Powder question for those that reload alot

Cyclonus

on average about how many rounds can you load from a 1lb can of powder I know that depends on the rounds case capacity and whatnot but im just asking for a rough estimate / educated guess to find out how much powder I need to say load 2000 rnds of .223. 8lbs or more id just like to know so I can do the math im guessing about 250 rounds a can? or is it more than that/less Id also like to know so I can figure out how much it costs me per 20 rounds Thanks in advance.

swearengine

7000 grains to the pound. Figure how many grains in your load and divide 7000 by that number. Loads per pound times 8 if you buy an 8 pound keg.

Cyclonus

Thanks it came out to 330 I rounded down to accommodate for spillage and or mistakes at least its far more than I wouldve expected. does make me feel bad for the large belted magnum reloaders who use 100 grains per shell to only get 70 rounds per lb of powder.

nononsense

Cyclonus,

"does make me feel bad for the large belted magnum reloaders who use 100 grains per shell to only get 70 rounds per lb of powder."

We buy 8 lb. kegs, cases of 8 lbs. or larger when available. [:D]

I even buy 8 lbs. when I'm testing in order to have some consistency if the loads work out. If they don't, I sell what's left and move on.

Larger amounts of powder have different storage requirements though so read up before laying in a supply.

Best.

Cyclonus

No belted magnums here so will probably only buy 1lb cans till I have the bullets to load over 1000 rounds. I dont have that much brass either closest i'll come is with 8mm as Ive got about 300 rnds of that although only 1.5 boxes are currently empty cases. Heavy recoil keeps me from shooting those up heck 3 rounds of those Sellier&Bellot rounds is enough to make most quit. As far as the .223 is concerned I will only load it with hunting bullets as fmj loaded rounds are cheap enough to not justify making those. I just hope sometime soon those TSX bullets go on sale as I wont pay 20$ for 50 bullets. 15 you bet but not 20.

jonk

No belted mags here, but I still buy my 'go to' powders in 8 pound jugs.

Any idea which powder you've decided on? Once you figure out which one works well, then switch to the 8 pound ones. Goes faster than you think. [:)]

Cyclonus

Probably going to go with IMR 4895 as it not only has applications for both calibers but works best with my go to bullet in 8mm If it has applications for 6mm Remington I will definitely buy it in bulk IE 2 8lbs at a time.

perry shooter

Many shooters that shot Bulls-Eye pistol matches with Iron sighted 45ACP Match pistols loaded 3.5 grains of Bulls-eye powder. Cast their own bullets with free Wheel weights and primers at less then a penny each. 2000 rounds to the pound with their 38 specials with 2.3 grains over 3000 rounds per pound[^][:)]

Riomouse911

A lot of big magnum shooters will shoot maybe 5-10 shots a session because any more is not a whole lot of fun. Then they'll go to their other guns.

Now your .223 will see LOTS more shooting than the vast majority of big magnums will, so you'll burn powder, primers, bullets etc.. at nearly the same $$ rate they do (probably faster.)

TSX is a good bullet, and yup, they're pricy at times.

Mobuck

A typical 223 I use is 25 grains of ??. That loads 280 cases per pound w/o accounting for spillage so I figure 4# per 1000 rounds and have a little left for chrony checks. I usually buy a case of four 8# jugs split 2/2 or 1/3 between two powders unless I happen to be going past Graf's.