Thread: Reducing charges for lead projectiles.

I reload for four rifle calibers. In order of adoption they were .303 British, 30/30 Winchester, .243 Winchester and .223 Remington.

When I first started reloading (.303 only) I used a Winchester powder. About the time I moved into loading 30/30 (early 1990's) Winchester powders were a bit hard to come by so I bought some ADI AR2208 which I could use for both calibres. When the .243 came along I found loadings for it using 2208, same for the .223 so I saw no need to change.

Today I went to get a new can of powder only to find it was now one third ($80 compared to $60) more than another powder I can source locally. This second powder is a locally packaged and sold version of a "well known" (first developed in 1933 and manufactured by several companies at times since) powder but is not named and is rated as being between AR2206H and AR2208 in burning rate (all this from the distributer/packaging website). The ADI website lists loads for all the calibre's and bullet weights I use for both 2206H and 2208 so selecting starting and safe maximum loads is not an issue, for jacketed projectiles!

My problem is that I also shoot lead projectiles in both the .303 and 30/30 for CAS (the 30/30 for long range lever action rifle and the .303 in a Martini action for single shot long range).

My pistol reloading has taught me to reduce jacketed loads when using lead projectiles so..... How much should I reduce the loads for the lead projectiles if I go with this new powder? Is 1 grain for both starting and maximum loads sufficient if I chose a mid range load?