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Alliant vs Hodgdon
I have only been handloading for 3 years or so,but one thing I notice on this and other forums when someone asks for a powder recommendation the more experienced loaders normally advise a powder from Alliant(Bullseye,Unique,etc.).
Do folks prefer Alliant to Hodgdon?
I ask this because in my area Hodgdon powders are easy to find compared to Alliant.
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I like hodgdons powders because they work well and they have spent more time developing their reloading data, but now I am almost exclusively burning explosiva powders.
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Hogdon titegroup for 380, 9mm, 38sp.
Alliant unique for 357mag and 20ga
Alliant 2400 for 308, 7.62x54r, and 410 bore
Equal opportunity burner.
;)
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Use whatever you can easily buy. There is nothing wrong w/ any of them. I mainly use Hodgkin because Alliant availability is spotty at best. This question is like Ford vs Chevy.
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hodgdons powder is pretty far down my list.[like at the bottom]
Accurate/Alliant are my top 2 brands.
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Some of us, a bunch, could only get IMR powders at the LGS when we started. Hodgdon was still only selling surplus WWII powders by mail.
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Alliant by a wide margin
Only exception 3031
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I have lots of both. They all work.
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When I started reloading 30 years ago imr powders where easily found in my area. Now hodgen is easily found and alliant not so much. It took me a year and a half to find unique and 2400. Now I have some every gun shop now has a good supply. During the powder shortage two or three years ago the local gun shop got a big load of Winchester powder. A bought a pound of every pistol and rifle powder he had.it all worked good without the shortage I probably would of never tried win powder
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I use both but do favor Alliant
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I favor Alliant, but I started reloading with it since around 78-80+ IIRC.
I watch what I buy for what I get also. Need to watch the pennies as I am semi retired..
So , when I see Alliant powders for 20-23 frogskins a pound & there is another brand like accurate/IMR/Hodgdons there for 21-26 bucks AND.. the amount is 14 ounces or something like that, rather than a full pound..... I decide if I really need that powder based on wallet strength...
Don't get me wrong, I have Alliant, Accurate, IMR & Hodgdons on the shelf, but the more "bang for the buck" ( pun intended..), economically, usually decides what I have around the most. Right now, Red Dot & Promo, with the occasional BEye are on my most used list, even though I have other powders to use..
:)
G'Luck! with what ever ya decide & be safe!
:)
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In my case I have 30 lbs of Red Dot, and an assorted 10-12 lbs of IMR and Hodgen's.
Mostly slower rifle powders like IMR 3031 (still have half a can of Dupont) IMR 4895, some 4350. Along with a few odds and ends.
I gave up on my local gun stores during the crunch. They had little to nothing, although I prefer buying local I have learned that I can buy in quantity and save significant amounts of cash buying online.
Some from Cabella's and Bass Pro Shops, higher priced but they had what I wanted when I wanted it so they got the sale. Then I just started watching a couple of the better outfits. BPI has gotten all of my powder orders the last 2.5 years. Good price, good service, they are located some 200 + miles away so it does not take long to get here. And they get in big orders of powder, so I just check once a week till they have what I want. When they do I buy at least an 8 lb jug. Preferably 2.
Yes I like Alliant, their data is easy to find, and I have never had a quality problem.
I have learned that if I am willing to go a little slower, and maybe not cycle a semi auto action that I can often shoot for penny's a load. 4.6 grains of red dot has been accurate in every caliber I have tried it in from .223, .300bo, .30-30, 7.62x39, .357.
In the bigger stuff I can go up a little 10 - 13 grains in the 7.62x54r and .444marlin.
For me it works. YMMV.
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I use them both, you will find that some work better than others for your application and personal preferences. I like having a wide variety of powder brands and choices in my stock to experiment with different loads. Don't let brand recognition get in your head. I like the Lee modern reloading book, especially for pistol. They list a lot of different powders for one particular caliber, bullet weight ect. It's fun to experiment and try things I may have overlooked.
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For handgun, I use all the different brands I can easily find. Alliant, Hodgdon, IMR, and Accurate mostly. For rifle, I use Hodgdon and IMR.
Nothing wrong with the others. I just have no experience with them.
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I use what powders work best for some applications such as target (match) and hunting applications. For general purpose shooting I usually use what powders that work well, accuracy and functiionality, and are actually economical. I could care less about the brand.
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I burn both and Accurate. I gravitate mostly to ball powders to keep things flowing. I like Hogdon's Christian mission statement! :)
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I have a hunting rifle that just loves a specific imr 4350 load, a 44 that works best with win296, tightgroup became my 45 acp and 38 powder during the shortage when b'eye was extinct. Unique is my go to for mid range pistol and a bunch of cb rifle loads. The ar drinks h335. So what does this all mean? I use what works for me.....and don't worry too much about brand.
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Ha one of the things I recognize in myself is that I am consistently inconsistent.
In short I buy any brand that makes sense to the purpose.
Lately in pistol load workups I am leaning toward more modern powders with good features; low flash, clean burning enough not to hang up my revolvers, and powders that throw well and deliver best accuracy.
I have had standbys like BE, Unique, 2400 and win231. All great powders. I have been subbing clays, clays universal, BE86, WST, AA5 and I picked up CFE pistol to try. Heck I started in this vein when I ran out of "the Right stuff". Fortunately I had kegs of the Clays around from my days busting skeet clays. Clays looses nothing to BE or W231 in a match .45 ACP load. And it's cleaner.
I'm not afraid to step away from the classics. In fact I want to investigate some of these new powders for use in light cast rifle loads like I was using red dot, unique, and SR4759. Not much data yet but there are a few experimenters out there.
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They all work.
Many years ago when I started loading for 38 Special; Bullseye powder was practically non-existent in my neck of the woods. So pretty much by default WW-231 [AKA: Hodgdon HP-38] became my powder of choice for 38 Special.
Later on I started to keep some Bullseye (an Alliant product) on hand but I was still primarily using HP-38. I tried a lot of different powders but always came back to WW-231 for 38 Special. Everything was great until the powder famine. I ran out of Bullseye, almost ran out of HP-38/WW-231 and started looking for replacements. I found Hodgdon CFE Pistol and with a little advice from tazman, that turned out to be a good powder.
After everything slowed down and you could again buy handgun/shotgun powders without obtaining a second mortgage......I decided to give Bullseye another look.
The point of all of this is that it really is the Ford v. Chevy thing.
As long as you're using an appropriate powder for the application, find what works for you.
Initially, my choice was dictated by simple availability.
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ehhh I bought whatever I could get my hot little hands on at the time. I've got accurate, alliant, winchester, hodgon, and western powders on my shelf. I prefer ball powders now since I have a much easier time finding powders but anything will do in a pinch. Current favorite is hp38 and the hodgon reloading site is just great.