Pistol Powders, what do you use?

[Dale Gribble]

I only reload for 38spl and 9mm in handgun right now, but I will be adding 45acp. I use primarily plated bullets (X-treme from freedom munitions).

My reloads are primarily for plinking, training. I use factory ammo for SD and other really important stuff.

So what powder would you use? I've used Unique and I am about to use IMR SR 4756 since its the only powder I could find.

I am thinking about switching to Hodgdon HP-38 or Winchester 231 (they are exactly the same powder) for all loads and back ordering a fuck ton of it, so that I can not go through this bullshit again.

Anyone have any other recommendations?

[Fishtale]

I am using Winchester 231 for 45 acp and Tite Group for 9mm and 40 cal. According to what I found HP 38 and W 231 are now the same.

[Dale Gribble]

Would you consider 231/hp38 for 9mm?

[Fishtale]

Thanks to Johnny for a previous heads-up, I recently picked up a magazine style book entitled RELOADING Hodgdon 2014 Annual Manual. It was at the Quincy Winn Dixie. This manual does have 9mm loads for W231 and HP-38 for almost all of the bullets types and weights listed. I am only using Tite Group since I had more of that. I do like 231 in my 45 acp. If I had an equal amount of W231/HP-38 I would use it just to stay with the same powder for all pistols.

[mapper]

38,9,45..
Bullseye for all of them.

This is mainly because it is what I have.

[marcus6176]

Dsh had a few pounds of clay's and that's what I have been using for years for 45. I know mapper has tons bullseye and it will work with 9 40 and 45

[Frady]

I only load 9mm.

I'm an n-320 snob, but I pay dearly for it. That being said, over the life of a pound of powder, the cost is tiny. N320 is temp stable, meters consistently, burns clean and doesn't smoke as bad with molly bullets. That being said, it is impossible to find. I snatched up 8lbs of it the other day from Powder Valley only because I happened to check FB right when they announced a big shipment. That shit didn't last an hour.

I've heard great things about WSF (slower) and WST (faster) and Solo1000 (faster). Of course lot's of people use titegroup, but that shit smokes like crazy, is filthy and somewhat temp sensitive.

[Rumbler]

Accurate Arms #5
Hodgdon HS-6
Hi-Scor 700-x
Hi-Scor 800-x
Universal
Clays
Universal Clays
LongShot

. . and several others. I'm not a powder snob. ;)

I chose which powder to use in what based primarily on bullet weight and case volume.

[AB]

Titegroup, Bullseye, Unique, Win WST, and Power Pistol.

[Johnny]

Auto-comp,lil gun,longshot,800x,win296,universal

[Dale Gribble]

Damn. A lot of variation.

Thanks.

Question, do you think the 231/hp38 is a good powder for 9mm and an ok powder for 45acp or should I look to something else? I don't really have room or patience for testing 100 powders to get the ultimate accuracy, I just need reliable and reasonably accurate.

[FLT]

Yes. No.

[FLT]

Dale in these days of short supply most of us will use what we can find. I would have to use a good pistol rest too see any deference in accuracy with any of the normally used powders and even then it wouldn't be a big deference . I recently ran across a supply of IMR 700X so that's my powder of choice at the moment .

[Dale Gribble]

Dale in these days of short supply most of us will use what we can find.

I'm using what I found. I am putting in back-orders for 16 lbs of what I want. I'm tired of fucking around.

[WinterSoldier]

Accurate Arms #5
Hodgdon HS-6
Hi-Scor 700-x
Hi-Scor 800-x
Universal
Clays
Universal Clays
LongShot

. . and several others. I'm not a powder snob. ;)

I chose which powder to use in what based primarily on bullet weight and case volume.

Lest you forget... I've also noted you talking about choosing a particular powder for certain uses because of its low muzzle flash.

But you just managed to put a sandspur in my Army boots... As far as I can tell there is no Universal separate/distinct/different from Universal Clays. Clays, just plain ol' Clays is a thing in and of itself. But even Hogdon seems to sometimes call Universal Clays, just Universal... leaving off the Clays. This causes almost as much cognitive dissonance with me as there being Hogdon (H) and IMR (IMR) variants of several powders with the same numbers and the twain not coming up at the same place on the burn rate chart as well as having different min & max loads. This hand loading stuff is not only not for sissies, it's not for the dyslexic nor for blasé or the easily confused. For something that should be so clear and simple, the people who name the powders damn sure don't cut us any slack!!!

Now, I am... am I or not... correct about Universal and Universal Clays being one and the same thing? If I'm not I sure have squandered a lot of obsessive double-checking.

[mapper]

WS,
See the last post in this thread for a powder equivalent chart compiled from msds sheets..
Uncle nick is someone I listen to over there.
There are 3 diffrent adi powders listed for the clays types..
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=546066

[Rumbler]

Woops. I mistyped. It should have said "Unique". :o

[WinterSoldier]

WS,
See the last post in this thread for a powder equivalent chart compiled from msds sheets..
Uncle nick is someone I listen to over there.
There are 3 diffrent adi powders listed for the clays types..
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=546066

Yeah, International Clays... BUT... I was trying to reduce a redundancy, not add another complication. And I read what Rumbler said... he MEANT Unique, not Universal. In the powder cabinets, it seems like the guys slinging the names are just egging us on to make "misteaks". Universal and Unique aren't much alike under strict scrutiny, but like a lot of powder names, when you are rummaging around in the back rooms of the mind... they are really more similar than it seems to me that they SHOULD be. Not that the NAMES even have to be similar for them to get mentally confuted. To ME, Unique and Bullseye tend to want to blend together in my thinking... NOT because their names are similar, but because to me they both fall in a category of "stinky old powders I don't want to use unless I really, really, have to". They have been around almost forever, so I guess I could just put them in a "been around almost forever" category, but either way so far as I'm concerned they are the same thing, like Wisconsin and Michigan.

[CoachLongShot]

I've used Accurate #2 and Titegroup and about to test out some Solo 1000.

Coach.

[AB]

I'm getting on in years and I admit I tend to fall back on Unique and Bullseye because they've been around a long time and I am comfortable with them. I started using Titegroup on someone's recommendation and I've been happy with it (except for the temperature sensitivity) for the better part of 10 years now for my .40's.

One day when we are actually able to get powder reliably again I will look forward to experimenting with some new loadings.