General Guidelines for Powder Selection

[hey.moe]

wncchester,

I understand what you're saying and I thank you for sharing your wisdom.

For lots of folks it's enough to know how to operate a piece of equipment and nothing more. Turn the key, select drive, step on the gas, and steer. For others (like myself) part of the attraction is in having a deeper understanding of what's going on behind the scenes.

I'm not looking to cut corners, I have no illusion that I'm smarter than the folks who developed the accepted standards, or that I'm going to make some "super" load. However, I do know that nearly any product made by man is the result of compromise. Generally, these compromises result in broadening the product's usefulness over a wide range of applications. But, in doing this, the product is not optimized for any specific application - "jack of all trades, master of none."

I'm hoping to understand the logical process that others took in arriving at the loads they developed.

So, my approach to beginning reloading will be to attempt to duplicate existing loads that are known to be safe and work reliably, while I learn how to operate the equipment properly - middle of the road stuff. Once I'm familiar with the process and mechanics I'll start looking at how my application differs and what refinements I can make.

Bottom line - for me, producing loaded ammunition is only a part of the attraction of hand loading/reloading.

Thanks again,

-Stan-

 

[wncchester]

"I'm not looking to cut corners, I have no illusion that I'm smarter than the folks who developed the accepted standards,"

None of that ever crossed my mind, understood exactly what you were asking; now you know the answer!

I see no validity to believing the more manuals that list a given power the more likely it is to work well. Fact is, manual makers are sufficently human to tend to follow the trail of others. And reloaders do too. That can easily lead me/you to overlook something that will work better...for US!

 

[mehavey]

Moe, my most useful guide (aside from the usual-and-very-useful "get-a-manual" instructions) is to get Quickload's software.

Once reasonably mastered it will guide finding what I use as benchmarks:

- Max velocity for reasonable pressures (Pchamber 10% below case Pmax, tho' Vmax may not be what you eventually use)
- Good case-fill for those reasonable pressures (95%-105% being my guide)
- 95%-99% burn completion for the barrel length (for some reason, 100% burn has never been useful

Knowing these factors (and QL will give you all of them, for every possible bullet combination you may want) will also allow you to choose between options for stick powders (easiest to ignite) vs ball powders (cooler burning/easiest to measure).

A quick example using the 308Win is shown below:
THESE ARE NOT RECOMMENDED LOADS (now my lawyer is happy)

Many of the "classic" powders show up, some do not. But now you have options.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

The easiest way to select powders in the modern world is QuickLoad.

It is one area where QuickLoad is truly magical. Input cartridge, bullet info, barrel length along with a few other variables and it spits out expectations for every powder in it's database, which is almost all powders available in normal commerce. Powders can even be ignored if they fill more or less than a specified case volume.

The list can then be sorted by velocity, peak pressure, muzzle pressure, % powder burn and other factors.

There is no better way to predict powder performance.

Ah! I see Mehavey and I were simul-posting.

 

[mehavey]

Great Minds think alike.

 

[Jim243]

So, what are the basic "rules of thumb" that guide one's choice of powder?

In three words, "finding a load". Depending on the books you are using and the bullet, the hardest part is finding a listed load for that bullet. I use Lyman's 49th edition but I will use the bullet mfg's book in making my final decession. Most of my reloads use Hornady's bullets so their's is the book I use the most. (they will have a load for each of their bullets, actually many loads per each bullet). Speer the same (have their manual), Nosler the same, etc....

There is no one powder that will work for all rifle calibers so expect to stock up on various powders. But since you will be reloading for one caliber (270) you could get away with only one powder. I load for 13 calibers with 9 different powders based on what is best for each.

Now, pistol you could get away with just using Win 231 or H-38 but there are other pistol powders that are more popular.

Good luck and welcome to reloading.
Jim

 

[NWPilgrim]

If only life were so simple to "get a manual and follow it."

The problem is no one manual lists every possible powder, bullet type and weight and seating depth. And even when you have a manual, most still list 10-15 powders per cartridge. So it is a reasonable question to ask, "Where do I start? How do others select the first one or two powders to try out?"

Doing the research online in relation to your intended use as previously mentioned is a good way to determine the short list of parameters. If you are trying to duplicate typical factory loads then I would first go to the online load data from powder manufacturers as they often list loads for typical bullet styles and weights and are not as specific to bullets as the bullet manufacturers. And I would start with a powder manufacturer of one of the brands easily available to you locally so you can buy a pound at a time to try.

This assumes you are buying fairly generic FMJ or SP bullets. If you are buying premium bullets, like Ballistic Tips, SSX, etc. then you should get the bullet manufacturer's manual (most are not online) because the special designs have different lengths and seating depths than plain old SP flatbase bullets.

From the powder mfg. online tables, select the typical bullet weight/style you are trying to duplicate and note the list of powders they recommend. Within one brand that ought to trim the candidates down to 3-4 powders. Throw out any significantly below the factory velocities, and then choose the mid-range within the short list of remaining powders. Try it out for pressure and accuracy, metering, case fill % etc. If it works good then go with that. If not then try the next best candidate.

OR, you can pick any manual, pick a bullet and mid-range powder in the list and then buy those same components. That rarely works for me as I don't want to buy new bullets, new powders, etc. just to try a load; I want to use as much of what I have on hand as possible. But starting out new, this could be a simple way to start if you don't care what powder or bullet you use. This gives you the least control of the end product but is very simple.