New to reloading. Need powder guidance

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  • gungate

    NRA Patron Member
    Apr 5, 2012
    16,729
    Damascus. MD
    How would they know? Serious question - how would they really truly know if a guy had 5 lbs of powder, or 20 lbs of powder in the aftermath of a hot house fire? What if it was all tied up in loaded ammo, which isn't limited at all?

    Not to mention, insurance claims are not denied for stupidity. The insurance company would have to prove insurance fraud to even have a chance at denying the claim. This is like saying if your car is stolen because you left it running with the keys in it that the insurance company will not pay out. It simply isn't true.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    Ramshot TAC here, but mostly because of availability and 5.56 pressure (60k) load data. TBH, the thing I care most about is how well it meters, and TAC is pretty good for that. I do zero 223 load development for accuracy, mostly because I have never really seen a load that my rifle fails to shoot acceptably well for practical shooting purposes.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,591
    Glen Burnie
    Ramshot TAC here, but mostly because of availability and 5.56 pressure (60k) load data. TBH, the thing I care most about is how well it meters, and TAC is pretty good for that. I do zero 223 load development for accuracy, mostly because I have never really seen a load that my rifle fails to shoot acceptably well for practical shooting purposes.
    I think almost any 223 shoots pretty well provided that the rifle it's being shot from is solid. I've mentioned that my reloads out-performed some factory ammo I had, but that factory ammo was M855 green tip, and I've read more than once that green tip isn't the most accurate of AR ammo, so it's not surprising to me that my reloads out-performed the green tips.

    TAC does seem to be consistently available, and it's also consistently less expensive than a lot of other powders. Reading around online, this is a go-to powder for a lot folks. Another Ramshot powder that seems to get a lot of favor is XTerminator, which is supposedly the same as Accurate 2230, which was developed for 223, and it's also consistently less expensive than just about everything else.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    TAC is the best powder you’re likely to actually find right now.
    Availability is HIGHLY under-rated as a reason to choose powder. Everyone and their dog keeps telling me how great N320, Varget, etc. are, but the second there's an ammo run, that stuff may as well be platinum powder. Meanwhile, Titegroup and TAC are usually available in some fashion.
     

    4g64loser

    Bad influence
    Jan 18, 2007
    6,381
    maryland
    Availability is HIGHLY under-rated as a reason to choose powder. Everyone and their dog keeps telling me how great N320, Varget, etc. are, but the second there's an ammo run, that stuff may as well be platinum powder. Meanwhile, Titegroup and TAC are usually available in some fashion.
    Tac works fine for a lot of applications. Meters well. Yields high velocities in some applications. It's a lot like cfe223 in my experience; accuracy and tight ES are a maybe. For blasting ammo, definitely a good pick though.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,815
    Tac works fine for a lot of applications. Meters well. Yields high velocities in some applications. It's a lot like cfe223 in my experience; accuracy and tight ES are a maybe. For blasting ammo, definitely a good pick though.
    Agree. I first started messing around with TAC because it was touted as a good powder for heavier .223 bullets. I didn't find that to be necessarily true. Not the best, anyways. It is a go to for me with 62g plinking ammo, though I still prefer H335.
     

    4g64loser

    Bad influence
    Jan 18, 2007
    6,381
    maryland
    Agree. I first started messing around with TAC because it was touted as a good powder for heavier .223 bullets. I didn't find that to be necessarily true. Not the best, anyways. It is a go to for me with 62g plinking ammo, though I still prefer H335.
    It makes decent hoser ammo for 55-65gr bullets. ES was always trash in my experience. Some people don't care about that. I don't either if it's for close in stuff but that does mean investing components in ammo that is really only useful for blasting.

    H335 and blc2 are both better but if tac is what you can get, at least you can make some machine gun ammo. One thing that seemed to help a little was running a pretty bitchin crimp. I used the lee fcd. Cases were basically fire and forget.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,591
    Glen Burnie
    For what it's worth, Benchmark seems to be readily available these days. It's expensive, but I've gotten some pretty good accuracy with it in my bolt gun.
     

    4g64loser

    Bad influence
    Jan 18, 2007
    6,381
    maryland
    For what it's worth, Benchmark seems to be readily available these days. It's expensive, but I've gotten some pretty good accuracy with it in my bolt gun.
    It is THE powder for light bullet 223 in bolt guns. Great accuracy, tight ES, and high speeds (the book limits can often be exceeded). Never used it in ARs so I can't comment directly on its utility and suitability in that gas system. The loads I was using are probably no gasgun safe.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,591
    Glen Burnie
    It is THE powder for light bullet 223 in bolt guns. Great accuracy, tight ES, and high speeds (the book limits can often be exceeded). Never used it in ARs so I can't comment directly on its utility and suitability in that gas system. The loads I was using are probably no gasgun safe.
    I've shot some through my ARs using loads that are well within book max - they seem to work ok, but I'd rather use a powder that is a bit better suited to gas guns, and not to mention A LOT less expensive, for blasting ammo.
     

    atblis

    Ultimate Member
    May 23, 2010
    2,011
    Except that their prices are generally so high, having stuff shipped from Powder Valley/Brownells/etc. is still less expensive even after paying $40 in shipping (typically $20 + $20 hazmat). I suppose if you're only buying a pound or two of powder...
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,591
    Glen Burnie
    Order through Bass Pro or Cabelas for in store pick up, no shipping or DOT.
    I've never even considered that this was something I could do. I live 10-15 minutes from Bass Pro at Arundel Mills, depending on how I hit the lights.

    Over the last couple of years I've ordered from Powder Valley the most - I pay HAZMAT and shipping, and that was always a bit of a bummer.
     

    FN509Fan

    Ultimate Member
    I head for a gun show for powder and primers to avoid hazmat/expensive shipping.

    Just throwing this out there, if one got an 8# and then loaded 3#+ with it immediately.. technically they would be below the 5# limit at that point, right?
    I tried to board a plane with a 5 oz bottle of KY lube which was clearly half empty and TSA made me pitch it since it was over the 4 oz limit.

    I started reloading in the early 90s, and have a lot of half or more empty bottles (some pound bottles with prices like $14). My advise would be to narrow your search to 2 powders and just get a pound or smaller (package shrinkage) and see which you like better before you buy in volume. If you are brand new to reloading, look in manuals and on line for recipies and try to follow to the letter, case/bullet/primer/OAL,... until you get some experience.
     

    Growler215

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 30, 2020
    2,156
    SOMD
    For 5.56/.223, I use A2460. It's not the fastest load for any bullet weight, but it's not slow for any bullet weight, either. It's also versatile, giving accurate, low es loads from 55-77 gr., and it also works well for my 6.5 Grendel and .308 Win loads.

    I started reloading near the start of the pandemic, so I haven't had a lot of choices in powders, but I've managed to accumulate a small set of powders that does everything I want to do. At least having a limited choice of powders and primers has simplified the process of finding optimum loads.
     

    jbridgely

    Member
    Mar 28, 2023
    8
    Westminster
    I am new to the forum but have been reloading for 20+ years. Haven't read every post on this, so my apologies if this is repetitious, but regarding powders and reloading it is fully dependent on what you are trying to accomplish with your reloads (target, hunting, competition, self-defense etc.) and the caliber. The issue of availability is certainly real although as of late the market has been improved. I load for multiple calibers and some of my powder selections are based on flexibility. At the end of the day, I stock lots of Varget because it provides the ability to load darn near everything and then lesser quantities of caliber specific, use specific powder. Not the approach for everyone but works for me.
     

    Russ D

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 10, 2008
    12,029
    Sykesville
    For 55gr bullets I have always used BL-C2, works for me in 7" and 8" twist barrels.

    For 75/77gr bullets I use Varget in 7" twist.

    Once I find a load I load a shitload of ammo and don't dick around experimenting all the time. Other than load development I don't bother until I need to load 1000 or more rounds.
    I need to be more like this, but honestly load development is a pretty fun way to spend time at the range if you don’t compete.

    I also use BLC-2 and Varget the most for .223 and .308. BLC-2 is cheap and meters well so if I’m loading blasting ammo it’s my go to. Varget is more temp stable and I’ve gotten better accuracy results across the board in just about everything I load for. It meters badly however so it only gets used if I care enough to scale and hand pour every load. I have started some load development with RL15 and that has been promising so far.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,591
    Glen Burnie
    For 55gr bullets I have always used BL-C2, works for me in 7" and 8" twist barrels.

    For 75/77gr bullets I use Varget in 7" twist.

    Once I find a load I load a shitload of ammo and don't dick around experimenting all the time. Other than load development I don't bother until I need to load 1000 or more rounds.
    I like that reloading gives you the options. Going down through Dad's reloading ledgers, it was interesting seeing the stuff he reloaded from when he started recording it in 1958 until he passed in 1997. He did a fair amount of experimenting, partly because I think he was trying to find good performance, and partly because he liked to experiment.

    Also, in those earlier years, I think reloaders had to do a lot more work on their own because they didn't have a resource like we have with the internet, social media forums, etc.

    He spent some time working up a load with a 200 gr cast lead semi wadcutter in 45 Auto that would work well and cycle his Thompson SMG, and he did the same thing for his M1 Carbine.

    Once he got his Dillon, he did more loading for his machine guns. There's a page in his last notebook where every line is almost all 5.0 gr of Bullseye with a 200 gr LSWC. (that load was the very first thing he loaded on his Dillon) It was that or 7.0 gr Unique under that same 200 gr LSWC. Without having him around to ask, my assumption is that those loads were for his Thompson SMG. Interestingly, unless he was loading a defense round, almost everything he loaded for 45 auto was a 200 gr LSWC - it's possible that it may not have necessarily been his favorite bullet, but that was the Lyman mold he had and cast, and what he had on hand, so therefore it was what he used.
     

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