Recommendations For New Reloaders and Things to Avoid

[Oreo]

Well this is truly a science and I have found from a lot of research (Lyman 49th Reloading Handbook/Internet) that there are a bazillion combinations available for every caliber. Reloading recipes are as varied as a persons perception of color. I understand that every component has an effects on performance, accuracy and much data is personal preference for one reason or another.

What I are trying to do is work up a list of powders that preform well for a range of calibers (9mm, .38sp, .40, .45) and (.223, 22-250, .243, .308). I understand that using a single powder for pistols and for rifles is not optimal, however with just getting started, using for example 231 for the pistols and Varget for the rifles would help keep cost down while we begin honing our reloading skills. Once comfortable I'll start branching out and testing other components and recipes. Just trying to keep the TCO (total cost of ownership) down on initial process and then work on my ROI (return on investment).

What powders would you recommend for use for Pistol? Why?

What powders would you recommend for use for Rifle? Why?

What powders would you recommend staying away from? Why?

What powders have Dirty tendencies?

What primers do you prefer? (I have been leaning toward CCI and Winchester.)

 

[SKYWLKR]

Not sure on Varget in a .308 but for the others it is great!

231 is awesome in 9,.38, .357 loads would a little slow but works, and it works great in .45, not sure in .40.

get another manual and print off the powder manufactures specs.

All of the above are ridiculously conservative, but don't break the listed loads till you know what you are looking for.

231 is dirty on lite charges but cleans up a lot with a bit more pressure.

I like CCI and WIN primers, some Glocks have had issues with LP win's though.

I am trying wolf primers now and they seem to be fine and are cheaper.

 

[whttnbrg]

I would also reccomend finding a someone that has experience reloading and work with them for a few sessions. There are lots of little things we have picked up over the years that can save you lots of headaches and frustrations. Watch someone set the dies, measure and adjust powder drop etc. I learned alot from the old guy that taught me. It is experience I will always value and never forget.

Also, always test your rounds. Treat the manual like the bible. Start with the lowest loads and work your way up while test firing.

Everything else, I pretty much agree with Skywalker. I personally like HP38 for my .38 cowboy loads though..... Lower muzzle velocity keeps me on the steel better.

 

[dzelenka]

Well this is truly a science and I have found from a lot of research (Lyman 49th Reloading Handbook/Internet) that there are a bazillion combinations available for every caliber. Reloading recipes are as varied as a persons perception of color. I understand that every component has an effects on performance, accuracy and much data is personal preference for one reason or another.

What I are trying to do is work up a list of powders that preform well for a range of calibers (9mm, .38sp, .40, .45) and (.223, 22-250, .243, .308). I understand that using a single powder for pistols and for rifles is not optimal, however with just getting started, using for example 231 for the pistols and Varget for the rifles would help keep cost down while we begin honing our reloading skills. Once comfortable I'll start branching out and testing other components and recipes. Just trying to keep the TCO (total cost of ownership) down on initial process and then work on my ROI (return on investment).

What powders would you recommend for use for Pistol? Why?

What powders would you recommend for use for Rifle? Why?

What powders would you recommend staying away from? Why?

What powders have Dirty tendencies?

What primers do you prefer? (I have been leaning toward CCI and Winchester.)

While 231 may not be optimal for all of your proposed uses, it would certainly be good. It is a powder that I use for most of those calibers for practice ammo. whttnbrg, HP38 is 231. When powder is slightly out of spec for Winchester to use as canister grade, Hodgdon repackages it under another name - 231 is HP38 and 296 is H110.

Varget works great for .308. It should be good in .22-250 (I haven't tried it in that caliber). For .223, it would only be good if you are shooting bullets 69gr or heavier. If you are shooting 50 or 55 gr bullets, Varget will be too slow. H335 would be a lot better. If you are using your .243 for deer hunting, Varget is too fast. IMR4350 would be much better. Will Varget work? - probably, but I would use something else.

For primers, I use almost anything EXCEPT Winchester. Winchester changed its primers about 8 or 9 years ago and they now have a thinner primer cup that has the tendency to pierce with less than maximum loads in some guns. A pierced primer will ruin your firing pin. The suspect Winchesters have brass colored (as opposed to silver) primer cups. My favorites are 7 1/2 Remington for SR, Fed. 210M in LR and CCI SP and LP.

Dan

 

[mcinfantry]

telling you from experience....

as UNusual, as it sounds.... i agree 1,000,000

 

[dzelenka]

LSP is absolutely on the right track. Buy in volume. It will do two things - give you the best price on components and allow you to weather periods of drought like the present. While many are scrambling for a few primers here and there and paying prices that are high as giraffe balls, my match and hunting ammo are being produced using components that were paid for long ago (some were bought when Clinton was president and I just used some primers that have dates on the box of 1980). My brother was buying premium hunting ammo last season for about $2 per round. I was shooting the same bullet for about 20 cents per round. Take every opportunity to buy things when the prices are good and when you find a deal, buy lots.

Dan

 

[owen502]

One thing I always consider when buying reloading equipment is that it maintains its value. Used equipment usually sells for close to the same as new equipment. So don't be afraid to get items that make your life easier. If you do not like them for some reason, sell it.

I use 231 for pistols because it has been well established as a good pistol powder. I have not had any issues in the 1000's of rounds I have loaded with it. I tried a few others, but dont even recall the names. Of course I have them in my reloading data book.

Thats another thing to consider. Get a notebook to keep tabs on what you load and all the details. I use a spreadsheet too.

Right now (i know because I have a buddy in VA just getting started like you) it comes down to what components are available. Selections are fairly limited on alot of items. For now you may not be able to be too picky.

 

[scubasteve]

Well..........I only shoot a couple of the cabilers you mentioned. My thought is to look in the manual, think about what weight of bullet you wanna shoot, and cross reference the powders that are listed for them. Powders are like chocolate, they all have a different taste and you can't have just one.
For my .38 "target loads", I use 3.0 gr of Bullseye behind a double base wadcutter. My .44 and .41 like either H-110 or 2400.....they don't seem to care. One 30-06 likes 4350 and the other likes 3031.
Kinda loke naming a dog, you gotta ask what it likes.

 

[dzelenka]

Well..........I only shoot a couple of the cabilers you mentioned. My thought is to look in the manual, think about what weight of bullet you wanna shoot, and cross reference the powders that are listed for them. Powders are like chocolate, they all have a different taste and you can't have just one.
For my .38 "target loads", I use 3.0 gr of Bullseye behind a double base wadcutter. My .44 and .41 like either H-110 or 2400.....they don't seem to care. One 30-06 likes 4350 and the other likes 3031.
Kinda loke naming a dog, you gotta ask what it likes.

It is not just what your gun likes. If you load for a gas gun, especially an M1 Garand or M14, you need to think about burning rates. 4350 works great in a .30-06 bolt gun (especially with heavier bullets) but it is way too slow for an M1. Because of the way it builds peak pressure, you will bend you op-rod if you use it. A more appropriate load would be with 4895 or IMR 4064. Make sure you read about loading for YOUR gun. Bolt guns are different form gas guns.

Dan

 

[Oreo]

You must be an engineer.

LOL, not hardly I could never be that certified but I am sort of a numbers guy. I don't want to waste funds on stuff that will not "Add Value" to the hobby and that is what I am looking for this to become, part of my families hobby in addition to shooting, hunting and fishing. Reloading is something I never took the time to start and now I wish I really had.

My budget mindedness isn't to the point of doom. It would be easy to spend beaucoup money on equipment, 10 different powders, several types of primers but instead I'm looking to start off with a single stage setup, limited powder types which I believe will give us a better hands on understanding of the process.

I have the Lymans book and have all the reloading recipes and data from Accurate, Alliant, Hodgdon, Ramshot and Vihta Vuori as well.

I also have been collecting bullet manufacturers data sheets.

Research doesn't bother me and is something to do while kicked back in hotels. I have also picked up a note book for logging my loading data and will have this also in spreadsheet format as time goes on. Once my comfort level is achieved the selection of materials will grow and I too will be searching for the prefect combination that the .308 loves and the Daughter's .243 holds dime tight.

For the .308 I'm looking at the Sierra HPBT #2275 175gr bullet.

For the .243 I'm looking at the Hornady BTSP #2453 100gr & Sierra FMJBT #1535 90gr.

For the .223 (I prefer a heaver round) Sierra HPBT #1380 69gr.

For the 22-250 I haven't decided. Leaning toward 60gr.

I'm still working on hand gun bullet selection. Has any body run Rainier? These have gotten my curiosity.

I understand buying in bulk BUT I haven't loaded, tested anything so why buy a truck load of stuff that I may not like? There is the slight chance that I won't really enjoy reloading (I doubt it). My family is already fired up and waiting to get started.

Chances are this will be end up like my dabbling in computers... Yeah I could buy a prebuilt rig but I prefer the units I built myself and I have tweaked it to get every last bit of performance out of it for less money than the high performance box systems.

 

[dzelenka]

Bullet selection depends greatly on the use to which you are putting the rifle. The 175 SIerra is a great match bullet, but a crappy game bullet. The 100gr Hornady would be a good game bullet, but there are better match bullets out there (much). I am not sure why you would want the 90 gr fmj unless you have some special purpose in mind. The 69 sierra is a good match bullet, especially if you limit your range to 300 yards. Once again match bullets are not good fro game. I am a believer in heavy bullets, so a 60 gr in the .22-250 would be where I would start, but I would also take a good look at the 55 gr ballistic tip and blitzking.

Find something that your gun likes. Then buy in bulk.

I started like you 30 years ago. Just buy one or two powders to cover everything and it works pretty well. Now, I have who knows how many different powders. Here is a quick illustration: A friend needed some relatively fast rifle powder for a project he was working on. He sent me an email asking if I had any of the 5 or 6 powders on his list. When I showed up with a pound of each, he was quite surprised.

That being said, I could easily limit myself to just a couple. For rifle I use RL22 for magnum rifle, .280 and 6.5x55. I use H or IMR 4350 for my 6mm XC, .280, .270, .243 and sometimes 7mm Mag. I use RL 15, 4895 and Varget for .223 Match, .308 and .30-06 and reduced loads in rifle cartridges. Although I have copious quantities of all 3 any 1 would do everything you need. 4895 is the most versatile rifle powder and I wouldn't be caught without it. If you are going to load a lot of .223 with 55gr bullets, you need H335. It will shoot the light pills superbly. You may not be able to really cover a vast array of rifle cartridges with one powder (you could come close with RL 15, 4895 or Varget), but you certainly could cover them all with 3 - H335, 4895 and either 4350 or 4831. These three will cover everything from .223 to .458 well enough (with the exception of some really overbore exotics like the .30-.378).

For handgun, things are much the same. you can cover everything pretty well with 3 powders - fast, medium and slow. For the fast powder, Bullseye is a great choice but a bit dirty, 231 will also work. For a medium powder, Unique is an old favorite but once again a bit dirty. For magnum loads, H110 works great as does 4227. If you had to limit yourself to one powder for everything from .38 Special to .44 Magnum, you could do it with Unique (or something in the same burning rate), but you would give up a bit on your lightest and heaviest cartridges.

So there you have it. A reloader can load for almost any class of cartridge with 6 powders in inventory. They may not be perfect for every use, but they will get you by pretty well. Depending on your exact mix of cartridges and uses, you may be able to drop off a few, but the above list would have you prepared for nearly any situation.

Dan

 

[jmcrawf1]

Dan answered all your other questions.

The Rainiers are quite good; I shot them for a while, until they got to be as expensive as regular jacketed. Right now, from Precision Delta in MS, you can get 230gr .45 FMJ (full metal jacket; aka "ball") bullets delivered to your door for $120 per thousand (slightly less per thousand as the quantity goes up); 9mm 115gr ball is $70. Dunno what Rainiers are going for, but Midway, where I used to get mine from, is now raping folks on shipping heavy stuff. Precision Delta uses bulk mail/flat rate boxes. Anyway, I have no idea what Rainiers are going for now. If they are cheaper than $120 delivered, jump on it.

About bullet preference... if you're talking about match/target or hunting ammunition, then yes, you need to try out different ones to see what your gun likes best. If you're simply assembling "blasting" (practice, fun shooting) ammunition, then don't worry about any of that and buy the cheapest available. IOW, a FMJ pistol bullet is a FMJ pistol bullet; be it a Winchester, Remington, Zero, Precision Delta, etc.

What's your favorite projectile for the run and gun type matches? Same as your blasting preference? (IDPA, USPSA, etc)

 

[dzelenka]

LSP,

Have you used the Nosler 185 JHP as a match bullet? I know some of the service teams use them. Clark used that bullet over 4.0gr Bullseye to test my pistol. It did OK - sub 2" for 10 shots at 50 yds.

 

[dzelenka]

I would be interested in getting a bullseye match going nearer to home. If a range was looking to set up some turning targets, I could probably get LSA to provide some help.

The last time I bought the Noslers, they were $100 per 1000. You can still get them for less than $125. Not cheap, but not uber high. And they do shoot really well. If I can get some more for a decent price, I will get them. How much are the Remingtons? I think that they are no cheaper.

 

[dzelenka]

Nosler Shooter's Pro Shop

Sorry
This item is out of stock.
45 Cal. 185GR JHP
45 Cal 185 Gr. JHP (Bulk) 1000 qty (Limited availability)
109.95

 

[dzelenka]

The regular Nosler store price is $130 per 1000. If you watch their website, you can find them on special from time to time. I have seen some good prices. Prices better than Win or Rem 230gr ball. As you know, 100 round boxes are the worst deal out there. When the 185s come back up, I am going to get a pile (should have the last time). Even at $130 they are cheaper than most of the ball prices I have seen. I will keep you in the loop.

Dan

 

[Barney88PDC]

Anyone looking for N320? The 1 pound is cheaper.
http://www.vihtavuori-lapua.com/handgunpistol-powders-c-1.html

 

[SKYWLKR]

Oh yea I forgot a good one don't put twice the powder in one case...