Looking for the "best" powder myth

[j845125]

I have always tried different powders for any given bullet, trying to find that magic powder that has a velocity increase, with no pressure signs, is super accurate, clean, and temperature insensitive. Almost always it ends up being another pound of powder on the shelf that shoots pretty much the same as the last I was shooting. Do others have pounds of IMR 4350, H4350, AA4350, RL17, RL19(or groups of other similar powders) on there shelves? I believe my experimenting stage is over and I'm gonna get an 8 pound jug of one and use it for everything and quit chasing a myth. By the time I use a pound of any given powder, and replace it, the new one is from a different lot and shoots a little different anyhow. My latest was buying RL17 to try and get better than IMR 4350 that was shooting wonderfully, velocities were less, and accracy was different, not worse, but took some seating depth adjustment for some reason. Too many other variables to try and cover them with a powder selection.

Anyone else chase for THE miracle powder besides me???

 

[MALLARD]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

yes i have MANY 1 pound cans of shit on my shelf. It happens.Oh well.

 

[turbo54]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

Yes, I have lots of 1lb'ers on the shelf.

I've chased the wonder powders a number of times, and I haven't seen one yet that truly has an advantage over what have kinda become the "standbys".

In 308 land, for example, last year's wonder powder was 8208 and PowerPro 2000MR. The powerpro is supposed to give all kinds of velocity with the 175(ish) bullets. Not for me it didn't. Varget is king as far as I'm concerned, and I stocked up on it.

Folks are claiming crazy speed with RE17. I've tried it in two cartridges; 7mm-08 and 284Win, and in both cases, the '17 didn't do anything H4350 wouldn't except shoot bigger groups.

Varget and H4350 are "wonder" powders as far as I'm concerned. So, I'm not saying there will never be an improvement over them....because they were improvements over older, and trusted powders. But, I'm not going to keep jumping on the wonderpowder bandwagon like I have been.

 

[rusty815]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

Reloader 17 has been my go to powder, use it in a bunch of different cartridges, doesn't give me a huge velocity boost in all cartridges (7mm-08 and 30-06 it gets me velocities similar to other powders, 270 and 300WSM I saw a large velocity boost), but its good enough and accurate enough for me to use in all of them. I do like experimenting with powders, though, and I certainly have fun doing so.

 

[RyeDaddy]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

Yes! I concluded my quest in the 308 today and decided that Varget was still king, even in a gas gun. Now I've got 1 lb cans of H4895, IMR 8208, and RL15. In the end none did anything with the consistency that I got with Varget, which luckily I still have 10 lbs of. As it turns out, in my 16.5" 308 ALL those powders shot the 168 AMAX best at 2450 fps regardless of what the max velocity I could get was, but Varget was the most consistent so it's my number one again. The bitch is that Varget was already working great when I went on a 2.5 month detour and blew a couple hundred dollars in the search for something more magical.

I'm done with the myth as well. Glad somebody brought it up, as I left the range today thinking this exact same shit. "Does anybody else go through all this crap trying to find 'one powder to rule them all' and end up with useless 1 lb cans of powder?"

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Varget and H4350 are "wonder" powders as far as I'm concerned.</div></div>

+1

 

[pcschwenke]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

RyeDaddy, I've been on a similar detour for the past several months. But I'm trying to see what all the hype is about with Varget. Still haven't figured it out. I've wasted a lot of time & money instead of practicing with a consistant load. I'm heading back to R15 & 2000MR. With 2000MR I have a +/-.5 grain node with very little velocity change.


Paul

 

[Rob01]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

Nope. I have 3 powders. Varget(.308/.223), H4350(.243/6.5 Creedmoor) and H1000(300WM). They do everything I need. I don't mess around with tons of powders. I find what works and use it.

 

[USMC mustang]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

It happens to all of us but I've settled on RE-15 for about 75% of the rifle reloading I do. Varget and IMR 4064 account for the majority of the other 25%. Like others I have a fairly extensive collection of 1 pound jugs sitting in my house, I always find a use for it eventually.

 

[highridge1]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

After trying all sorts of different powders in different calibers, I have settled on RL powders in about everything. Just great velocity, consistent, accurate.

 

[Jaxdialation]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

(1)4350 for 243 and 260,
(2)Varget for 308,
(3) VV165 for 338LM.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rob01</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Nope. I have 3 powders. Varget(.308/.223), H4350(.243/6.5 Creedmoor) and H1000(300WM). They do everything I need. I don't mess around with tons of powders. I find what works and use it. </div></div>

 

[turbo54]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jAXDIALATION</div><div class="ubbcode-body">(1)4350 for 243 and 260,
(2)Varget for 308,
(3) VV165 for 338LM.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rob01</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Nope. I have 3 powders. Varget(.308/.223), H4350(.243/6.5 Creedmoor) and H1000(300WM). They do everything I need. I don't mess around with tons of powders. I find what works and use it. </div></div> </div></div>

You *almost* had the Hodgdon trifecta like Rob, but spoiled it with Viht... Did you try Retumbo or H1000?

If I had to choose one single rifle powder for the rest of eternity, it would be H4350. If I could choose two, H4350 and H4895. Three, H4895, H4350, Retumbo. Four, add Varget.

Make no mistake though, I LOVES me some Varget.

 

[clmayfield]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

2000-MR gives me better velocity in 308 than Varget, but Varget still gives me smaller groups. If I found a magic node that shot as well as Varget, I would be using 2000-MR, but it never materialized.

I have also tried to found the magic bullet. The AMP technology from Hornady had me really excited, but it didn't shoot as well as 175 SMK's. I spend a bunch on Berger LRBT's, and they don't shoot as well as SMK's at short range. The Berger hybrids look promising.

But 175 SMK's + Varget with Lapua brass will always be a go to load for me. I am conviced it is the best I can do for anything inside of 600 yards.

 

[Ledzep]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

Yeah, been there. Trying tons of different powders and bullets and primers.. half-full jugs of stuff I'll never try again, half full primer trays, bullet boxes etc...

At least I got wise to it.

All CCI primers now, XBR 8208, Varget, and H4350 for rifles. Most everything I shoot now is a SMK or Amax.

 

[gutshot53]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

H4831sc and H4350 are my two go to powders!

 

[Joebill]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

H4350 for 260rem
Varget for 308
It did take some experimenting to come to this conclusion. I keep the 1lbs leftovers around for the next rifle I decide to get.

 

[MZ5]

Re: Looking for the "best" powder myth

748 (223 & 308)
760 (lightweight 243s, 30-06, 25 WSSM)

Moving to southern AZ and getting a Creedmoor complicated this somewhat. 760 gave good speed in the Creed, but groups weren't quite what I wanted. Hunter shows promise, but is only available in 1-pounders locally (I'm too cheap to pay Haz-Mat most of the time). H4350 looked good in the Creed, but velocity isn't there if a person wants to stay within SAAMI-spec pressures, which I do. So now, it's:

748 (223 & 308)
Re-17 (243, 25 WSSM, 65 Creedmoor)
30-06 gets Greek surplus ammo from the CMP.