Powder For Handgun and Rifle Loads

[sjl127]

Can a recommendation be made for a well-rounded universal handgun load powder, and one for rifle loads?

Mainly, 38 spc, 357, 223 and 308. Possibly 45 acp and 9mm...

And, since I'm a novice, what is the difference between handgun powder and rifle powder?

[mauser]

I'll answer your last question first.

Without getting into all sorts of technical BS, simply put, the difference between handgun powder and rifle powder is the burn rate. Handgun powder burns faster to be better suited for shorter barreled guns with smaller cartridges (less case capacity), and rifle powder burns slower to be more useful in longer barreled guns with bigger cartridges (greater case capacity). That is not absolute, there are exceptions to that rule. For instance, my favorite powder for .357 Magnum (handgun) and .22 Hornet (rifle) is Hodgdon Lil'Gun. (shotgun powder).

Yes, a recommendation can be made for a well-rounded universal handgun load powder, and one for rifle loads, within certain limits. Those powders may not give optimum performance, but will be plenty functional. Hodgdon Varget should give decent results in both .223 and .308 cartridges, but you may find that you get better accuracy from your .223 with Accurate 2230, and better accuracy from your .308 with IMR 4064. (Just 2 random examples).
You will find load data for the handgun cartridges you have listed for several powders that will work in all of them, but those powders may not be the "best" powder for any of those cartridges in 'your' guns with the bullets you choose to use.

I just wanted to answer the questions as you asked them, I'll stop short of making any specific recommendations and leave that to someone who has and loads for the calibers you specified.
(I don't load for all of them, therefore I'm not qualified to actually give specific advice).
When you do get some recommendations, look at (study) a manual or 2 to see which powder appears to have the widest range of applications for your particular needs, and follow the recipes in those manuals.

[rwilson452]

Rifle powders have a much slower burn rate than pistol powders. as a rule powders that work in rifles are not for pistols. For an all round pistol powder Unique is one but it is dirty burning. a powder that will work in both .223 and .308 is IMR 4895 depending on bullet weight. in reality you need three powders. as I would not expect to get great results from a powder that will work in both a small rifle cartridge and the larger .308. The thing to do is get a data manual and find what works in the case/bullets you want to use.

Powder For Handgun and Rifle Loads
Can a recommendation be made for a well-rounded universal handgun load powder, and one for rifle loads?

Mainly, 38 spc, 357, 223 and 308. Possibly 45 acp and 9mm...

And, since I'm a novice, what is the difference between handgun powder and rifle powder?

[Xringshooter]

For handgun: Unique, Lil Gun, Tite Group, RedDot, Solo 1000, 296, 2400 all depending on what you are loading.

For 223/308: Varget, IMR4895 are both very good.

If you want to see the relative burn rates for powders you can find a bunch of places on the web that will show them in a variety of formats (by burn rate-all powders, by burn rate-individual manufactures, etc).

[bert304]

For 38 spec I use Win 231 powder and HP38 ( which by the way was made for the 38 spec). For .223 I have several powders Benchmark, Varget, RL15, RL10 and BLC-(2). I do not shoot .308 but I do shoot 7mm-08, for 7mm-08 I use Varget.

What you will find is you will buy powder to try and it may not work to well in your firearm.

[rwilson452]

for burn rates try here:

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/general/burnratechart.php

[mauser]

For handgun: Unique, Lil Gun, Tite Group, RedDot, Solo 1000, 296, 2400 all depending on what you are loading.

For 223/308: Varget, IMR4895 are both very good.

If you want to see the relative burn rates for powders you can find a bunch of places on the web that will show them in a variety of formats (by burn rate-all powders, by burn rate-individual manufactures, etc).

I have to add my 2¢ here.
Lil'Gun will not work in 38 Special or 9mm, and probably not in 45ACP. It will work great in magnum handgun cartridges, that's all I use in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. I know for a fact that it does not perform in 38 Special, I had to find out for myself. I called Hodgdon and asked them how it would perform in 38 Sp. and I was told that the 38 Sp. cartridge will not build enough pressure to give complete, consistent combustion, and it will probably cause squibs.
He was exactly right. I loaded 5 each of several different powder charges and headed to the range with my chronograph and some tools (including a wooden dowel rod and a small hammer). The velocities were anywhere from a bit under 300 FPS to around 700 FPS and everywhere in between. Out of 25 rounds I had 5 squibs.
There are no loads listed anywhere (that I've been able to find) for Lil'Gun in automatic pistol cartridges, or revolver cartridges other than magnums. There's a good reason for that.

[daschnoz]

HS-6 will cover all of your listed pistol calibers. You don't get great velocities with it in the 357, but it should be fine for a sunny afternoon at the range. HS-6 is my first choice for my 9mm loads.

For your .223 and .308, many people have reported excellent results with W748 or BL-C(2) in both calibers.

At bare minimum, it looks like you're going to end up with 2 powders on your shelf. For better performance in the 357, you will want a 3rd powder on the shelf - a slower pistol powder.



I think every reloader has this same thought.... what if I can find a powder that I can load EVERYTHING with....

I had that thought at one time too.

In the end, I ended up with a minimum of 3 powders:

Unique
- 32ACP, 380ACP, & 9mm
Reloader 7
- 7.62x39
- .308Win with light weight bullets (150gr and under)
IMR-4895
- .308Win with heavier bullets (150gr and higher)

The list above is the bare minimum I need to cover all the bases and not sacrifice performance. In reality, I could probably use the 4895 in the AK if I run out of Rx-7 and really needed to load up some AK ammo - only sacrificing a bit of velocity.

[sluggie24]

I use IMR4895 to reload .223, .308 and 7.62x54R. It works great with no problems whatsoever. Just make sure you follow a good reloading manual. I wouldn't hesitate to try it out and see if you like it.

I can't comment on a good powder for handgun as I have not started loading my own for them yet. I would however look in a good reloading manual as they will have tables with recommendations for the better powders.

I use the Hornady book myself.