During the last two shortages..What powders have you discovered?

[Brutus]

When I ran out of W231/HP-38 all I could find was Autocomp and WSF. Both powders worked just fine in .45ACP and 9mm but old habits die hard and when 231 became available again I stocked up. Going to use up both powders in 9mm and I doubt I'll purchase them again, unless stuck in the same situation.
Most beneficial outcome of the shortage was regarding Unique. When my supply ran out and I couldn't find any I immediately relegated all my Universal to .44, .45Colt and .357. for target rounds with lead SWC's. Universal was my favorite for shotgun reloading and still is but it has permanently replaced Unique because it meters better, provides the same performance with less powder and burns cleaner.

 

[Nick_C_S]

You're going to LOVE #7 with full throat 147's.

Looking forward to it.

9mm for me is strictly a utilitarian cartridge. i.e. conceal carry practice - maybe 600 rounds/year. For me, 9mm serves no recreational purpose. I have my CCW piece (Kahr CW9) and a safe queen Beretta 92fs; but that's it for the 9. That, and the fact that I have a bunch of factory 9mm ammo, means that I rarely even load 9mm.

I just now took a moment to look up the last time I loaded 9mm: 4/6/14. (It was a heaping helping of HS-6 under a 124 JHP.)

At any rate, I do load 9mm; and I have quite a bit of work up data. I just tend to put a lot of other irons in the fire, so to speak. Loading for the 9 tends to get shuffled back.

 

[Brutus]

I agree with Nick, don't reload a lot of 9mm because the ammo is still cheaper than the rest and is my least desirable round to reload, mainly cause those punybellums are hard to grasp in my pudgy fingers.

 

[Nick_C_S]

My hands are small and I spent my childhood building model airplanes, ships, etc, so handling 9mm for loading isn't that much of a problem. But still, I'd rather load 45 ACP .

9mm ammo still bears some resemblance to reasonably priced these days. So I've been known to grab a box or two now and then when I'm visiting my LGS.

When I was going for my CCW, I needed 9mm factory ammo to qualify (handloaded ammo was not allowed for qualifying). It was peak of shortage. I had no choice but to buy a box of 1000 "bulk pack" Remington 115 FMJ (pretty good ammo, btw) - that's all that was available. I think I paid $320 or something like that for it. Anyway, that was the Spring of 2013 and I still have about half of that box.

 

[skinnedknuckles]

Forgot to mention Universal. By Hodgdon's loading tables, it is almost a direct substitute for HP-38 and is also touted by many as an improved Unique (which I didn't particularly like). I finally found a pound and have loaded a fair amount of .38 Special/.38 Special +P. I like it for that application as much as HP-38 but don't see any particular advantage over HP-38 so I'll only buy it when HP-38 isn't available.

 

[mineralman55]

Found AA4064

When nothing else was available, I bought some AA4064 to experiment with. It's not bad. It gave acceptable groups in 5.56 with 69gr and 77 gr bthp bullets, and in 7.62x51 with 168 gr bthp. Not great in either, but acceptable and reliable. It also fed well through a Uniflo.

 

[b92fs]

A 4lb keg of 700x got me through, for 9mm! Very pleased with it, would buy anytime I couldn't get Bullseye! Meters better than Clays in my Dillon 550 also.

 

[johnjohn]

Ran out of Unique and Bullseye, tried Red Dot and like it. Now I've got all three on the shelf.

 

[alexcue]

I had a good supply of powders this last time, but the one that I ended up with that I hadn't tried/been reluctant to explore was Titegroup. Now it's become a standby for quite a few of my calibers that I reload for.

 

[Nick_C_S]

I had a good supply of powders this last time

Well I sure as heck will next time. I've learned. I have 40 #'s of various powders right now. Some 20K primers. Bullets up the wazoo.

the one that I ended up with that I hadn't tried/been reluctant to explore was Titegroup. Now it's become a standby for quite a few of my calibers that I reload for.

It's a good propellant. It didn't do what I wanted it to do - which was pure target loads - because it burns too slow and leaves behind lots of grainy stuff when you turn it down too far (I'm kind of repeating my post #16 here).

But it does make excellent general range ammo with plated bullets. I busted off 40 rounds of TiteGroup-charged 44 Special ammo today (X-treme 200gn FP, 6.1 grains - 900 f/s - good round). The stuff sure runs hot though. It got my Model 629 hotter faster than 44 Mag rounds with near max charges of HS-6. TiteGroup runs really really hot.

 

[forty5]

Before the shortage I relied on Universal and Power Pistol for most of my handgun needs. I had a good supply of both during the shortage. First Universal became unavailable due to the factory fire and then Power Pistol became unavailable due to the Obama effect. I discovered BE-86 and CFE Pistol and found that they were very good alternatives and have been using them ever since.

 

[Clark]

I reload ~ 65 cartridges with ~ 22 pistol powders and ~ 24 rifle powders = ~46 powders.

But in the last year the only new things I have learned are from IMR-4166. The speed and density are best modelled as H322. The temp comp is not as good as H4350, but close.

My bike speeds are 16.6 mph in the summer when they would be 15.6 mph in the winter. I am doing 18.5 mph when Strava thinks there is no incline. If my body is slipping through the thinner warmer air, I am going to have to start compensating for my bullets slipping through warmer air at long range.

Two days I ago I had a copy of Quickload sent to some guy who was arguing with me online. He should get that in 4 days and I will be forced to learn something if I argue with him again. His emails force me to think. That is painful.

 

[alexcue]

I reload ~ 65 cartridges with ~ 22 pistol powders and ~ 24 rifle powders = ~46 powders.

Wow!! I thought I was spreading the wealth! I'm at 13!!! That's one thing that got me through some shortages too... I just changed calibers. Different powders from the late 80's that hadn't been used much now came to life, and I'm glad I did use some up. It was fun experimenting!

Non-Reloading related: 22LR, I was caught short on that one, and I won't be caught short again. Though I kick myself for not stocking up before the new Norm price became the new NORM!

Nick, you are so right about Titegroup! I forgot that it does run real hot! I just won't use it on lead bullets anymore. I also tend to give my guns a break at the range when I notice they've gotten that hot after using Titegroup. One reason I tend to bring a few different calibers/guns to the range each visit.

 

[Ifishsum]

A friend who doesn't reload anymore had given me a pound of Reloder 15 to try, which I did when I ran out of Varget and could not find more. Reloder 15 was at least sporadically available during the shortage and I like it at least as well as I do Varget. Irritating that it tends to cost $3-5 more per lb though

 

[SHR970]

Personally I didn't discover any new powders... but during the first shortage I was offered 2 lb.s Red Dot, 2 pounds Green Dot, and 1 pound Herco with 2000 CCI 209 primers for $40 by the widow of an aquaintance. All cannisters were 80's vintage powder. I figured A) I am running low on W231 and B) I have a 20 and a 12 guage... what the heck. In developing a plinker / range load for the 44 Mag. I tried a Red Dot load. First load out the gate was a winner. It ran clean, was accurate, AND very comfortable to shoot. I ran out of the Green Dot first as I shoot my 20's more than my 12's The Red dot next.. and I just the other day loaded a trial load of 357 125 gr plated with nearly the last of the Herco....I still have a little over 200 gr. left to try something in my 32 H&R.

I used these 5 lbs. as experimental mostly but did not feel out in the cold as I knew I could use them for a wide variety of handgun ammo. I've said it in the past and will say it again...you can use virtually ANY flake shotgun powder and make serviceable handgun ammo. It may not be optimum...but it will work well enough.

 

[Road_Clam]

As I've gained handloading experience and have become more comfortable making my own decisions rather than have to rely on others is that i've learned that you don't have to use Varget for everything to get accuracy, there IS excellent substitutes. You also don't have to use Unique for everything, there is excellent substitutes. I started using Win WST shotgun powder for both my 9mm and my .40 S&W with awesome results. I spent a LOT of time experimenting into "uncharted" territories when the powder shortage was at it's max. I've got myself WELL positioned with a diverse inventory of powders. Political induced gun panics do not affect me now, and i'm dam proud of that !

 

[rclark]

Lots of Powders I 'discovered' give you good loads. When a powder showed up on the shelf that I hadn't used yet, I bought a pound and worked up loads in all my cartridges I shoot (using a chronograph of course). Now I have a good set of data that works well in all my revolvers. Sure I have my favorites, but now I have plenty of backups. BTW, I've stocked up on my favorites now, so shouldn't have to turn to the others unless it gets really bad again for a long period of time. Learned that 'lesson'... No more buy as you need it as in the past. One must 'stock up'. .22 is still unobtainium around here for example. So will stock up there when I can buy some...

 

[sawdustdad]

Having been mostly out of shooting for about 25 years (other hobbies, kids, etc) I got back into it summer 2013 to discover the ongoing shortage when I tried to buy some .22LR ammo.

Checking the reloading aisle I saw empty shelves! Not to be deterred, I found various powders to supplement my limited supply of Unique, 2400 and W296 and a few lbs of rifle powder for .223 and 30-06. (left over from about 1990).

Powders I'd never used before and have worked up loads for include 800x, Power Pistol, BE86, BLC-2, Red Dot, Clays, Clay Dot, Nitro 100NF, Trail Boss, and 700x.

Of all of these, I think 700x and Red Dot are the two most useful not previously used powders of the lot. Though I do like BLC-2 in .223/5.56 also.

I also discovered the use of Trail Boss for rifle loads and it's fun to shoot the 30-06 with ~1400 fps rounds.

 

[Nick_C_S]

sawdustdad, I think you and I walked similar paths (and previously discussed this). Furthermore, I think you and I got Nitro 100NF at the same time.

Myself, I really like it. It's super super fast, so I won't do anything but make 38 Spl and 45 ACP target ammo with it. But it fills that role really well. Makes good pressure in low-velocity applications.

 

[sawdustdad]

Hey, Nick_C_S--yes we had that conversation.

I like Nitro 100, too, loaded a bunch of .38 spl with 125g plated Xtreme bullets for plinking. I still have 5 or 6 lbs of Nitro 100 on hand.

Over the past 18 months, I've gotten into CAS, and been shooting a LOT more .38 spl, probably 1000 rounds a month. I found 8 lb jugs of 700x and a load that just works so well I've used up one 8 lb jug and started on another--at 2.8g/round, what's that? 20,000 rounds?