Since my retirement I've gotten re-interested in revolvers after shooting bottom feeders almost exclusively for the last 25 years.

I recently picked up a very nice 629 in a trade, then went out & bought a new 686 5" Pro Series.

I want to start reloading cast bullets. I have 500 158 gr Precision Cast SWC for the 357 & an order in at Missouri Bullet Co for some 240 gr Elmer Keith bullets. I stocked up on bricks of primers last year, so I'm good there.

The problem is that there's no 2400 powder anywhere within 100 miles of here & even if I could find some online, I'm NOT paying a hazmat fee. I've checked everywhere I can think of.

I have plenty of 231 on hand, some Universal, a pound of IMR 4227 & some WSF. Hodgdons site says most of these will work in .357 & .44 & I'm thinking of just using 231 until 2400 becomes available. OR is there a second best powder for both after the 2400?

Powder for what?

Loading LSWC in both .357 & .44 Mag. 2400 looks like the obvious first choice, but there's none available around here. What's everybody's second choice?

used 4227 exclusively for years. Probably heresy, but i think it worked better, for me at least, than the 2400 I now use

Use gunbot.

It will pop up eventually, and you need to respond promptly.

In due course, lay in a supply of the ammo and reloading supplies you need to cover you for three years. That way, these silly hoarding droughts will not affect you.

__________________
WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

Depends on what kind of loads you want??

For full house Magnums then H110/W296 But how many of those can you shoot

HP 38/W231 provide great general shooting loads as does Unique. There are probably others but that is what I use.

I am not up on the Accurate brands but they have good powders also.

Thanks everybody for the suggestions. I'm a 1911 fanboy & have been using W231 for years in the .45ACP. While it may not be the "ideal" powder, it'll work for my intended purposes, which is mostly playing at the range & to scare large critters away while in the woods.

The max loads for the 357 are just fine with HP38.

For the 44 Mag well, not so much but still OK. Unique (even though I do not care for it much) is good if you can find it. I use it in the 45 Colt.

I have also been out of 2400 for a few months now. Not much available around me either. Found out that some had arrived at my fav supplier...it was gone in the blink of an eye. Drat!
FWIW, I have been a regular user of use those same Missouri EK .44 bullets and they have been quite accurate for me. I think you will really like them.

W231 will make a fine 240gr. target load in 44mag and also for 158gr. also in 357mag, as will Unique. 2400 is much more appropriate for full house stuff, however. Keep an eye out and act fast when you do see some. Heck...PM me too! Good luck.

Around here all powder is hard to find so I've had to resort to buying it on line and I only buy when I can 4 pounds or more to spread out the Hazmat fee.

If you buy enough the Haz Mat fee is not so bad, Buy 16 lbs of powder, no tax what's another $26 dollars

Your 4227 is the closest powder you have to 2400. It is an excellent powder for heavy bullet loads in your .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. I use 15.0gr of 4227 with a 158gr SWC in my .357 Magnum. While I don't shoot a .44 Magnum, I do use 22.0gr of 4227 for stout loads in my .45 Colt.

Don

AA 7 or 9 are both good powders for 44 mag, 240 gr bullets. AA5744 is another choice for at or near maximum loads (it needs high pressure to burn clean).

I've got a couple hundred rounds worth of 2400 left and haven't seen any in quite a while. I picked up 2 lbs. of Accurate #9 as a substitute. Can't say how it is as I haven't used it yet. It's at the point were if you come across a powder that will work for your load but your not familiar with it...buy it!

See if you can get some 300MP, you'll be amazed.

What I've done for some time when I notice quantities getting low is to put my name on the notify list at Wideners and they email you when they get it in stock. I shoot Bullseye, Unique, and 2400 as my primary powders but for the last few years have bought them in 8lb jugs. Whenever you divide the hazmat fee per pound of powder, it still comes out well below what it sells for locally here.

+1 on Accurate #9

In my 686 with a 158 Lswc bullet..........

I did not like the max loads of imr 4227 and went with a light load of 12.0 grs for my target loads.

Universal Clays can get a Fac Dup. load of around 1270 but you might start out with 6.0 grs for starters.

WSF is like Unique and will also work well with the lead bullets and I liked 6.0grs of Unique for a POA load in my revolver.

If you ever get some 2400 the starting load of 11.4grs in my 6" was at 1039fps which might be around 990 in your 4".

Good loading.

In some areas, the shotgun powders are a lot more available. Red Dot is an excellent powder in the 44 mag for reduced level target loads. for years I have used 6 to 6.5 grains Red Dot behind a 240 grain lead SWC for about 900 fps with great accuracy out of most of my .44's.

Larry

Just as a note:

using 357 brass a starting load of 2400 is around 11.4 grains of powder. w231 can be from 5.5 to 6.7 grains.

If you use the little 38 spl. brass the powder amount for the w231 powder can be as low as just 4.0 grs to a
38 +P load with 4.7 grs at 890fps in my 6" 686 revolver with a cci500 primer.

50 rounds of 357 brass with 2400 uses 570 grs of powder.
50 rounds of 38 brass with 4.0gr of 231 comes out to 200grs.

Have fun with that new revolver.

I just picked up an 8lb can of 2400 last Saturday. It's gone up in price since two weeks ago when I could have bought it for $129.99.
Instead I waited and got it for $149.99.

Haven't found it at the stores for some time but I've been seeing it regularly at the gun shows for around $25-30 lb. As others said 4227 is a close substitute if you find it. I use both for high powered hunting loads in all my large magnums.
Personally it Bullseye that I've been having trouble finding. It 's my favorite powder for my 38s and 32s.

John

Haven't seen Bullseye or 2400 here in WV in over a year.

I've used a little Blue Dot and my reloading mentor swears by it in .357 Magnum. It's a bit faster than 2400. You can actually find data for it for .45ACP & 9mm.

Or go H110. It's slower than 2400, doesn't like downloading & requires a magnum primer but that's what the .357/.44 Magnum guys use who want every last bit of performance.

Hodgdon Longshot will yield velocities that equal the moderate loads
of 2400 with less powder and blast. 8.0 grs under a 158 gr cast SWC
chronographs a little over 1200 fps out of my 4" S&W md 28-2.

Iron, I see you're a Pennsylvania guy. If you are anywhere near the Carlisle area (just west of Harrisburg), I have a nearly full one-pound jug of 2400 I bought recently just to load a few shells for a friend. I don't use that powder for anything (I only load lead bullet target ammo) so if you would like to buy it, make me that proverbial offer I cannot refuse and it's yours!

I also have three pounds left of a four-pounder of TiteGroup that I don't need.

Ed

I'll take it! PM sent.
Thanks.

HS-6 is a great option to 2400, and even more versatile for mid-hi loads.