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If you were stocking up on powder...

2K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  Kosh75287 
#1 ·
Been away for a long while, maybe somebody will remember me...

Anyway I reload for .45 auto, .45 Colt, and recently 9x19 and soon 9x18, but now that my edc gun is a jframe and so is my wife’s and daughters, so I’m loading mostly for .38...

Rifles it’s .223, 7.62x54, .35 Rem, and soon to be .30-30 and .30-06...

...and oh yeah I play with loading bird, buck, and slugs for 12 gauge...

Yeah I had trouble getting primers during the craziness (small rifle DO work for .38 in a pinch) but I’m ok for now...

I’m just getting into casting and have about 150 or so lbs of wheelwright ingots ready, separately pure lead stick ons and clip ons...I have accumulated Lee moldS for almost all my guns.

But I have never bought powder larger than 1lb at a time...

First Big Gun Show coming up since they were cancelled in March and I have a table...

SO my question is...if you wanted to buy ONE powder in bulk “just in case...” (OK maybe 2....). (Preparing for the next ammo craziness which could be much worse )

What would YOU stock up on...

I use now mostly 700x, w231 and Unique for my pistols, mainly 4064 or Varget for my rifles (LeverRevolution for the .35)

I’m thinking 700x, I shot a lot of my IPSC in the 80s with it, Smokey as heck on hot days, but I can use it for a lot of 12 gauge loads too...

And maybe 4064 for rifles...it’s a damm good universal rifle powder...

Let me know your thoughts...
 
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#3 ·
Alliant Promo, which is essentially Alliant Red Dot, without the red dots, is worth looking at. It's usually less expensive in the 8# jugs than an equal weight of Red Dot, but very much the same thing. In burning rate and other characteristics, it is very similar to IMR-700X, with which you're already very familiar. Both burn a bit fast for the magnum cartridges, but are quite at home in the auto pistol rounds (except maybe 10mm & 7.62x25), and low-pressure revolver rounds.

I could get by pretty well for the rest of my life with an 8# jug each of Unique or Herco and any rifle powder that's between IMR-3031 and 4320 in burning rate. It'd get Varget if I had a choice, but wouldn't be lost with any of the others.

When I had more time for shooting and less other stuff to do, I'd try to keep a pound each of Alliant Bullseye, Alliant Unique (or Herco), and Alliant 2400 and/or one of the 4227s. The Bullseye/Red Dot was for .380, and light loads for most other pistol/revolver rounds. Unique/Herco was for factory duplication in most pistol/revolver rounds, plus use in low-velocity cast-bullet rifle loads. 2400/4227 was for use in my Ruger .45 Colt Redhawk and sometimes for use in .357 mag and, yes, some more emphatic cast bullet rifle rounds.
After a year, I'd usually have half a can of Bullseye/Red Dot, about the same amount of 2400 or 4227, and I'd be on my 2nd or 3rd pound of Unique or Herco.
Well, it was a good plan on paper, anyway...
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
The Indy 1500. They’ve rescheduled it a few times but it looks like a go for Oct 16-17-18. I had a table for the March show, they were already doing early set up on Thursday night when the Governor shut it down . They gave me credit for the “next” show so I guess it’s use it or lose it. No idea what attendance will be or what the “social distancing” rules will be.

Yeah I have been using a lot of Unique I had laying around to load powder puff 148 WC loads for my wife’s model 49...she likes that load, like shooting a .22 and accurate as heck...made her “fall in love” (her words) with her 49 after she didn’t care for stiffer loads I first had her using.

Oh yeah I use H110 for my hunting loads through my .45 Colt Bisley Blackhawk, but just for that, maybe 12-18 rounds a year at best...pretty stiff loads with a 250 xtp, almost low end Casull
 
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#6 ·
The Indy 1500. They've rescheduled it a few times but it looks like a go for Oct 16-17-18. I had a table for the March show, they were already doing early set up on Thursday night when the Governor shut it down . They gave me credit for the "next" show so I guess it's use it or lose it. No idea what attendance will be or what the "social distancing" rules will be.
Thanks, Its usually a good show been many times. I'll have to keep an eye on it, if they don't cancel it I will make my way down to Indy
 
#7 ·
Yeah but the more I think about it, with this craziness I might just be happy to find anything in bulk. About the only component most shops I’ve visited seem to have at any time is at least some powder. If they have any primers at all though it’s usually just large rifle. And they seem to have bullets, but usually never the ones I use
 
#10 ·
Hey TuckerD! Yeah the tRusty ‘97 is still going strong but I retired it when Indiana adopted their goofy rifle laws for deer in like 2012...coincidentally the year the ‘97 hit 100 yrs old...now I use a 336 in .35 rem that is legal on private land with factory ammo but I have to cut the case back 1/8” to be legal on State land...so if I use the same LeverRevolution powder and bullets and just seat the bullet out 1/8” and crimp it tight I duplicate factory with a lot of extra work...go figure. But it’ll never catch up to the 97 in deer killed and probably not for the longest shot either. The longest shot so far was 175 with the .35, 192 with the ‘97...she stays oiled up and in the safe now in case I need her, and still travels with me in the m60 spare barrel bag in the trunk on long trips. I’ll have to tell you about the time it made it by TSA parking in DC under a federal building one time, lol.
 
#11 ·
Yeah, Gud, I was thinking Unique too. Never used it much until I started on the .38 snub loads, but it seems to do the job.

BTW, I’ve read that Universal is pretty much the same as Unique. Anybody know if that is true? I saw an 8# jug of Universal at a shop at what seemed a good price at the time but didn’t know much about it.
 
#12 · (Edited)
For the calibers you happened to list - the answer (to me) is pretty simple. Two powders will load all of them: Unique and BLC (2).

Unique will load all of the pistol calibers you listed, and will also load for the shot gun very well. All of the rifle calibers you listed perform well with BLC (2).

For your situation the choice is pretty clear and easy. Two powders load for 3 firearm types. You might consider buying an 8 pound jug of both. A little cheaper and will last you much longer. For that 12 gauge you might consider a cheapo-Lee loader. You can load any size shot you want (whatever is available these days) - simple to use. I don't shoot much shotgun but stumbled into 6 cases ($10 each) so I've got enough to last my lifetime and will never use it all up. You can find those loaders for $35 to $50 used if you look around and be patient. I sold mine for $25.
 
#13 ·
I would have to chose 2 powders one for rifle and another for pistol. My choice for rifle would be CFE 223 as that is what I load all my 223 ammo with it also works well in my 308. In a pinch you can use it for 30-30 and may other calibers. My choice for pistol powder would have to be either Titegroup or CFE pistol as both will work in 45,40s&w,38,9mm,380 I know there is probably others that would fit this bill but these are the only ones that I have experience with.
 
#14 ·
I was thinking along the same lines as Jim Brady but would use RL 15 as it does well with calibers from .17 to .375 H&H. Down side is it can be temperature sensitive but otherwise great powder and meters well too. So Unique, BL-C(2) or RL-15 which ever powder you can buy.
 
#16 ·
Unique will load everything you mentioned if you familiarize yourself with reduced loads and, especially as you're getting into casting. That and personally I'm just about intimate with Unique's characteristics and behavior. So for me Unique would be at the top of the list.

IMR-4064 is never wrong. I have and use a lot of it. That other powders are more optimal for some cartridges is unquestionable but a guy could do a LOT worse than 4064.
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks Jim, I am leaning toward Unique. Never used blc2. And yes I have an old Lee Load all I bought at A yard sale for $10 years ago only because they dont make a Load all Jr anymore and my 40 year old one was getting a little loose. One of the reasons I love Lee products is they take care of customers. I ordered a Complete set of bushings and a few other small items to get the yard sale load all back into service and they sent them for FREE, all I had to pay was postage. I’ve gotten broken or lost parts for virtually all my presses over the years replaced in the same manner by them.

And I still have that wobbly old slow Load all Junior, it was the best at working on customs experimental loafs one at a time, I used to be in to tactical shotguns and worked up hybrid loads before hybrids were cool...like different size shot in the same hull, buck n ball, buck n bird, and one of my all time favorite tactical loads, a .69 round ball nestled on top of 3 O buck pellets all cushioned by a little less than 1/2 oz of 7 1/2 chilled shot...buck n ball n bird.

And Sharps, yes, I’ve used 4064 in virtually all my military rifles I’ve Ever reloaded for, as well as my Swift. It’s like the classic Swift powder.
 
#20 ·
And after I posted the thread about my experimenting with the buck and ball something didn’t sound right. I wish I could find all my notes from 30 years ago. Must be in some tote in the garage with my yellowed Ballistic product buck and slug manual (GOOD reference by the way!) I THINK I might have used blue dot for or herco, but maybe 700x? and I believe it was #1 buck not O. But I remember how good it was, a little over an ounce and a half, with a bpgs and a felt wad, I could keep the ball in the kill zone of an IPSC Target out to 75, out to around 50 you’d get the ball and at least one pellet sometime more, at 30-40 you’d get the ball in the center and all three pellets usually hitting the target somewhere with blinding bird hits, any closer you got the whole load which was devastating. I’ll have to find time to play with it again. Funny how the memory fades over the years, isn’t it?
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have a can of 3031 I inherited from my wife’s grandpa when I got all of his reloading stuff along with the legendary ‘97 Winchester after he died in the early 1980s. There’s about 1/4 of the can left. He loved 3031 for his .30-40 and his .300 Savage. It has a price sticker on it that says $6.95. How old do you think it is?

His Pacific single stage press and his Pacific/Ohaus scale I still use
 
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