How to start

[white eagle]

So how do you go about deciding on the powder and charge weight when you go smokeless?
I am thinking of going with the 45 cal.

 

[ENCORE50A]

All depends on the build. The charges and bullet weights I can shoot in DUNAMIS, could never be shot in light contour or barrel nut rifles.

From that point, normally asking gets some responses.

 

[ElDiablo]

Look at the pressure traces on Doug’s.

 

[LBAhunter]

Specs of the build will help.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I struggled with the same questions. After talking to the barrel supplier and breech plug builder to learn what the max safe pressure is, i bought the Quick Loads program and started a list of the most commonly used powders. I looked at lots of the traces listed on Dougs Message board. I thought about what type and weight bullets that i wanted to shoot and compared that to the loads and traces others were using. Then, after kind of figuring which powders would work well with the bullets i was going to shoot, i started searching for powders. I have a Brux .45 1:20” 23” barrel nut in a Rem 700 so i would keep my pressures below 40k. With 350 gr bullets i decided to try smaller loads of slower burning powders. I kind of wanted to stay away from Hodgdon owned powders but thats not really feasible. Anyway i narrowed it down to 2015, n120, n133, n530, and imr4198. Could not get the n530 so i started with imr4198 and 2015. I then ran a lot of loads thru QL to try and get an idea of where i might be pressure and speed wise. Then it just came down to loading up and shooting, and see what happened. Im still in the see what happens phase. Im looking strictly at group size because i haven't bought a chronograph yet. I try out my loads in both a 700 and a Scout 45/70 conversions to see which gun likes which loads better.
1) Figure what build you want/like. Bolt or break action.
2) what bullet(s) you want to shoot. Also how far you want to shoot them. They may not be ideal for your wants/needs.
3) research and ask questions more specific to what you're going to shoot.

Since i want to get away from BH209 and Hodgdon brands, Im looking for smokeless loads for mid to heavy lead bullets. So im experimenting with powder coating, gas checks and light loads of slow burning powders.
Imho, you need to define what you want to accomplish first and then build toward that goal.

 

[ElDiablo]

1) Figure what build you want/like. Bolt or break action.
2) what bullet(s) you want to shoot. Also how far you want to shoot them. They may not be ideal for your wants/needs.
3) research and ask questions more specific to what you're going to shoot.

Imho, you need to define what you want to accomplish first and then build toward that goal.

^^ This!