One powder for everything

[walnutred]

On October of 2008 I panic bought two 8 lb kegs of powder, one of which was Bullseye, and two sleeves of primers. A few months later I sold the other keg and half the primers for about what I had in the whole order because by then everyone was in a panic.

Bullseye is not the only powder I use, but I do use it for cast bullets in 32 Long, 9x17, 9x18, 9x19, 38 S&W and 38 Special which covers a lot of what I shoot that I reload for. At that time I also bought a couple small cans of 231 which handles the 45 ACP and 45 Colt. I'm not saying I believe in only having one powder as I probably have around 18 different types of powder on my reloading shelf. However based on what I'm seeing in stores and online reloading is no longer a question of "What combination of components will work best in my particular firearm". The question has become "Given what components are available what is the best load I can develop?".

 

[sw282]

'0nly 0ne powder' is like saying'0nly 0ne gun'......lt aint gonna happen

 

[Nemo288]

But beware of the man who uses only one gun!

(And it would be Unique for me).
Universal (ADI AP70N) hasn't been made for over a year due to problems at the Australian plant where
it is created.

ADI manufacturing problems

I like it too but it will also leave unburned flakes at lower pressure albeit much smaller ones.

===
Nemo

 

[rwsmith]

Well, now I do too.

Mr. Smith, I'm with you but I like to keep some 2400 around also.

I got into .357 just a few years ago. After using just Unique and BE in .38 for over 25 years I now have 2400. And I like it.


PS I also got by with only IMR4895 for rifle about the same length of time. 4895 was versatile enough (!) to move a .30-06 at around 2200fps, but when the shortage hit, I started using lead in the rifle and the SR4759 proved to be really neat stuff for 1800 fps in the same rifle.

 

[Moe Mentum]

Maybe one powder can cover pistols, but when you are reloading for pistols, shotguns, and rifles its impossible to use just one powder.

 

[gregintenn]

It sure seems like you'd be giving up one of the main benefits of reloading, which is versatility, by not stocking several powders.

 

[fredj338]

It sure seems like you'd be giving up one of the main benefits of reloading, which is versatility, by not stocking several powders.

This all depends on how many diff calibers you load for. If its just 9mm & 45, easy to get just one powder to work. If you load for 10 + handgun, one powder is a huge compromise. Same for rifle; load sim case cap/calibers, you can get by with one. Load for say 223 & 06, much harder to get by w/o compromise. If forced by availability or regulation, I could get by with one rile & one pistol powder for all 24+ calibers I load for, but I would never get the most out of many of the calibers I own.

 

[gregintenn]

This all depends on how many diff calibers you load for. If its just 9mm & 45, easy to get just one powder to work. If you load for 10 + handgun, one powder is a huge compromise. Same for rifle; load sim case cap/calibers, you can get by with one. Load for say 223 & 06, much harder to get by w/o compromise. If forced by availability or regulation, I could get by with one rile & one pistol powder for all 24+ calibers I load for, but I would never get the most out of many of the calibers I own.

I'm loading for a bunch of different calibers. I guess that is something I took for granted that every reloader did.