If you could have just ONE powder for...

J

JJ45

New member
In the day and age of panic buying and shortages.

If you could have just one powder for loading these;
30-30
300 Savage
30-06

My overwhelming favorite for these, maybe not the best for every loading in these calibers, but will be the most versatile for my loads is Hodgdon's VARGET.

What other suggestions, can you offer, for a go to powder for these 3 cartridges

My applications would be medium game hunting. Bullet weights;
30-30 - 150 and 170
300S - 150
30-06 - 150 and 165
 
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Based on your premise of panic buying and the types of situations we are in now . Varget would be my last choice , it’s hard enough to find on good days and you’ll never find it in times like these .

If only one powder in times like these or leading up to ? w-748/760 , H-335 , IMR 4895 because more likely to find those then Varget , H-4895 . H-4350 etc . In fact I bought 16lbs of H-335 recently for this very reason .

This question comes up often and the first time it did for me I took note and actually bought less popular powders and worked up some loads in several cartridges. Not to use then or every day use but to have the data in my back pocket if I ever needed it .
 
Metal god said:
Based on your premise of panic buying and the types of situations we are in now . Varget would be my last choice , it’s hard enough to find on good days and you’ll never find it in times like these .

If only one powder in times like these or leading up to ? w-748/760 , H-335 , IMR 4895 because more likely to find those then Varget , H-4895 . H-4350 etc . In fact I bought 16lbs of H-335 recently for this very reason .

This question comes up often and the first time it did for me I took note and actually bought less popular powders and worked up some loads in several cartridges. Not to use then or every day use but to have the data in my back pocket if I ever needed it .
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That's what I meant but I didn't say it right...

If no Varget, for me that is, then what ONE powder for those three loads. I was figuring one that isn't in as great a demand as Varget but which ONE. You listed 7 :) But you didn't mention IMR 4064 which I think a contender. I know it is excellent with those bullet weights for two of those calibers, not so much the 30-30 but probably doable.

Just looking
 
The first three are what I looked for and bought . That second group was/is just as popular as varget along with IMR-4064 and those would not be my dependent powders . As you know , right now is not the time to figure out what alternative powders you could use . That was needed to be done a year ago so you would have the information you now seek.

There’s a bunch of powders that will do what you want but likely not great for each cartridge . Another way to go about this would be to go into your manuals and look up each of the cartridges you describe and see what powders for each overlap . Then start looking for those powders to buy . Keeping in mind you’re not looking for the best powder , only one/s that will do the job and you can find now . That is exactly what I did when I first started Reloading . I had no idea where to start with powders . So I looked at a couple manuals for the cartridges I wanted to reload and found some common powders that I could buy . At the time one of those was power pro 2000mr which is another powder you could consider.
 
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Vihtavuori N140 I would not choose any powder that is made in Australia. Shipping regulations changed and I have a feeling it is going to scarce from here on out
 
I was at Phillips Wholesale in Covina Ca last Wednesday. He had about 10x1#ers and 4x8#ers of Varget. It was all gone by the end of the day. He's managed to keep just about everything else that I would buy in stock (powder) but the Varget only last one day.
 
What about good old IMR 3031? In my older Lyman manual, it is listed first for all three of the rounds you mentioned. I dont know about availability, but it might be worth checking on. Just my 2 cents worth. Grant.
 
If you could have just one powder for loading these;
30-30
300 Savage
30-06
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Which end of the performance spectrum are you willing to "go short" on?

All the IMR powders from 3031 through 4350 are useable, also W748 and 760 and many others. For highest speeds in the 06, the slower powders are better (4350/760) For best efficiency in the smaller cases the faster powders are better (3031/748) and the middle ranges 4064, 4320, 4895 do it all pretty well, though not quite as well at the extreme ends of the spectrum.

All of them will produce good hunting loads in the normal velocity ranges in all the listed cases. SO, any of them you can get in sufficient quantity for your needs would do.

I found I got IMR 4895 more than others because I use it to duplicate the military loads in milsurp rifles calibers I have, as well as work well for others.
 
44 AMP said:
Which end of the performance spectrum are you willing to "go short" on?

All the IMR powders from 3031 through 4350 are useable, also W748 and 760 and many others. For highest speeds in the 06, the slower powders are better (4350/760) For best efficiency in the smaller cases the faster powders are better (3031/748) and the middle ranges 4064, 4320, 4895 do it all pretty well, though not quite as well at the extreme ends of the spectrum.

All of them will produce good hunting loads in the normal velocity ranges in all the listed cases. SO, any of them you can get in sufficient quantity for your needs would do.

I found I got IMR 4895 more than others because I use it to duplicate the military loads in milsurp rifles calibers I have, as well as work well for others.
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I still have a small (about 1/2 LB each) quantity of Varget, 4064, and H4350 but thats it.

If I can't find Varget (like finding a needle in TWO haystacks :) I narrowed it to 3031, 4895 (IMR or H) and possibly 748 or H335, IF I can find any.

FWIW, I got a quantity of 9X18 and 7.62X39 ammo for weapons that I don't load for but these are not generally hunting guns. This was acquired before the crunch, actually, with a possible crunch in mind :)
 
IMR4895 has produced best accuracy with those bullet weights and done so using metered powder charges with a 3/10ths grain spread.
 
My go-to .30 cal "panic" powder is W748. A very versatile ball powder for most anything .30 cal, and works excellent in .223/5.56 gas guns. Got about 27# so im able to conserve my Varget as needed to get through panics. Only downsides is W748 is a bit temp sensitive, and a bit messy vs Varget or 4895. The good is it meters extremly well .
 
IMR4064. More consistently accurate than IMR4895.
Isn't Varget one of the powders that have gone into the Twilight Zone Stateside?
 
I was going to say RL15 but it's only listed for on loading for the .30-30 in the books I have. Of the powders mentioned, 4064 is very versatile and has loads listed for the all the rounds you mentioned.

Back in the day I used it a lot in '06 and 7.7x58. I still keep it on hand but I don't use it as much as I used to.

Also I wouldn't want to be limited to just one powder but I suppose that's another conversation.

Tony
 
I'd agree Varget is one good choice. Apparently,if I understand,its out because you find it unavailable.
OK. H 4895 and IMR 4895 have been mentioned,and would serve pretty well.

While they are not interchangable,generally Varget,the 4895's,RE-15,N-140 work pretty well in the same niche.

If it was me, I'd first work with the reality of what I could find,and I'd lose the "just one powder" requirement. That opens options.
You aren't necessarily finding 8 lb jugs. With 1 lb jugs,why not optimize per cartridge and buy as you can? If your 30-06 is a Garand,OK,use caution with slower powders, but the 30-06 thrives on the 4350 s
4064 serves all your cartridges. 3031 and BL C-2 might help you. RE-15 and RE-19 perform well for some loads.
 
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