Powders for starting out

[.Ben]

going down to ellwood eppstomororw to buy some relaoding equiptment to start out with im going to be loading .223 and .303 british to start out so im just wondering what types of powders i should be usisng im buying a load book of course and ive been looking at the hodgon relaoding data center but theres so many types of powder im lost as to where to start

so what would be some good powders to use for these 2 calibers?

 

[David K]

... For a start, remember that Pistols (revolvers ) take a different Powder than does a rifle ! Check your reloading manual under the weights of the respective calibers you expect to reload and find the "common powder" . There's always the old standby of IMR 4895, does everything OK but perhaps nothing outstandingly good. ( It's one of my personal favorites ! ) Some of the "Reloader" series look quite promising as does Varget. .... If you can get them, some of the Powder manufacturers produce a "trial Package" of three or some powders of their brand. If you can get one of these, it'd be a good way to start and experiment ! .... David K.

 

[senior]

Never heard of IMR3895 but I have heard IMR4895 is a good all-around powder

Hard to beat IMR-4198 or Hogden H-4895 for the 223
The 303 would not be a picky rifle to load for I would think 3031 or IMR-4064 would be good but I'm sure some 303B fans will chip in here

 

[bearhunter]

Varget and BLC2 will do everything you need with either of those cartridges. BLC2 actually got its teeth cut on the 303Brit as BLC dureing WW2.

BLC2 can be temperature sensetive and Varget doesn't seem to be bothered as much, so it would probably be a very good place to start for botr cartridges.

I've put several newbies onto this in the past and many just stick with the load they develop with them that gives the best results in their firearms. They are both very resiliant powders that cover quite a spectrum of case capacities and give outstanding performance in most.

I know I don't need to caution you on this, but please be extremely careful in load development at this time of year. No matter what powder you decide on, a safe load at -25 can be a grenade at +30.

Another bit of advice, a decent scale (not neccessarily expensive) is your best buddy at this stage of the game and is the cheapest insurance you can buy.

Ask for some manufacturers handloading pamphlets. It will save you a bit of money. The only drawback is they don't have instructions on useing the equipment.

The 303, should have the bore slugged before you buy bullets for it. Bores can and do range anywhere from .308 to .318. If it is on the .318 side, there is an 8mm bullet available that will fit nicely. I don't know what is available at Epps these days. Back in the days when Elwood was around ( I really miss that man) they used to carry every size from .311 to 315, made by CIL and Kynoch. Elwood was the one that put me onto the .318 bullets designed for the original 8x57 mauser.

Bearhunter

 

[colinjw]

Whatever powders you decide upon to start, my suggestion is at least buy the minimum for now.
If you like the results you can buy more later but if you stock up & don't like what you have, you have a lot of powder to store.

Usually the reloading manuals will suggest certain powders for different calibers & the net has a lot of information on reloading.