Economical Powder Choice Spreadsheet?

[jkpq45]

Is there a spreadsheet floating around out there to calculate the cents-per-loaded-round based on which powder is picked?

I ask because I'm about to create one (taking into account different charges, weighing performance/potential accuracy, etc.) and didn't want to reinvent the wheel.

My upcoming trip to Powder Valley says it's time to make a decision....

Thanks!
jkpq45

[Cherokee]

That would be a big spreadsheet so many variables. Look at your manual for the cartridge for the powder requiring the least amount of powder to provide the performance you want. Cost depends on where and how you buy it.

[jkpq45]

Nevermind; made one myself.

It utilizes the inventory at Powder Valley--there are flydown menus to pick which powder you're using and in what quantity you'll be purchasing. Manually enter charge weight per cartridge and it'll calculate powder-cost-per-cartridge as well as powder-cost-per-thousand-rounds.

It doesn't take into account HAZMAT, tax, etc.--but it's a fun start. Enjoy!

Just follow the link and hit File->Download to save yourself a copy and start playing.

Reloading Powder Economics.xlsx (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9CVQ-oEZUA1c2lJVzQyYXRJSE0)

[jkpq45]

That would be a big spreadsheet so many variables. Look at your manual for the cartridge for the powder requiring the least amount of powder to provide the performance you want. Cost depends on where and how you buy it.

Agreed, Cherokee. It's a big task. But, if you'll examine the spreadsheet I posted above, you'll notice the least charge weight doesn't always equal the least cost due to varying costs of materials.

[rsrocket1]

So much depends on what you want to get out of the powder. For pistols, if you want max power, you want a "low pressure/slower" powder that allows you to pack a lot into the case, push the bullet fast and not exceed the max pressure specs. For a low recoil load, you want a "high pressure/fast" load that seals the case, bumps the boolit without making it go too fast. A mid range powder lets you go slightly in either direction, but not all the way.

For instance, with 180g 40 S&W if you used 5g Unique or Universal as the typical load of a mid range type of powder, you could go down about 1g or up almost 1g and still have a "shootable" load. If you want a full power load, you would use something like Power Pistol, but you would need over 7g for that and PP does not like loads considerably below max loads (lots of muzzle flash and unburned powder). On the slow bullet side, 3.0g Clays makes for a very light recoil and complete burning of the powder with a non-sooty case.

From a cost/lb standpoint, Clays is the most expensive powder, but you use less than half of what you would use with Power Pistol. Bullseye is priced the same as Unique, but you use about 10% less powder for almost the exact same velocity charge. Unique is a pretty forgiving powder which usually gives a clear indication of an accidental double charge in the case. Being that a pistol powder is about the least expensive component per shot (about $0.01), I would definitely prefer to spend $20-$30 more per jug (about 1/10 of a penny per shot) for a powder that I prefer.
Now you can multiply the difference by 8 with a rifle powder, but that still makes the difference pretty small.

What I do is to buy an 8# jug of the mid range powder and 1 pound cans of the fast and slow powders (actually now I load for shotgun so I simply chose Clays because there are so many pistol loads for it already available and one shotshell load = 6 pistol loads)

[bowenrd]

A speadsheet would be obsolete in a manner of hours or a few days due to price change.

[sthwestvictoria]

This a link to a spreadsheet on an Australian forum about estimating reloading cost:

http://www.shooting.com.au/forum/index.php?/topic/13766-ammunition-cost-to-reload-calculator/

[btroj]

Cost alone isn't a valid method of determining a powder to purchase. A cheap powder that is a poor performer in the chosen load isn't really a "good buy" is it?
Like with bullet moulds, I buy based on application, not cost or other factors.

Buy a powder that does what you need. Costing a lower cost alternative that suits the application is good but don't lower the expectations or needs of the application soley to save a few bucks.

The term false economy exists for a reason......

[sthwestvictoria]

This is a helpful table from Barry Wilmot's book An Australians Reloading Guide for determining how many reloads per pound.

54234

[dragon813gt]

Why bother with a spreadsheet? There are 7000 grains per pound. Divide this by your charge weight to get loads per pound. Then take the powder cost per pound and divide it by the loads per pound. Takes about 10 seconds and once you have the loads per pound you can run down the list of powders quickly.

The costs change to often to make a spreadsheet viable. You do have to know powder charges for the powders you're looking at though.


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[runfiverun]

i can save you a lot of time.
faster powders take less to reach the same pressure as slow ones do.
if you wanna save money on powder use a fast one for the caliber,and use medium loads.
personally i find the faster powders to be a false economy most of the time.

[noylj]

For normal handguns, the difference between the 1 cent for "cheap" powder and the 2 cents for "god awful expensive" powder just doesn't make that big a difference, except for the initial outlay.
Most powder prices seem to fall into three levels:
Mil surplus
Normal
VV powders

[Cherokee]

jkpq45 - I follow the routine of calculating based on 7000 gr per lb. when I do it. Thanks for the info.

[jkpq45]

Agreed re: pistol cartridges not making a lot of difference--powder cost is minimal.

For all those who are saying a spreadsheet is worthless--the one I created opened my eyes to exactly how inexpensive a reduced-load in a rifle cartridge using fast "pistol powder" is versus a premium rifle powder.

For example: .308 Win using a Lee 309-150-F FNGC.
Hodgdon Varget can push that projectile to 2914 FPS, at a powder cost of $129.59 per thousand rounds.
Hodgdon Clays can push that projectile to 1260 FPS, at a powder cost of $16.57 per thousand rounds.

For someone like me who can run through several hundred rounds on "Any Given Sunday," my wallet and my shoulder have thanked me for developing this tool for comparison.

[375RUGER]

In 1993 I made spreadsheets that caluculated ammo cost and the price to charge for said ammo. I'll send it to you if you want, I updated it recently. It works if you want to load 1 round or 1,000,000. It tells the whole cost brass, primers, powder, boolits and gas checks. Your's tells little more than if you buy 1 each 8# keg you save money instead of buying 8 each 1# cans. I can tell you right now without looking that Unique cost $120/8# and I can load 5600 shells with 10g charge. I also know that Varget cost $145/8# and I can load about 1100 50g charges with it.

Reference page one of your spreadsheet, are you really concerned about $2/c for powder when primers cost $2.50-$3.80 /c? Why use a powder that might not be the best for your cartridge when you can save $1.80 by switching to Winchester primers.

Efficiency be damned, it's results we're after. You should look at surplus powder- I can stuff 80g into a rifle case for less than $.07 per round.

[sthwestvictoria]

the one I created opened my eyes to exactly how inexpensive a reduced-load in a rifle cartridge using fast "pistol powder" is versus a premium rifle powder.


Absolutely. I have been using the Lee TL314-90-SWC (plain base) with 7.0grains TrailBoss which is about inexpensive reloading as one can get for 30-30.

1500 grams = 23100 grains in 1.5kg of trailboss
This gives 3300 loads at 7 grains a piece. At $AUD95 for 1.5kg this is 2.8 cents per reload

Compared to
7715 grains in 500g 2208 - 244 loadings of 31.5grains for my 30-30
At $48 per 500grams this is 19.5 cents per reload. In addition with a full house round one needs to factor in the GC or jacketed projectile to the cost.

Casting has brought me a lot more shooting compared to my prior un-enlighted days of jacketed only shooting.

[ku4hx]

Being a scrounger from way back (40+ years), I'm always concerned with highest value, i.e. most bang for the buck. I do my homework and buy the powder and primers I want in the most economical way possible at that time. But after I have what I need, I forget the cost and just load and shoot. I don't calculate my cost per mile every mile I drive after filling up my truck (gasoline cost varies widely as we all know) and I don't calculate the cost per shot when I take any gun of mine for a "drive" either. I did the "cost analysis" at time of purchase and continuing to do so serves no purpose for me.

I do track usage very closely since I have a strong aversion to running out of anything.