all purpose powder

[xs11jack]

I am wondering if there is a single powder that would be good in a wide range of calibers from 380 to 45 auto. I would save money by buying bigger lots of one kind. And while I am at it, I have rifles in .223, .243, 30-06, .303brit, 7.62 x54r and 8mm. Any one size fits all powder for target shooting in them??
Ole Jack

[runfiverun]

depending on the results/velocity's you expect or just don't care and are willing to take what you get, then the answer is yes.

any powder from bulls-eye speed unique will do the job.
I keep a lot of red-dot and unique around [and 2400 too, I like it better in rifles because of the pressure difference between it and the faster powders]

I do the same in rifle powders, one fast [aa-2230] a middle one [I-4895] and a slower end one [RL-19]
I can load everything I have cast and jaxketed [and most of my shot-shell needs too, throw in steel or 800-x and I'm covered 100%] with those 3 err 6 ummm 7 powders.
that covers from the 9mm through the 445 super mag, the 25-20 through the 30-06, and 20ga through 10 ga.

[Larry Gibson]

Bullseye will do nicely for target loads in all the handgun cartridges and will do for service level loads in most of the "standard" handgun cartridges.

4895 for the rifle cartridges with medium to heavy cast for cartridge. Bullseye will do in all those for light cast bullets for plinking, small game and pest loads.

Larry Gibson

[osteodoc08]

As usual, Larry is correct on all accounts.

Good luck finding BE though.

[btroj]

Like a Run I like Red Dot and 2400. With those two I can load any handgun or rifle round up to 1700 fps easily. If I need more velocity in rifles I could add any one of a dozen or so powders.

[Cmm_3940]

Bullseye and 3031 for the ones you listed

[3leggedturtle]

Unique and 2400. H335 or similar for faster rifle loads if need be.

[orangezuk]

Pistol loads for plinking, I've been almost exclusively (shy of using up odds & ends) using Promo (blended Red Dot). It's a bulk powder usually only available by the 8#, picking it up for 90$. Using it in 9mm, .38sp, .357,.40, .45acp, .45lc.

[BIGRED]

I just recently created a spreadsheet listing all calibers relevant to me (Pistol & Rifle) here is a snipet of the spreadsheet.
PISTOL (380,9mm,38spl,357m,40sw,10mm,44m,45acp)
here are the powders that have load data for all Pistol calibers listed
ALLIANT: Bullseye,Unique,Power Pistol
IMR: SR4756,SR7625
Hodgdon: CFE Pistol, HP-38, Titegroup,Universal
Winchester: 231, Autocomp
Accurate: (had none) No5 was the closest
Vihtavuori: N340,N350,3N37(no load data for 380)

RIFLE (223,243,270,30-30,303,308,30-06,300WM,35rem, 270 & 300 WSM)
here are the powders that have load data for all Rifle calibers listed
ALLIANT: None (reloader 15 was the closest)
IMR: 4064,4895,8208XBR
Hodgdon: Varget Was the clear winner, H4895 close 2nd.
Winchester: 760 (no 35rem load data)
Accurate: (had none) Ramshot Big Game was the closest
Vihtavuori: no universal powder listed.

Me Personally i use primarily Bullseye and some Unique for Pistol. and for Rifle it is Varget and IMR4895

hope this helps

[MBTcustom]

Since I was a litte whipper snapper, my go to powders are these.
Each one is a do it all in its own right:
Bulseye.
Unique.
3031.
4831.
Goex.

Recent additions that have impressed me are:
H Clays.
IMR4895
2400.

All these powders have a broad range of effectiveness.

[ACrowe25]

Hp-38/231 and 2400

[Cmm_3940]

I just recently created a spreadsheet listing all calibers relevant to me (Pistol & Rifle) here is a snipet of the spreadsheet.
PISTOL (380,9mm,38spl,357m,40sw,10mm,44m,45acp)
here are the powders that have load data for all Pistol calibers listed
[...]
Accurate: (had none) No5 was the closest
[...]


RIFLE (223,243,270,30-30,303,308,30-06,300WM,35rem, 270 & 300 WSM)
here are the powders that have load data for all Rifle calibers listed
[...]
Accurate: (had none) Ramshot Big Game was the closest
[...]

hope this helps

Bigred, just an FYI, Accurate actually has all those calibers covered pretty well..

http://www.accuratepowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/accurate_load_data_3.5.pdf

[xs11jack]

I am grateful and slightly overwhelmed. I think I will settle on 4895 for my rifles. For the handguns, I will go with the Red Dot. That will do nicely for a long while and give me time to scrounge up the money I need to fill out my roster of molds. After the molds are filled out, I want to give 2400 a try and some 3031. Thank you everyone.
Ole Jack

[BIGRED]

Bigred, just an FYI, Accurate actually has all those calibers covered pretty well..

http://www.accuratepowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/accurate_load_data_3.5.pdf

MY Spreadsheet was for ALL calibers I reload. Accurate has a very good coverage of powders, i have been using them for 10+ years for some stuff. 2230 and 2700 were and are some of my favorites for SOME rifles, HOWEVER they do not provide ONE powder that is more universal than Bullseye / Unique or 4895 / Varget. the OP was asking about an ALL PURPOSE POWDER for 380 to 45 auto. he did not exclude / include any of the magnums that fall in between 380 and 45acp. 38 spl, 10mm, 357Mag, and 44 Mag are different animals all together. if you exclude them from the list there are more powders that are "all purpose". I was personally referring to MY list of calibers.

[runfiverun]

that's what makes it so difficult to pin down one powder.
if you go to the middle of the pack powder wise [unique/4895] you give up the little cases, and lose too much performance on the big ones.
shooting 9 grs of unique in my 445 case makes it less effective than 9 grs of unique in my 44 mag.
however 35grs of aa-1680 won't fit into the 44 mag case..
same thing on the other end, unique doesn't pack too well in a 25 acp case.

you end going with what works for your spread of calibers.

[bobthenailer]

For loads for the 380 up to 45 acp, Tightgroup or Bullseye powder would be my first choice for at least up to midrange loads. I regulary use TG & BE in the 357 mag, 44 mag and 454 casull for loads under 1,100 fps.
As for rifles i use 4895 most of the time with some 4831 for the mags

[jonp]

I believe there is unique data for all of the cartridges listed

[338RemUltraMag]

It is funny how many responses are given, Me personally if I had to do with ONLY 2 powders it would be:

Unique and IMR 4198

[Bonz]

and now, Hodgdon releases CFE Pistol, supposed to handle any pistol load. My LGS just got some in stock yesterday, going to pick some up tomorrow. What an outstanding idea to only have to stock one pistol powder...

[wbrco]

Why not Universal for pistol?

[Moonie]

Unique for me for ALL cartridges listed, H4895 for the rifles if more velocity is needed.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Back in the day , I tried to use only 3 powders...point being keep it simple for more than 1 reason.

I settled on red dot , 2400 , 4895 ,. that was a long time ago now I have favorite powders for different guns.....but with the way powder is going these days , I may need to go back to my old time ways......ya know....