by plant_one » Fri Mar 30, 2018 9:29 am
i'm going to preface this based on that i'm assuming you're new to reloading.
your math is pretty much on track. 1 lb = 7000 grains. however many loads for the 450 seem to have a happy spot with lil gun of right around 38 grains. its a nice round number i guess and just as good as your 37 grain number TBH.
so generally speaking 1lb of lil gun, depending on the actual charge used, will produce somewhere between 170-190 rounds of ammo.
how much you should buy will depend on how much you plan to shoot and how big of a budget you have to work with. One thing to consider however - buying in larger containers will help ensure pound to pound consistency. Every lot of powder produced of the same type will have a burn rate that is usually very close to the previous lot, however due to how the ingredients are combined, sometimes lot to lot that burn rate can vary. buying eight 1lb containers over the span of a year can lead to 8 different lots of powder. an 8lb jug will always be all from the same lot.
sometimes its enough to matter, sometimes it isnt. There was a point a while back where Lil gun changed fairly significantly. Loads that were once safe were into the realm of sketchy and possibly scary. Will that happen again? who knows?
buying powder in bulk also comes with some cost savings as well - so for the frugal, buying in large quantities has its benefits on a cost per round as well. Single pounds of powder are around $25-$27 each right now, while 8 pound kegs typical are around $22/lb. so its not a HUGE savings, but over time it will add up. and of course, like everything else - its doubtful the price of materials is ever going to go down.
if you're a low volume shooter and want long term consistency - buy in as large of quantities as you can afford. Stored properly powder has a shelf life measured in decades.
if you're a high volume shooter, buy in as large of quantities as you can afford, and just do some basic testing every time you crack into a new lot of powder (not necessarily a new container, lot numbers are important)
if you're willing to do some basic testing every time you change powder lots no matter how much you plan to and do shoot, buy in whatever quantity your budget and availability allows.
in either of the above 3 scenerio's i would still recomend having a stash on hand equal to several years worth of shooting. we dont have to look very far into our past where even FINDING powder (or ammo) was a difficult thing to do. I for one got caught with my pants down on powder when sandy hook hit. I was so used to it always being there i treated retailers as my personal warehouse and only had a few pounds of each powder i used on hand. Compared to the amount of trigger time i typically engage in - it was woefully lopsided. now that doesnt mean you have to go out and spend your morgatage note on components now, but i would highly suggest getting yourself on the "buy a box a week" program. simply put - set aside an ammount of your paycheck, every check, to go towards reloading components. maybe its a brick of primers this week (~$30), and next time its a jug of powder, and the next time its some bullets. there's no real "wrong" way to go about this, as long as you consider some balance to how you purchase your items (ie: you probably dont need 10k primers when you only have 300 bullets on the shelf, and 1 lb of powder) but you get the idea.
HTH