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Old April 15, 2009, 12:07 AM   #1
lowbud
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best all around pistol powder

Hi everyone. I'm new to reloading. well... pistol anyway. Been reloading shotshells for years. Anyway, being that things are hard to find and getting quite pricey i'm looking for a good overall powder for the following:

9mm
32 s&w long
38/357
44 spc/mag
45 acp


The bullets I have are:

9mm 125GR. R.N
38 158 GR. R.N.
44 200GR. R.N.F.P.
45 200 GR. S.W.C.

I'm not looking for hot loads. just something to enjoy a day at the range or out in the yard.

Thanks.
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Old April 15, 2009, 12:26 AM   #2
BillCA
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Alliant Unique is what I generally keep around for utility.

But Green Dot or Red Dot powders will work for all these calibers too.
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Old April 15, 2009, 12:28 AM   #3
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I'm an Alliant Bullseye fan. requires little powder, burns clean, good universal pistol powder.
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Old April 15, 2009, 12:31 AM   #4
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Quote:
But Green Dot or Red Dot powders will work for all these calibers too.
I'm no reloading veteran, but I thought Red Dot and Green Dot were for shotshell. Can these be used in pistol too?? Alliants site shows these for shotshell use only.

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Old April 15, 2009, 12:49 AM   #5
Prince55
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A lot of shotshell powders are Excellent in handguns.
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Old April 15, 2009, 12:58 AM   #6
webby4x4
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Interesting! I had heard one or two people say that a while back, but I just ignored it and stayed with traditional pistol powders (e.g. Bullseye, Power Pistol, etc.).

thanks,
RW
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Old April 15, 2009, 01:13 AM   #7
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All pistols need is a fast burning powder

Thats why shotgun powder works perfectly in HG's
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Old April 15, 2009, 01:41 AM   #8
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Herco........
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Old April 15, 2009, 02:36 AM   #9
Pathfinder45
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WINCHESTER 231 or .....

......Hodgdon's HP-38 should be ideal for mild loads. Those two powders may as well be identical in my experience with .45 Colt.
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Old April 15, 2009, 03:46 AM   #10
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I'm with webby4x4, I get a lot of mileage from Bullseye; but, I load to punch holes in paper.
.38 Spcl. WC & SWC
.357 Rem. Mag. WC & SWC
.44 Rem Mag. (buffered) WC & SWC
.45 ACP SWC
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Old April 15, 2009, 05:05 AM   #11
darkgael
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Powders

Unique, Red Dot, Bullseye.
BTW - though Bullseye is certainly a traditional pistol powder, if you check a shotshell reloading manual, you will find some excellent shotshell loadings that use Bullseye. This is especially true of low pressure/low recoil target loads (2 3/4"Win. AA hull + 16.5 grs of Bullseye + WAA12SL wad + two 20 ga. 0.125" nitro cards under the shot + Win 209 primer + 7/8 oz. shot. Typical).
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Old April 15, 2009, 07:31 AM   #12
B.L.E.
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There is a lot of overlap between shotgun and pistol powders. A lot of the slower burning powders for .44 magnums and .357 magnums make good .410 shotshell powders. Hodgon Li'l Gun, a new .22Hornet favorite was developed as a .410 shotgun powder.
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Old April 15, 2009, 07:39 AM   #13
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for cast slugs a faster powder is 'generally' better suited.
for jacketed slugs a mid-range or slower will do better.
I use BE or R Dot for cast slugs with great results.
all I've loaded jacketed for is service/military type rounds and Power Pistol gets the nod. I'm not sure if it's a good choice for .357 heavy slugs but it will do for general shooting.
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Old April 15, 2009, 11:49 AM   #14
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Bullseye ought to work. HP-38/W231 ought to work as well. Unique or Universal should work, too.

Quote:
...Those two powders may as well be identical in my experience with .45 Colt.
HP-38 and W231 ARE identical other than the usual lot number variations. Documented as such by the manufacturers, and illustrated by the current Hodgdon/Winchester load tables.
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Old April 15, 2009, 12:02 PM   #15
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Cmon you guys, Bullseye isn't the "end-all" for pistol powder.

It's about as close as ya can get though. jd
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Old April 15, 2009, 12:24 PM   #16
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I like either HP38 or Titegroup....use them for darn near everything, with HP38 being my main go-to powder.
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Old April 15, 2009, 12:37 PM   #17
Gregory Gauvin
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I am an HS-6 kind of guy. Use it for 9mm, 9x18, .40, .45.
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Old April 15, 2009, 01:57 PM   #18
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Tightgroup for all
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Old April 15, 2009, 02:20 PM   #19
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+1 on Titegroup. Load it in 9mm, 38 spl, 357 mag, 45 acp, and 45 LC. I use cast slugs in all calibers.
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Old April 15, 2009, 03:05 PM   #20
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I used to use same powder for 45 acp 38special and 357 magnum till i tried alliant 2400 for 357 magnum.alliant 2400 turned my 357 magnum into a high powered cannon!accurate as heck also.my load came from lee manual 14 grains 2400 behind 158 jacketed bullet.1500-1600 ftps!It seems for the magnum calibers like 44,357,41 you get so much better performance with powder like alliant 2400.
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Old April 15, 2009, 03:28 PM   #21
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Another +1 for Titegroup!
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Old April 15, 2009, 04:20 PM   #22
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Quote:
Cmon you guys, Bullseye isn't the "end-all" for pistol powder.
Apparently Gander Mountain thinks it is. Yesterday they had 8 1lb canisters of it in their powder closet. No other powder inventory even came close. They're selling a lot of it so i believe it's as popular (and versatile) as ever.

Got two pounds in my closet right now for 38 Special and 9mm. 7000 grains divided by 3.5 grs. = 2000 rounds of 38 special. In these times of scarcity and craziness, I'm sticking with ole tried and true.
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Old April 15, 2009, 06:27 PM   #23
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bullseye does meter nice
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Old April 15, 2009, 06:34 PM   #24
Dan The Sig Man
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Awaveritt?

Can you post a Link to the Gander mountain site. I looked all over the Gander Mountain tha I found in google search, and cant find ANY reloading equipment or supplies where I was.

I cant find Bullseye Local at all... Everyone is out. One place said I guy came in and bougth Every Bottle they had. About $2000 worth of Powder... GEEEZZ talk about a F'n hoarder. See those are the people that are causing the problems we are having, but... I talk to the guy and when they get more, he is going to call me and hold back 4-8lbs for me.
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Old April 15, 2009, 06:56 PM   #25
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I don't have a good selection of Unique loads in the 38 Spl and 357. I use Bullseye in the 38 Spl and 2400 in the 357. I have seen lots of Unique load data for the 158 bullet and 38 Spl.

My 45 ACP data is too hot to publish, but Unique has been used by lots of people in that cartridge.

32 S&W Long, S&W No. 3 Hand ejector 3.25" barrel

100 gr LBBFP .313" 2.9 grs Unique Shooting Star Brass WSP
19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F
Ave Vel = 717.4
Std Dev = 42.33
ES = 144
High = 789.3
Low = 645.3
N = 18

Elevation good Windage good Mild recoil accurate



44 Spl 4" M624

240 LSWC Valiant 6.25 grs Unique thrown, lot UN387(6-21-1993) Mixed Brass WLP
25-Feb-07 T = 62 °F
Ave Vel = 795.1
Std Dev = 23.13
ES = 65.05
Low = 821
High = 756.5
N = 12
Accurate

240 LSWC Valiant 6.6 grs Unique thrown, lot UN364 3/9/92 Mixed cases, Brass WLP
4-Apr-09 T = 70 °F

Ave Vel = 859.6
Std Dev = 21.7
ES = 77.85
High = 878.4
Low= 800
N = 10

44 Mag S&W M629-4 Stainless, 5" Barrel

240 LSWC 8.5 grs Unique thrown, Midway Brass WLP
25-Nov-04 T = 58 °F
Ave Vel = 1023
Std Dev = 25
ES = 99
Low = 958
High = 1057
N = 30
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