunting gun so i'm not looking to clover leaf holes...but if it happend i wont complain either.
 
If you begin to see pressure signs on the primer such as flattening or "cratering" around the firing pin dent.

If enough brass flows into the ejector pin hole on the bolt face so as to cause a shiny spot or dent when the cartridge is ejected.

When ejecting the fired cartridge, the bolt is sticky or hard to lift.
 
pointandshoot said:
hey guys, i've gotten a ton of free info from these forums and hoping for a little more. i'm just getting geared up to start reloading my own rounds. my question is how do i go about picking out powders? there are a ton of different recipies for different bullets and different powders, but how do you choose the first one to try (just pick one out of the book at random or is there a strategy)? i will be doing mainly 30-06 with a 180 spitzer bullet but also some 303 brit and 30-30. i've seen a lot of guys using imr4350, but in most recipies the hodgdon h4350 uses a little less or the same amount of powder and on average produces a little more fps with the same or a little less pressure than the imr. so do i instantly go for the hodgdon or is there more to consider? thanks guys, any help or suggestions on what powder to choose (doesn't have to be 4350) would help me out a lot. thanks
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IMR 4895 will work for all those calibers listed.
 
I'm in the same boat, trying to figure out the first powders to buy, except I'm doing .223 and .308.

I was planning on going with Varget and H335. My speer manual uses both for lots of different loads, as does the IMR/HODGDON loading data on their website.
 
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