as to whether reloaders will try new powders.... when i started reloading, there was hercules for pistol and shotgun powders; and dupont , with imr. that's what was on the shelf. there was alcan but i never saw any. there also was a little company called hodgdon, who repackaged surplus powder. it was in cans then.
if you open a new reloading manual and compare it to the lyman 44 manual i started with, you will see that there are quite a few 'new' powders which have developed a following.
not saying it's easy, but it can be done.
