Although there is no universal powder for reloading, these are some options that may help you keep shooting even when supplies are limited.
The most common question I get asked by new reloaders is about powder selection. There is no one powder that I can use for all my cartridges. However, there are many powders that can cover a lot of ground. A universal powder, which is similar to a universal cartridge, can be a wise choice, especially considering that our supply of reloading parts is rapidly drying up. IMR4064
I looked for a powder that would effectively fuel all four cartridges. There are many options. IMR4064 was my choice for two reasons. One, it worked in all four cases and two, I had it readily available. IMR4064, a medium-burning powder that is very flexible and long-popular in the.308 Winchester (where I first used it), is good ol’ IMR4064. It’s a good choice for the.22-252, though Hodgdon H380 is most suitable. H380 would have been a universal powder. It will work just as well in the IMR4064-loaded.300 Winchester Magnum. However, IMR4064 is more reliable in the.300 belted cartridge. IMR4350, IMR4831SC, Reloder 19 or 22 are better in that cartridge. The.375 H&H Magnum is able to run on moderate to slow powders. My favorite loads use IMR4350, but IMR4064 is a solid candidate, even if it’s at the slower end of the spectrum. The.308 Winchester requires the fastest-burning powders. If we take that cartridge out, we could easily bump up the Hodgdon 414. The.300 Winchester Magnum cartridge should be removed from the mix. IMR4064 Varget, RL-15, and Varget are all great choices. You may find two completely different powders if you expand the range of cartridges, such as the.300 RUM, the 7 STW or the.218 Bee, or the.22 Hornet.
Alliant’s Reloder 15, which has a burn rate that is slightly slower than IMR4064, is a powder that can solve many problems. It’s not hard to find powders that can solve all your problems. It has been used in the.30-30 Winchester and.308 Winchester 7×57 Mauser (.275 Rickby),.243 Winchester and.223 Remington, as well as the.30-06 Springfield. It is my go-to powder, probably due to the excellent data in the Woodleigh Reloading Manual. It produces the velocities that I want, at a significant decrease in felt recoil, and it’s a great powder for the.404 Jeffery and.470 Nitro Express. It’s not to be said that IMR 4064 and 4166 would do the same. I had the Woodleigh data and it was amazing in medium bore cartridges like the.308 Winchester or.306 Springfield. However, it’s also great in big cases like the.470 NE (shown),.404 Jeffery, and.505 gibbs.
Handgun cartridges are more flexible. I’ll show you some of the most popular options for defensive handguns. You’ll find many powders that will fuel them all. TiteGroup by Hodgdon is a great choice. It’s versatile and produces healthy velocities. A pound of powder can go a long way. TiteGroup doesn’t have to be the only option. Hodgdon also offers CFE Pistol and the appropriately named Universal. Powders like Alliant 2400 and H110 from Hodgdon are great for getting the most out of larger cartridges. All three can be fed Hodgdon TiteGroup, though at significantly lower velocities. There are times when ammunition at lower velocity is better than none at all. Trail Boss powder is another powder that has many applications. It can be used in all kinds of cases, including smaller handgun cases and the.416 Rigby Magnum and.458 Winchester Magnum, but at a higher price. Trail Boss can be used in many applications, including the rifle cases I mentioned. It can also create low-velocity ammunition to train shooters who don’t know how to deal with the high recoil. Let’s make sure we have enough ammunition and reloading components to last us a while. Target grids and bullseye sizes can be found in MOA. Get Free Targets
