Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Have powder prices caused you to switch brands?

In my '06 with 130's and in my 7-08, I like BG more than 4350, although it's a good powder. I have a big jug of H-4350, a big jug of BG and one of Hunter. And, plenty of mag primers, not as many std. LR primers.

DF

They should (hopefully) hold together well enough for some Prairie Dog shooting! 😉 memtb

For sure on PD's. I could think of a better PD round than a .270, although it'll for sure whack'em.

May bet a bit tiresome after a long string of PD shots.

DF

MAC, for your 308, you should try some CFE223 as well:


I've been buying it for $33-$37/pound. It works very well in 308 winchester rifles.

Availability more than price here, I've been burning a lot of Accurate and a bit of VV to take up the slack for unobtanium Hodgdon powders.

CFE 223 works great in .35 Whelen, too! Speer online data has some good starting points.

I wish that I knew of a place nearby where I could do an extended string of PD shooting! Darn near an endangered species in my parts! 😞 I have a bunch of 130 blems that I’d like to use on PDs! memtb

That one is a 30-30 bullet. Best not to push it beyond about 2,400 fps, which is still plenty for a deer.


Okie John

COVID got me started using Ramshot Tac, Big Game, and Hunter, VV N-560, Hodgdon CFE-223, and Nobel Sport Vectan T-7000. I got excellent results with all of them, and I now have enough of each to keep me going for a while.


Okie John

Are those “rainbow bullets” 😊?

I was at a shop north of Bangor last Thursday and was surprised at the amount of powder they had. Unfortunately the "cheap" stuff was $50 per pound and it went up from there. They had lots of Varget at $59.

Lots of primers also but no LR primers.

Yep, they work great in my new 30-30.

I've been using more and more of it, since it is available and priced right. Same can be said for StaBall 6.5.

Pretty huh? Here are some I just bought yesterday for my 2 new 270 rifles:


The prices on H powder is coming down a little bit in my area too. Glad to see that!!!!



Then I bought this old 8 pound keg last month for $200.00.


Got to do what you can these days, and that sure does include buying Ramshot powder, or buying powder you normally wouldn't think of. Gunshows or even pawn shops and local gunshops are places to look for. One thing I've noticed over the last couple years is some shops are actually selling more older kegs, or steel can 1 pounders.

(In this pic, the steel can of IMR7828 cost me $15.00 and I used it like it was going out of style. The X-terminator was $30/pound. Thank god for Ramshot OP!!!)..

Guys knowing prices are high, and bringing in surplus stuff for shops to sell has helped out more than a few guys. Always be aware though. Know what you are looking at. In the case of the AA3100 shown above, it was a sealed container, but I asked if I could open it before I bought it. For testing, I started out load development on the low end and worked up, checking velocities with a chronograph. Making sure it matched book velocities. Luckily it has been working great. A discontinued powder I have not seen since about 2010.

Cabelas in Gonzales, LA, had a decent selection of Accurate and Ramshot powder. Other brands, not so much. No primers, of course.

I could live with Accurate and Ramshot powders. They cover most of what I reload for. Could get by.

DF

Had really good luck out of Hunter and TAC. Hunter works well in almost everything and TAC is a beast in my 358. Easy to work with and consistent metering. Ive got a few pounds of Big Game but havent had much luck with it.

How were the prices?

Pretty good. IIRC $39 or so, NOT the $50 you see some places.

DF

What rounds have you tried BG in?

One of my most accurate '06 loads is 125-130 gr bullets over 59 gr. BG. Fast and accurate.

It's also a champ in my 7-08 with 120 and 140 gr bullets.

DF

BSA, I've read than 3100 is very similar to if not the same as 4831.

For sure there are lot to lot as well as mfg. variations with the 4831 family, probably with that one.

DF