New guy here and first question

[Tony Z]

My first post here, though I've been lurking for more than a year or so!

I've been a reloader since the late 70's, and I'm "old school" as far as powders go. I'm in great shape, as far as rifle powders go, however, my stash of Bullseye is coming to a conclusion and no stock is on the horizon for my local gun shop! I forgot to add, I use Bullseye for my 9mm, 115 grain RN and my .38 specials, 148 grain WC. I have some Red Dot from my trap shooting days and may do some experimenting with it.

As I said, my powder choices are older than many who post here, so I am asking for some suggestions on what else to try for my "plinking" loads! Incidentally, I still have oodles of primers, bullets & brass!

Thanks in advance.

T.

[603Country]

I just use Unique for the 38/357 and W231 and Unique for the 9mm.

[Miata Mike]

Red dot and 148 grain wadcutters are one of my favorite light loads. Very accurate too.

[jimbob86]

4.3 gr of red dot under a 115gr jacketed round nose should give you about 1,000 f/sec ...... careful, 4.5gr is listed max load, and flakes don't exactly meter "exactly" IME ....also, old red dot burns d-i-r-t-y especially at the light end of a load ......

[chris in va]

I've had very good results and cycling reliability with Universal Clays in my LRN 9mm. 231 is also good and PB (stands for Porous Base, not lead) has been a good one. Plenty of recipes for jacketed in my Lyman manual.

[Nick_C_S]

Right up my alley. I load with a lot of fast powders, and the calibers/bullets you like to.

There are quite a few good choices (availability may be another story, however)

But if you see:

Accurate Arms NT-100
Accurate Arms No2
Red Dot (of course - and it seems to pop frequently around here.)
Winchester 231 / Hodgdon HP-38 (they are identical powders - often right down to the lot number)
Ramshot Competition
Ramshot Zip
Hodgdon Tightwad
Hodgdon Clays
Winchester WST

You can make good target loads with any of the above.

[BuckRub]

I love Unique.

[bt380]

Hornady manual 9th edition lists autocomp and power pistol for all their rounds in 380acp, 9mm, and 40 cal. Lyman lists bullseye, 231, and power pistol for all their rounds in 380acp, 9mm, and 40 cal. HS-6 works on all of Lymans 9mm and 40 cal, but only on the 115 JHP 380 acp round. Lee doesn't offer the same similar powder choice for a one powder fits all scenario. Lee is more round specific to determine the powder needed. That's the one size fits all approach. Lead excluded in the brands above.

[Old Stony]

I'm an old school reloader myself, and have used Red Dot a lot over the years. It was one of my favorite for trap loads for years, and I shot a load of .45 acp with it too. It will do a good job of pushing .38's as well.
Not a lot of us old guys left that can remember ordering your powders and wads from the old Herter's catalog.

[Tony Z]

Loved that last post about us "old guys"! I still have a couple of Herters catalogs around - great bathroom reading!

Got introduced to reloading by a now deceased uncle (have a few of his guns, including a Rem. 513T, Fox double barrel, etc.). My first reloading gear was a Lyman kit, including the #55 measure. I was at a gun shop a few weeks ago and the cost of that measure today is more than I paid for the whole kit, including press!

Other equipment I have includes a Lee Turret and a Redding Big BossII. Still have my Mec shotgun press and Lyman lube/sizer & a bunch of molds.

Thanks!

T.

[DAVID NANCARROW]

Old Guys?

Gee, I must be prehistoric lol. Found a box of Herter's 30 cal "wasp waisted supersonic bullets" in my stash the other day-didn't even know I still had them. Probably from my late father's collection. Odd looking bullet which narrows as the midsection. Might have to load up a few and see what the 1950's magic is about them....

[SauerGrapes]

Every shop near me carries W231, Bullseye and Unique.
Not carrying any of these powder is like a super market not having bread and butter.

[Real Gun]

I know about Bullseye's history, and I have a good supply of it actually, but I switched to HS-6 for .45 ACP. I think that's a powder choice you at least have a chance of finding. I also decided it just wasn't logical for .45 ACP to use such a fast burning powder as Bullseye. The context here is standard FMJ bullets, not lead.

I also was impressed with Green Dot, when I was forced to substitute a few years back.

I have lots of powder choices fortunately, but these are a couple I think you might find available.

Actually, it's pretty hard to find something that won't shoot in .45 ACP. I just prefer to use powders designed for handguns, not shot shell.

[rlc323]

I have had good luck loading 9mm with some old Red Dot that came in the cardboard and metal 1 lb. containers. 1990's vintage.

A link to the old Alliant manuals should get you all you need to know.

http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Fre...M/Alliant.html

jimbob86 makes a good point about it being a little dirty toward the light end of the load range, but mid range it fills the cartridge nicely and shoots pretty good.

[TimSr]

I just prefer to use powders designed for handguns, not shot shell.

I'm not knocking your choice but found it curious. I'm also old school like the OP, and historically shotgun/pistol powders were one in the same. The qualities that made a good shotgun powder also made a good pistol powder. Even todays most popular magnum powders were designed for .410. I'll bet your favorite modern designed for pistol powder will have some excellent shotgun applications. So I was just curious whether you felt that the pistol powders of today were more narrowly tailored for your specific rounds, or you were drawn to the reloading data being more concentrated to pistol applications. I'm just curious, as old schoolers like me are reluctant to change to someting that might be better once we have already found something that works well.

[Real Gun]

I'm not knocking your choice but found it curious. I'm also old school like the OP, and historically shotgun/pistol powders were one in the same. The qualities that made a good shotgun powder also made a good pistol powder. Even todays most popular magnum powders were designed for .410. I'll bet your favorite modern designed for pistol powder will have some excellent shotgun applications. So I was just curious whether you felt that the pistol powders of today were more narrowly tailored for your specific rounds, or you were drawn to the reloading data being more concentrated to pistol applications. I'm just curious, as old schoolers like me are reluctant to change to someting that might be better once we have already found something that works well.

It's just that if I don't second guess the powder company's recommendations and how they group their powders, there is less technical stuff for me to worry about. It is a preference, not a hard rule. I learn what seems to be useful. I try to stock up on powders that seem to be considered optimal for each of my calibers. I grab them when I find them available, so I am not much into substitutions and researching new powders these days. I don't need to venture into trials of powders that don't list many loads for my applications. Others are welcome to try and swear by whatever suits them.