Do you load more older powders or new?

[Peter M. Eick]

I was working on the bench yesterday and noticed that most of my powders that I am using are older. You know the "classics". Bullseye, Unique, 2400 etc. The ones I am burning off and not replacing are the newer powders. Lil-gun, Longshot, etc.

I was seeing that my newest powder I really like is Powder Pistol but it gives some wild flame balls when fired in overcast conditions or early evening. That is behavior that is making me rethink its use.

So I am loading the classics. Bullseye, unique, 2400, the dot powders (Blue, Red and Green), SR4756, and IMR 4227 for revolver, shotgun and most pistol with lead bullets. I am using a bit of Powder Pistol for 9mm, 40 and 10mm.

I have now basically given up on most of the newer "niche" powders like Lil-gun, Longshot, accucomp etc. I just don't see they do that much better than the older ones.

What are you guys doing? "Classics" vs. "Modern"???

Also what is your justification? I am just curious if I am becoming a curmudgeon.

 

[gmiller0737]

Funny the same 3 you named are about the only ones I use on a regular basis,Bullseye,Unique & 2400 have served Me well.

 

[imashooter2]

The powders I burn the most in pistol are Bullseye, 2400 and WST in that order.

 

[max]

231 and Unique make up 99% of my loads. When I do magnums, it is 2400. I think my "newest" powder is 700-X and I have not opened the last can I bought about 20 years ago.

 

[Arub]

Green Dot, 2400 and American Select. Load only handgun calibers.

 

[TripleLock]

While I have experimented with others, I always come back to those powders that were on my dad's reloading bench when he began instructing me in art and science that is reloading: For pistols and revolvers there were Bullseye, Unique, and 2400 - which when I started out were manufactured by Hercules and came in short, square tin cans with caps which were held in place with spring-fingers. For rifles the choices were IMR-3031 and IMR-4320 in rectangular DuPont tin cans with red screw-caps, and a quantity of old surplus 4831.

No matter how far I may have strayed over the years, those six powders are the ones I always came back to, and the ones you will find on my reloading bench today.

TL

 

[427mach1]

I use 'Lil Gun and 296 for my heavy 41/44 magnum handgun loads, Unique for my light 41/44 magnum loads. I load my 40 using Longshot. For rifles, I still have a bunch of Norma MRP, 3031, and 4831 left over.

 

[growr]

The classics have served me well for many years and will continue to do so. No good reason for me to change at this point.
Randy

 

[venomballistics]

I started out gravitating to the new wizzbang powders. as I figured out how it really works ... I load with the classics most of the time.
Its not that some of the new breed dont have a place, they do.
I'd like to see something drive an ounce and an eighth of shot out of a 12 like Longshot can. and longshot does these mutant loads without blowing the patterns

 

[JBnTx]

I also use Bullseye, Unique and 2400.

Tried Power Pistol and didn't like it.
Used the last of it to fertilize my yard.

 

[semperfi71]

I load every pistol powder made from the fastest to the slowest stopping at about H110.

I have found that different handguns require different powders to attain top accuracy with the same bullets.

In some handguns, regardless of what Elmer and Skeeter said, 2400 is inaccurate. In another handgun it is the most accurate load. I have found this to be true with all powders.

 

[Engieman]

Little bit of old and new, Bullseye in .38 Special and .44 Special, Titegroup in .32/20, Clays in .45ACP, and Power Pistol in 9MM.

 

[DWalt]

99% of my handgun loading is with Unique, Bullseye, Red Dot and Green Dot. I have used Blue Dot, but it has such a low bulk density it is sometimes impossible to get enough in the case and still be able to seat a bullet. I have a supply of Herco (I don't know if it is still made) which is very good in .44 Magnum. AA#5 is unbeatable in really heavy .38 Super loads due to its high bulk density. The BEST .357 Magnum powder I have ever used (and still have a couple of pounds of) is Hodgdon H240 - sold in the 60's but now long obsolete. It's somewhere between Herco and 2400 in burning rate.

Back in the old days, the factories loaded some variation of Bullseye for almost every handgun round they made, except magnums. There were (and maybe still are) several variations of Bullseye available to them - not quite the same as the canister Bullseye sold to reloaders.

 

[MichiganScott]

I've been handloading since the early seventies. All of my pistol loads have been worked up using Unique, PB, 700X, 231, and 296. I see no reason to change.

 

[scattershot]

Bullseye, Unique, and Red Dot for me. I have other powders, of course, but those are the ones I reach for when I want to cobble together a bunch of ammo.

 

[Maddog 521]

I use the older powders also. They have been working for many years so I see no reason to change. I did pick up some different powder at a gunshow a while back. It is Royal Scot D. It took me some time to find some data but I did find it. I just loaded up some 9mm rounds with it and it is working out just fine.

 

[ACP230]

I used Unique most in handgun loads. Followed by Bullseye.
In rifle rounds I've mostly used H4985 or IMR4895.

 

[coorslight]

I have been using Titegroup for years, and have been recently trying Power Pistol, in 9mm,40S&W, 45ACP and .38 Spec.

 

[brucev]

Unique and Red Dot. Nothing much else get loaded with me. In the future I will probably use some Bullseye or WW-231.

 

[Curt Blunt]

In my revolvers I am using mostly Red Dot and Unique, with magnum loads using 2400 and H110. I'm currently using Accurate 5 in my 9mm.
I have others but that represents the bulk of my loads. (When I exhaust the Red Dot, I'll move on to Green Dot which I already have. Got both on close out.)