Whats the most versatile rifle, shotgun and pistol powder ?

[hounddawg]

if you could only have one rifle, one shotgun and one pistol powder on the shelf, what would they be ? There are quite a few that will work for most commonly reloaded calibers. A few examples would be Varget, CFE .223, IMR4895, Benchmark. Those are the ones I have experience with and I am sure there are quite a few others that cover a wide range. So if you only have one what would would you choose ? You can pick up to three total, but only one per discipline

 

[OzeanJaeger]

Something fast for shotshells.

I keep a jug of 700X just in case things get tight. I can make it work in just about anything except magnum rifles. Given time I could probably figure that out too, but it would be a very narrow range of charge.

 

[USSR]

Are you saying one powder for all 3, or one powder for each of the 3 (total 3 powders)?

Don

 

[Dufus]

One powder for all three: Red Dot. I have used it in rifle, handgun, and shotgun

Shotgun: Green Dot. I have used it in a lot of 12 and 20 ga loads over 54 years.

Handgun: VV N340. It works in every caliber that I have in handguns

Rifle: H4895. It works for me in 222 Rem up to the 460 Wby.

 

[hounddawg]

Are you saying one powder for all 3, or one powder for each of the 3 (total 3 powders)?

One rifle, one pistol, and one shotgun if you want. I don't do shotgun so for me it would be Varget and Win 231, I will go back and edit the OP

 

[Ifishsum]

For me it would probably be Green Dot for shotgun, Unique for pistol and 4895 (either H or IMR) for rifle. I feel I could make a decent load for almost anything with those three

 

[USSR]

I can do this with just 2 powders: Solo 1000 for shotgun and handgun, and IMR 4895 for rifle.

Don

 

[jmr40]

If I had to choose only one powder for my rifles, I'd probably limit my rifles to cartridges where that powder were optimal.

 

[bamaranger]

two

Don't load for shotgun

Unique for handguns.

For rifles, Varget, probably, or 4064

 

[std7mag]

For rifle would be either Varget or RL15.

For shotgun/pistol would be Unique.

 

[OzeanJaeger]

I thought he was asking for one powder that you COULD load for all three. So it would have to be a faster powder. The slow ones just won’t work at all in a pistol.

 

[Stats Shooter]

One for all 3.....Red Dot

For Rifle - 4064

Pistol - HS6

Shotgun - Longshot

 

[disseminator]

Don't load for shotguns.

Rifle: Ramshot BIG GAME

Pistol: VihtaVuori N340

 

[Geezerbiker]

If I had to stock only one powder it would be Unique. If I were limited to 2, it would be Unique and either 4895 or 3031. Both 3031 and 4895 are very flexible but don't do everything well.

Tony

 

[Salmoneye]

If I could have just one powder, it would be Red Dot...

 

[reloader28]

Green Dot or Unique, though I've never tried either with a jacketed bullet. Cast bullets make it easy

 

[BWM]

hand gun Win 231 rifle 223 up IMR 4064 These 2 will load a lot of different calibers.

 

[hdwhit]

hounddawg wrote:
if you could only have one rifle, one shotgun and one pistol powder on the shelf

Rifle: IMR-4198 (works in both .223/5.56 and 22 Spitfire/5.7 Johnson)

Shotgun: Blue Dot (works in my 12 gauge loads and 45 ACP with 185 grain bullets)

Pistol: Hi-Skor 800X (works in everything else I load from 25 ACP, 9mm, 38 Special) although if I could only get Alliant Powders for pistol, I would happily trade 800X for Bullseye or Sport Pistol.

But these are all compromise choices since they have to cover more than one cartridge/loading and so none of them can be readily optimized for the cartridge. This is why I use:

25 ACP - Hi-Skor 700X
9mm - Bullseye or HP-38
38 Spl - Bullseye, HP-38, Unique, Red Dot, Green Dot or Blue Dot.
45 ACP - Bullseye or Blue Dot
223/5.56 - IMRs 4198, 3031, 4064, Winchester 748 or Benchmark
22 Spitfire - IMR 4227, Hodgdon (formerly Hercules) 2400 or Winchester 630.

As I see it, if someone is going to reload cartridges in a factory setting, they need to keep the variety of powders they use to a minimum for inventory control and cost control, but reloading today is generally not a quest for the lowest cost, but a pursuit of the very best performance that can be achieved from a particular combination of gun and cartridge.

 

[hounddawg]

The reason I started this thread was a friend is devoting a small section of his shop for reloading gear and will only have a limited space for powders and he asked me what the most popular/versatile powders are.

 

[Tsquared]

Limited space means keeping a low inventory of supplies. At one time I was in that boat and only reloaded 9mm pistol.

Shotgun will take a different press - I would pass on any shotgun reloading as it does take a bit more space. Blue Dot was my dad's favorite for shotgun and pistol. I like Longshot.

Pistol has a few powders that I have found good recipes. My current favorite for 9 and 45 is CFE-pistol. I like BlueDot for 44Mag/Spl and .38/357, but I do not load much of either anymore. Also look at Universal, Bullseye, and Unique as they all work very good across many different calibers.

Rifle I am using H335 for .223 and 6.8SPC. I do like AA2200 a bit better for some of the bullet profiles for 6.8Spc.