I'm getting into reloading for target and hunting this year, I have read up on it and seen a lot of videos and my question is .......I have noticed that there are a lot of brands of powder and wonder if there is a significance to any of them or are all the powders the same .....I have seen people use varget and unique....I'm going to reload rifle ammo in 308 and 6.8 spc. Do certain recipes call for different powder or is it just preference .....I'm looking at a single stage press also any ideas I like the fact of doing everything precisely the way I want it with out a lot of error and ideas
powder
- Thread starter colscar
- Start date
The best powder depends on the projectile being used as well as the ammo size. My Lyman manual shows the powder that gave the best results in bold. That is where I start. For the 168 MK ( .308 ) Lyman recommends VV N550 as the best choice. I have used Varget also near the starting load range.
Look in the reloading depot to see what most people are running, that would give a pretty good idea. It is also well worth it to get a few reloading manuals, they will help a bunch.
Walter
Walter
It will give you a good idea, as will the reloading depot on this forum. But the only thing that will tell you what is best is testing it in your rifle, as all rifles like something a little different.
Walter
Walter
Only your gun will tell you what works best upon trial and error. Decide on a bullet by calculating the twist-stabilization of your barrel, and the distance (max) you want to shoot, use the best brass you can find, and test out powders. Some powders work better with lighter bullets, some powder work better through wide temperature swings, some powder burn cooler, allowing longer strings. Some burn faster for auto loaders or shorter barrels, others are set up for a longer pressure spike and long barrels, some are clean, some very dirty. Some powders work in powder measures, others, like varget need to be hand thrown because of kernel size. I like ball powders, so I use CFE, 2520, ball C2, H335 on occasion. 4895 and 4064 are also good in my gun. If it weren't for the 2008/9 powder shortage, I would be stuck still using the same ball C2 load, but you branch out when the picking is slim and try new powders.
