preemptively choosing a powder brand/type

[440SUPERCOMMANDO]

hey yall, this is my first post here, and it's probably fairly technical for someone who has never reloaded before, so please be gentle.
my intentions:
i'm in the fledgling stages of undergoing my first ever complete rifle build. i am a machinist (9 years) and plan on doing all of my smithing work my self. i have most of my rifle components nailed down based on intended usage and taste. i am 99% nailed down on my chambering selection (6 dasher). at this point my thinking is that i would like to go with ready to rock norma dasher brass (i am using the search function here, to see if this is my best course, i also have an email in to whidden awaiting his opinion, i intend to get dies and barrel blank from him).

what i want out of my loadings; one target load with a 100-110 grain bullet (unsure of throating so idk yet if it's going to be a hybrid, tangent, secant vld, etc). but once i find a bullet or two for availability, and load that my rifle likes, i intend to really only have that one single load, load up 100-200 cases at a time and generate dope.
i also want one loading with a 90-100 grain hunting bullet for whitetail at GA woods ranges (you know waaaay inside 100 yards lol). but same deal, load up some, and generate my dope for that load.
i'm thinking in that very "military-esque" way of training my self for long range. i am not chasing max velocity, i am not chasing .1moa precision. (not to say i dont want an accurate load obviously) i want the most reliability out of my ammo, the military uses ball powder for reliability, even in their sniper ammo.

THE QUESTION:

can i/is it short sighted to just off the rip, arbitrarily marry to one powder brand/type, a la Winchester ball powder?
obviously i will have to read my manual, listen to my loads/rifle. but is it a stupid idea to just go ahead and say that "i'm only using appropriate winchester ball powders" unless i just get horrible results?

not for any sort of internal fantasy or anything like that, but i want to make my own loads standardized and "sniper reliable", in terms of reliability/temperature fluctuation, round cooking in the chamber, etc.
if you are a marine sniper you are shooting mostly 175gmm from your rifle and just writing writing writing, that is how i would like to approach my own self teaching, and just take the ammo part out of the equation. one load for paper/steel and one for deer.


any and all info very much appreciated

 

[K22]

I was in the Army in the 70's but I was not a sniper.

I've been reloading, shooting, and hunting for about 50 years now but I'm not an expert but I've learned a few things along the way that works for me.

I'm not a fan of ball powders because I've experienced pressure surges in the summer hunting eastern ground hogs with H380 in the 22 250. Also experienced significant changes in point of impact between winter and summer months with H335 in the 223 Rem. Although both powders shot very excellent groups I opted out for more temperature stable "stick" powders because I'm primarily a year around hunter. But for strictly target shooting, if a ball powder works best in your rifle then I don't see any real disadvantage at long as you take into account temperature changes.

Ideally you want to find a powder that works best for you but more likely there will be a few that give similar results. I settled on H4895 for my 223 Rem's and 308's. Although not ideal for the 243 Win, it also works well with lighter bullets. I like to buy in bulk so having one go to powder has it's advantages but also disadvantages in these days of shortages. Therefore it is wise to have a couple of alternates that will also work well. Most cartridges have a few powders that will work very well. For example, in my 223 Rem's, H 4895, IMR 4895, Benchmark, Varget, and H335 all shoot about the same for me except with H335 I have to pay close attention to significant temperature changes that can produce large changes in point of impact.

Having one powder that works well for target shooting and deer hunting is certainly attainable. The problem might be however finding one bullet that is optimum for each since the requirements are so different between target shooting and hunting.

With regards to hunting, one of the lessons I learned long time ago is that more is to be gained by learning to become a skilled practical shooter than spending hours and money shooting off the bench. Accordingly, after relatively successful load development, I spend 99% of my range time shooting from practical positions in the manner in which I hunt which for me is shooting off a shooting cross stick. So taking "ammo" out of the equation is the way I went and instead I focused on becoming a better practical marksman. By taking "ammo" out of the equation I mean eliminating spending hours and dollars trying to squeeze down another few .1's smaller group. Once of have a capable load it's time to start practicing and honing my practical shooting skills.

 

[ebb]

You could very easily with one powder limit your rifles potential. Look in the reloading manuals and listen to others that have experience with the 6 dasher. And buy 2 or 3 different recommended powders and get a pound of each. Load some and soon you will see what works and what doesn't. After you have seen what is what pick one and then you know.

 

[440SUPERCOMMANDO]

Both of you are spot on with my mindset, and affirmed my general thoughts. Thanx for the quick replies!

 

[beemanjohn]

Go down to the 6BR section and there is a whole thread for guys pet loads for the Dasher. The favorite powders are in the Varget burn range. (Varget, R15, 4895, VV N140 or 150 ect)

 

[Jet]

Don't think you need two loads, one can do both and don't get hung up on ball powders. If you want to go with the 6 Dasher, get a bunch of Varget or H4895, Berger 105gr Hunting VLDs and CCI 400 or 450 primers and you will easily get a sub MOA load out of just about any rifle built.

Good Shooting

Rich

 

[JimSC]

I don't see any reason to reinvent the wheel. I do a bit of research and see what others have had success with and when possible start with those powders. At this time you may or may not be able to find the most popular powder in use but there are tested alternatives if you go out and do some search engine research. I have always used Hogdon products in my rifles but right now Varget and H4895 are scarce as hen's teeth so my powder cabinet is seeing some diversity. I am discovering there are equivalent powders from Vihtavuori, Norma, and Shooters World that work just as well at my level of shooting .

 

[mikecr]

QuickLoad helps here. Given a bullet, I like the fastest powder that provides 100-104% load density at SAAMI max pressures, while providing known node velocities for barrel length.
In QL I can run a 'what-if' on all of that.