Which powder gets hard to find? How long does it keep?

[Idaho45guy]

I've only been reloading a few short years and didn't get into it before the great powder shortage that I keep hearing about. When I started, I only reloaded .45-70 for BPCR competition. Finding black powder was and is a challenge. I haven't loaded a round for probably five years and still have around ten pounds of it. I understand it keeps for years with no ill effects.

But as for smokeless, I keep seeing comments in threads on the internet from around 2009 to 2012 in which people say they are using whatever powder they can find.

Every powder I've wanted to try, I've been able to find. Some powder is harder than others since the only two places that sell it within 45 miles are Wal-Mart and a sporting goods store that has been focusing more on $200 cast iron skillets than firearms.

I was there yesterday and noticed they didn't have any WSF or Ramshot Silhouette. But I can drive 50 miles and Sportsman's Warehouse will have just about anything.

Other powders I've been using have been Unique, 231, Lil' Gun, and Trail Boss. I've used TiteGroup a bunch and get mixed results. I can find it at Wal-Mart.
I load for only 9mm, 40 S&W, 10mm, .45 Colt, .450 Bushmaster, and the aforementioned .45-70 govt.

Just wondering for those that lived through the last drought, what powders became the most sought after?

Also, I don't do a lot of loading and in the last four years of loading, I have not gone through a single can of powder. Some are lighter than others, but I haven't ran dry on anything. How long should I expect powder to stay good? How about primers?

[farmerjim]

" How long should I expect powder to stay good? How about primers? "
I am using some primers and powders that I bought back in the 60's. None was stored with any special care. So I would say at least 60 years. (except for the no lead primers, they have a short life)

[upnorthwis]

I bought some 4198 in the yellow containers. Has a price sticker on it with $3.60 Don't even know how old that is. Have been using it in .45-70, .43 Mauser and .41 Swiss with no ill effects.

[lightman]

The shortages of 2007-2008 are pretty much over and you should be able to find about any powder that you want. Powder has a long shelf life. I keep mine in a controlled environment out of direct sunlight.

[farmbif]

If your just loading for 45/70 that’s one thing 4198 or rl7 are good powders I would think
As far as hard to get stuff h4350 is just now once again available it was one time of the last get back in stock rl16 seems to sell out quick. 2400 is now again in stock

If your going to do a lot of reloading and your wanting to get most bang for your bucks it makes sense to buy online from place like grafs, powder valley, midsouth.
I have 748, 3031,herco red dot and green dot bought in mid 80’s and it is all still good

[Petrol & Powder]

During the great powder and component shortage of the Obama administration the pistol and shotgun powders were the first to disappear. After that the faster rifle powders became hard to find and finally the slower rifle powders were the last ones available.

The popular pistol powders were not only the first to go but they were also the last to return.
Bullseye, Unique, AA2, AA5, 231, WSF, WST all were in short supply and for the longest time.

After that, primers became hard to find. Small pistol primers were the first to go, followed by small rifle and then the rest. For some reason 209 shotgun primers were always on the shelf.

Smokeless powder will keep for many decades if properly stored. No high heat and avoid huge temperature swings.

I had a metal can of IMR 4895 from the 1980's that got pushed to the back of the shelf and was inadvertently replaced with a couple of new bottles before I re-discovered it. It yielded perfectly good cartridges around 2010.

[toallmy]

Well through the last great powder shortage I had to replace all my blue dot loads with herco in its place , but that's fine I like herco in the 10 , 12 , and it works in the 20 as well . I prefer H 110 in the 410 , but it seams that was a not to be found powder as well so I switched back to 296 for them . I had to pay scalpers price for red dot , and green dot ,+ my favorite powder unique along with the has mat on them when I could find them and you couldn't find them all at the same time . Wow now to the rifle stuff - how about varget to start with . I am 51 and have been loading my own since around 16 and have never had powder go bad on me or primers , as long as you keep them at room temperature and dry . I don't consider having 50 pounds of shotgun powder on hand hoarding , as well as 4-5 8 pounders of your favourite rifle powders . Just rotate your stock and shoot more .......

[Petrol & Powder]

And I'll second the buying powder from on-line sources if you're buying in larger quantities. There's a break even point in shipping and hazmat fees that you reach and that point is determined by your local prices. I find gun shows are sometimes a good source if you know the going price in your area but sometimes retailers will beat gun show prices.

Powders like Bullseye and 231 produce a lot of cartridges per pound, practically when loading target ammo. At 3.5 grains of Bullseye per 38 Special cartridge you can theoretically get 2000 cartridges out of a pound of Bullseye.

[dragon813gt]

They were all hard to find except the very slow 50 BMG powders. Everything else came and went in small batches. Here today, gone the next. Buy what you will think you will need and can afford at this time. It’s not going to go bad on you if properly stored.

Primers are the least of your worries, outside of storage limitations due to potential local fire code. They will last decades w/ ease. Depending on what you’re loading for you may run out of primers before powder. So buy accordingly.

[osteodoc08]

My advice is figure out which powders work well for you and you like to work with. Buy from online vendors in bulk to reduce the overall cost when you can. Stack it cheap and deep and keep it taken care of and it will last a long long time. Now is the time to buy. Prices have become stable and 22lr is available now. I personally like to stock H1000, TrailBoss, Varget, 296, 231 pretty heavy. I have several other powders but this could always get me by.

[reddog81]

Assuming the powders are kept in climate controlled conditions they'll probably out last you.

I wouldn't worry about which powders sell out first. Worry about which powders you'll use the most and run out of first. You can order a 4 lbs can of WST for $75 from Powder Valley and it sounds like that'd last you through just about any drought. Throw in a couple 1,000 primers or a couple more lbs of powder and it'll be enough to make up for the Hazmat charge.

[35remington]

If you load everything, Bullseye, Unique or Herco, 2400, 4198, 4895, a good metering medium speed ball powder like H335 and 4831 will cover most everything. All the above disappear immediately during shortages. Due to its desirable bulk per unit weight I personally prefer 4064 to 4895, but this presumes I weigh rifle charges in the larger calibers which I usually do. H335 is the fine metering 223/308 powder.

Other substitutes will work as well in the same burn rate range. Dedicated 12 gauge shotgunners will want to add Red Dot, Clays or 700x or similar. Herco or Unique will work for the 20.

[El Bibliotecario]

The late Charles "Skeeter" Skelton, whose estate auction number over two hundred pistols, once remarked he could load any handgun round he wanted with Bullseye, Unique, and 2400--and if pressed could get by with just Unique.

[RogerDat]

The ADI production facility for pistol powders had a fire back then and since ADI makes powder sold under many brand labels it really wiped out pistol type powders for awhile. You buy what you use and convert to loaded rounds based on grains you load. There are 7000 grains to a pound. Divide 7000 by grains per round and it will tell you how many rounds you can load with available supplies, also how many primers you need to take advantage of that powder supply. Varget load for .223 is 24.5 grains so 7000 / 24.5 = 285 rounds per pound give or take a few. So need almost 2,300 primers per 8# jug. Clearly Titegroup in a 3.5 grain .38 special load is going to need almost as many primers per pound of Titegroup, approx. 2,000 loads per pound.

You are the only one that knows what you shoot and in what quantitates.

Doesn't matter what sells out, unless it is something you need and didn't stock up on. Then it matters but is too late. Honestly having a supply on hand sufficient to last a few years that you replenish as it is used is what I would have as a goal. You open or use up a can or jug of powder you should just replace it with more until you get to a good level of stock on hand. Of course selling is a bit more limited since you can't ship, that said I doubt you will have too much trouble finding local buyers if you decided to get out of reloading.

[Char-Gar]

The late Charles "Skeeter" Skelton, whose estate auction number over two hundred pistols, once remarked he could load any handgun round he wanted with Bullseye, Unique, and 2400--and if pressed could get by with just Unique.

I would agree with that. However, if pressed to do so, I could load any handgun round with Bulleye. When Bullseye became available again, I laid in 16 prounds to go with the 4 pounds I had left.

[Retired_Handloader]

Idaho45guy, Do I understand you correctly? Your Walmart sells reloading powder? Groceries and powder in one store, truly one-stop shopping!

[KCSO]

I have used well kept 50 year old powder with no problems at all. I have unloaded muzzleloaders that have been loaded since 1868 and the powder was still good. Powder from 1880 FA 45-70's chronographed at full velocity in 1990.

[Texas by God]

I use 50 yr old powder often. Never bet on powder being bad. I loaded some IMR 4198 that had red dust in it and smelled like a cat's litter box. Velocity and accuracy were fine in my .450 Marlin.
For the OP's uses, I'd stock up on Bullseye, Unique, Red Dot, and 4198.

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[megasupermagnum]

I use 50 yr old powder often. Never bet on powder being bad. I loaded some IMR 4198 that had red dust in it and smelled like a cat's litter box. Velocity and accuracy were fine in my .450 Marlin.

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I've heard the danger from powder in that state is spontaneous combustion. I found one can of powder that was given to me, probably from the late 60's-early 70's, I think it was IMR 4895. It still smelled like powder, but was clearly a weaker smell than new 4895. When shook up it would be full of the red dust. I used it on the pepper plants, they grew like mad that year.

[toallmy]

Now is a good time to put a little extra in the powder room + primers .