Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Anyone had any luck in reducing the amount of components required?

It seems every time I go to the local gun shop. I come home with different kinds of powder primer bullets etc etc. It sure would be nice to standardize my loading practices so I wouldn't have so many different kinds of components on the shelf. Has anybody had any luck using just one powder / caliber or heaven forbid loading 2 calibers with one particular powder. Same way with the primers; magnum primers,standard primers.... cci,Remington,Winchester, and the list goes on. I sure would like to narrow down some of the stuff that I use. I currently load for the 338wm,30-06,223, 44 mag, 9mm, 12,20,and 28 gauge. At some point in the future I'd like to have something like at 243 but that's all I really plan on loading for help me out here.

I've had that thought from time to time. The trouble is I can't resist trying new stuff, particularly if it gets good reviews by people I trust. The latest IMR Enduron powders are a good example. I'm very happy with both their 4451, and 4166 powders. I tried Ramshot powders a few years ago, and now I use alot of them.
I have the same problem(s) with bullets. Just when I decide I have the last word in the best, somebody, and recently it's been the state of Kalifornia, has changed my selections..... So I need to make up new loads, in this case, with unleaded bullets for my rifles and handguns.
I had about five, partial one pound cans with old powders that I knew I'd never use, so into the garden they went.
I'm sure it can be done. But my problem is I'm very demanding when it comes to performance. If it's availiable, I want it. One never knows when it might make a difference.
A more "practical" sort I'm sure could get by with one of the 4350/4451 powders for the .338 and the '06, Ramshot TAC for the .223 and Ramshot True Blue for both the .44 Mag and the 9mm. But what kind of fun would that be ? E

You'd get thrown off the looney boat to drown, but you could...

Sell all that stuff except for the 30-06. Acquire a 25-06.

Shoot 165 grains bullets in the 30-06, and 100 grain bullets in the 25-06. Use only H4350 and CCI 200 primers.

Boring, right?

You could probably go pretty far with just Unique for the pistols and 4895 or such for rifles, but how much fun would that be?

Whitedog, That's all you load for? You're lucky!-Muddy

From a different perspective ......

You are going to need X lbs of powder,

And X no. of primers

for the bullets you plan to shoot. What difference does it make to have different labels on them?


For 'optimum' performance from your loads you can't use the same components.


Jerry

No luck here. If I were to go down this road I would likely back down my number of firearms dramatically.

For a rifle a 6.5 Grendel would cover my needs. You have the option of bolt action my favorite, or an AR. Don't see why you could not use your Grendel as a pistol as well.
Pretty sure IMR 8208, CCI BR4 Hornady 123 grain A-max, 123 grain SST or a 100 grain Barns TTSX could suffice for the grendel.


Lots of rifles could fit the bill as a single rifle IMHO Grendel would be on the large end for me. 17 or 22 hornet would be on the small end with lots of choices in between. Accurate 2200, Reloader 7 or H4198 would be the powders I would look to choose from for the smaller stuff. In a pinch I think all 4 powders could work fairly well for all 3 rifles listed


For shotgun I'd likely choose a 12 gauge pump action. a light load of 5 shot lead or if I were to do steel BB shot would be my choice. Been too long since I've loaded for a shotgun, not sure what I use for a powder today., maybe nice to do something like Red dot that could also be used in a reduced load for your Grendel rifle and pistol.

I just broke out in a cold sweat

I have seperate powders for just about everything I load for be it rifle, pistol or shotgun. Seems like they never overlap even though with a little compromise, I'm sure the number of components could be reduced.
That said I am intrigued by the write ups on the new IMR4955. Looks like it will do well in several rifles that I load for. So I will probably be adding one more powder to the stable.

I have been reloading since the early 1970's, I had a hiatus of a few years and went back to loading about ten years ago. At that time I was loading for two centerfire rifle calibers and two handgun. The rifle cartridges were .257 Roberts and .35 Whelen, through much reading, research and range testing I have selected IMR 4064 for those two though I have added RL-15 but have yet to develop a load for it. For handgun I selected Unique which I also use for cast bullet loads in the Whelen. For jacketed bullet loads in the .44 Magnum I use WW296, thus I have reduced my powder inventory to four powders. Primers I use are Winchester Large Pistol and Large Rifle. This system works well for me, I try to keep reloading as simple as possible.

Kinda like me. Last count I was up to 29 different powders.

What do you do with 1.5lb of 3031 when you have never really managed to find the most accurate load for any rifle using it? Or 3/4lb of 4064 when you no longer shoot 150gr .30-06 and Rl-15 works better in your .375 H&H?

Then there's obsolete powders like 473AA and 540MS still on the shelf.

Part of the problem I'm having right now is due to the shortages.

For example, I might be trying to find some 7828 for my .300 WBY. But I walk into a store and all they have is H1000. So I buy the H1000 because I know it will also work. Then 6 months later I'm in the same boat with a different rifle/powder combo.

Realistically, I could get by with Varget, 4350, 4831, and 7828.

But I bet there's close to 20 different powders in my reloading room right now....

Streamlining powder for shotshell reloading is easy. Alliant
E3 for 12 gauge followed by Alliant 20/28 for loading the 20 and 28 gauge.


Doc

Well, you had me all excited about dropping one powder. That was til I looked at the 20/28 data. No loads listed for the old AA cases. I don't have many 28 gauge HS cases. I have about 5000 of the old ones.

I agree with the above about shortages causing one to buy more different powders, etc. A lot of times when I go to the LGS they are out of what I am going after and I will sub something that will work. What I really need to do is settle on a couple of combos that work for the CF stuff and buy in bulk when it comes in stock.

I am about narrowed down to these items.

40 Vmax, 75 Amax, 105 Amax, 123 Amax, 130 NPT

H335, Leverevolution, RL-17, H4831sc

CCI 200, CCI 400

I can only say about though, as a lot of stuff is very peripheral.

I've narrowed guns down to 7mm and 30 cal. Other than that components are all over the place. Previously shot a lot of Nosler bullets, specifically the Partition. Trying out Sierra Gamekings for a bit so I'm almost doubled up on bullets.

What prevents me from narrowing the list of supplies is the period shortages that require me to shoot whatever I can get.

Reducing components and Quickload don't go together in the same sentence.

The guy who wrote that program ought to get a kickback on powder sales, or at least from what I've bought from it's recommendations.

Good grief! What on earth for?

If you don't like reloading for itself buy store-bought ammo.

I have at least half a dozen powders I use in .223 alone and a bunch of different bullets as well. There's probably a couple-three powders I use exclusively or almost so for most calibers and at least one bullet that I use exclusively in most rifles.

I narrowed it down to 3 components:

Bullets, powder and primers...