Sitting here doing my decent day thing. Sitting in my west bay door of my shop smoking my morning pipe. Got to thinking about powders. We have done this with guns. My apologies if we have with powders. Went to my powder cabinet. 36 there. I got kind of wild in the past playing with things. If I had to I could get by fine with Unique, Lil Gun, Varget, Re19 and 2f black or a sub. Most likely American Pioneer because it works so well in cartridge arms. That’s 5 for me. Not a magnum guy. Shotshells would take another maybe. The Am Pion would work and does in my ancient doubles I love so much. How many would it take you?
H-110,IMR-3031,TAC and Unique.
The fifth will take some more looking in the powder box.
Unique, Blue Dot, H-4895, Varget, H-4350, Retumbo, 2f BP.
Ed
Back when I wrote reloading articles I had something like 75 different kinds of powder on hand. They included recent introductions and standards as well as golden oldies like Alcan, Scot, Brigadier, and Herters powders. I sold a lot of it for a buck an ounce at a gun show but I still have way too many. Especially considering that I no longer reload at all!
Often wondered how many writers had Rocky. Most of mine are old school. Newest being Trail Boss and Varget. Lil Gun too.
H4895, AA#5, H4227
H4895 works well in .223, 308, 30-30, and better than one might thing in .243. (as well as many other non magnum rifle chamberings) AA#5 works good in non magnum handguns. H4227 works good in magnum handgun loads and in a pinch it can be used for reduced rifle loads.
I could get by with IMR 4350, Unique, IMR 3031, HS6 and maybe IMR 4895
AA 2520 for the M4, Alliant Bullseye for the 9mm, nothing else is needed. Shotguns are just toys. AR's in 223 have done very well at the 1000 yd matches, guys In reality, 1/4 mile of reach is all you need, If you have a sound suppressor, night vision and know what to do, you can get within 300m of anybody and you must do so, if you must get a good hit, , cause you can't make him hold still, you cant always get a fully-exposed torso hit. People and things in the way can change a bullet's direction, so "shooting thru" is a good way to miss. You can't control weather conditions, or determine where or when you'll get the shot at some warlord type (shall we say) If you miss, it's certain that you'll never get another chance, cause his bodyguards will see to it. The odds are quite high that you will miss, if it's really cold, or the wind or mirage are active, if it's raining, dusty, etc and you try at more than 300m. All it takes is half a step, bending over, turning sideways, and hes' made you miss. Lots of time and places, you can't see over local obstructions, even with sitting. Standing, with a brace, is not nearly as precise as prone with a bipod. There's a reason what SWAT sniper shots average being 75m. Lots of such shots are 25m, cause they have to hit the head, past a hostage.
Most of what I do I could do quite well with Unique, a 4895 type* powder and a 4350 type** powder.
* Along the lines of H4895, IMR4895, Varget, RL15, N140
** Along the lines of H4350, IMR4350, IMR4451
H 4895, IMR 4350, Varget, titegroup, trailboss, 869, Reloader 22
I have really consolidated my powders.
Longshot shotgun
Unique shot gun and handgun
Red dot shotgun and handgun
Benchmark numerous 17 20 and 22 centerfires
Lil gun 22 h
AA2200 17 h
IMR 4064. 220 swift
Rl 22 some larger center fires