Just ordered all my stuff to get started in reloading. But am having a hard time finding powder In stock or powder that is not way over priced. What is a good shop in the Dallas area that I could go check out. Also I am going to be reloading .223 and .308 any powder suggestions.

Thanks

There are several powders that will work well in both of those, depending on selected bullet weights. For heavier 223 and most 308 Hodgdon Varget works well as does CFE 223 and some others. Ramshot TAC is another, Reloader 15 I believe is in that burn rate that works well also. There have been some threads on it lately. Check the who uses R15 thread.

As to where to buy, not much help there since I have not bought powder in a while. There are a few threads on where to find it though some places are way over priced at this time.

Since you are in Mesquite check Soutwest Ammo.

can't find the varget anywhere, I am looking for it for a while.

You just have to have a little luck and be in the right place at the right time. One day, my local store had just received a Hodgdon/IMR shipment right before I went in. I was able to find what I needed, Varget included. The next time I was in they had recently received an Alliant & Accurate shipment but most of the Hodgdon/IMR was already gone. The point being, keep looking and go back often and you will hopefully find what you need. The nice thing is they have kept their pricing in line with prices before the run began.

Thanks I will go check out the place in mesquite tomorrow. Ill report back what they have in stock.

Chad was selling surplus a while back....not sure if he has any left....may want to check with him.

Check every gun shop, it is hard to find any standard powders. Varget is decent for both, CFE 223 as well. TAC is the best I have though for both. Would recommend X-Terminator though for the 223.

C141, buy a Lyman reloading manual. In addition to powder, primer and bullet recipes, it will explain things that most people don't know enough to ask.

The short answer is where ever you can find some. Slim pickens.

I was in Cabelas today and they have a lot of powders on the shelf.

Yes they do. Powders that no one uses.

Have one on order with my press. Went to the shop in mesquite and he got me setup with some powder. He had a decent selection of powders way more than bass pro had. But 1 pound max per powder type. Now I just need to find a good work bench to set all this stuff up on.

That's fine and dandy, but you would have to buy more than one manual to cover all the combinations. I won't share a particular load for the obvious reasons, but it's common courtesy to tell someone that, say IMR 4198 is a really good powder for 223 so they don't waste time and money trying to find a good powder to start with. BTW, Accurate Arms AA223 is another good one and cheaper, too.

Over time you accumulate quite a few manuals. Pretty standard, I have a LOT of them.

Pretty much every load you can imagine is online somewhere if your googlefoo is working.
If you are looking for a 223 load, check 223 specific forums for the best information.
No, it won't show every combination of powder or primer, just ones that are tested and work for that particular person.

Even then, be careful and compare load data from multiple places and you should be good to go.

With the demand recently on Varget, I found thru some experiments, that RL 15 and H 380 both shoot very well in my 308's...I get H380 for $23.50 which includes the tax..per lb..and
I also get 1 hole groups with it..w/165 gr Sierra BT ..Game Kings....Even without a shortage, we have always tried to shoot less expensively..this political scare just made us much more aware of how vunerable we are and could be..DD

I'm a big varget fan.

Yep, there are a lot of other powders that work well besides the ever popular Varget which all the newbies loaders use because that is what someone told them. Now Varget is a 'fine" powder, but there are options, Hodgon builds some great powders, but there Alliant has some good powders as well. A lot of the not so popular powders work very well and are cheaper.

I have no powder shortage, not because I had a ton of powder in stock..but because I have more than one load that works well.

OP look around, there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat.

T

I like Winchester 760 myself.

The 308 should do well on Varget, IMR 4064, RL 15, ect..the 223 will do well on most of you varmit powders except you may wish to
pay attention if it's for an autoloader..DD

Powder valley has different powders in stock

Agree varget is impossible to find. Rl-15 is another choice as is h4895. If you need either just let me know

I should have 30 pounds of Varget in hand tomorrow as well as CFE 223. I'll post it up in the classifieds if I receive it.

Cabella's in Fort Worth has H4198, Win 748, and H3130. Check the hand written note taped to the side of the demo bench (where the open reloading manuals are). I asked for the 4198 and 3130, but they told me they didn't have it, walked over to the powder section and they were both sitting out on the shelf. The guy that was pretending to help said they don't carry BL(c)-2!!!!!