how I think about pulled powders

This is my approach – this newbie is absolutely not giving advice.

why pulled powder?

My reasons for experimenting with pulled powders are

  1. develop Good Enough & inexpensive loads for plinking and practice, thereby saving pricey retail canister powder for more critical uses; and
  2. be able to backfill with those Good Enough MP loads if access to my favorite canister powders dries up or becomes prohibitively expensive

why American Reloading for pulled powder

AR has an always-changing stock of pulled powders for much less than retail canister powders. Typically half the price and free hazmat (always) and free shipping if you order $150 worth or whatever the deal is at the moment.

Caveat: AR always ships but rarely does so quickly. Don’t buy from AR if you need HAZMAT components quickly. Make your purchase and be patient – when they package arrives it will feel like Christmas.

load data

The problem with using powders with no provenance is the reloader is responsible for working up load data. Folks who aren’t comfortable with their inner Mad Scientist might want to stick to canister powders with published load data. We will use MP 414 and .308 Win 150gr FMJ as an example.

In my case I approach it something like this:

  1. before ordering
    • make sure the MP is acceptable for the intended caliber. In this case, the AR website says MP 414 is SUITABLE FOR 223 Rem / 308 Win. This is not surprising because .223 and .308 often use the same powder.
    • of a physical type that will work with your powder measure setup. The AR website says MP 414 is TYPE Ball which generally meters well in all measures. Stick powders or large flakes might not.
  2. if AR has provided a Similar to powder (see list above) keep that powder’s data in mind. The AR newsletter has said MP 414 is Similar to H335.[^examplechart]
  3. start with the snippet of reloading info that AR does provide. For example, the single load for MP 414 is Caliber- 223 Rem. Projectile- 55gr FMJ. Charge- 25gr (Reduce by 10% for starting charge.) Velocity- 2920 fps. Some things to notice:
    • the 55gr bullet is, according to a quick google, the most common weight in .223 Rem.
    • the data given is max charge1, hence the instruction to reduce by 10% and work up from there. In this case starting load would be 22.5gr in .223, then work up in whatever increments seem reasonable.
    • Hodgdon’s online load data for a 55gr FMJ says COL 2.200" Starting Load 23.8gr Velocity 2,975 Maximum Load 25.9gr Velocity 3,250. Looks like a similar ballpark.
  4. in this case there is no .308 Win load given at all. Since the AR data was reasonably close to H335 I’ll see how that powder is used in .308.
    • google says the most common bullet weight for .308 is “between 150 and 180 grains”. Our 168gr falls in that range.
    • the closest data in Hodgdon’s is for a 150gr Nosler match boat tail: COL 2.800" Starting Load 41.0gr Velocity 2,619 Maximum Load 44.0gr Velocity 2,787. The starting load is about 6% of max so I might start off at 40gr.

knowing when to stop

In the absence of published max load data the ‘loader has to determine “when to stop”.2 I have read about several approaches:

  • not pushing for max in the first place, stopping when the load meets needs
  • backing off if
    • bolt actions exhibit “heavy lift” when lifting the bolt, or semi-autos throwing brass an unreasonably-long distance.
    • the brass and/or primer shows signs of overpressure
    • velocities plateau (do not increase when loads increase)
    • velocities have a sudden jump between steps in the ladder
    • velocities start going down

Srsly: do not take my word (or anyone else’s) on matters of reloading. Get some manuals, start with light charges and work up, etc. You are responsible for your own loads as I am mine.

Also see the BSK reloading calculator announced in this reddit thread.

  1. or maybe the max that AR is willing to publicly state. ↩

  2. There’s a joke about a schoolgirl who says she knows how to spell banana, she just doesn’t know when to stop. ↩