[amamnn]

I shoot 2 to 4 times a week during the rainy season in an oppressively dark, dank, indoor range. I've found that powders I have loaded in various revolvers and pistols will produce varying intensities of flash, and as Nick has mentioned, they do not necessarily produce flash in a predictable manner when you try to look at it by burning rate.


I shoot 2 revolvers (.32 HRM and .357 mag) and 2 pistols (.32 acp. and .380 acp.) which have short barrels, and I do this on a regular basis, in --or maybe more accurately since I prefer to shoot rifles, out of season.

I have tried a variety of powders in them all and surprisingly, at least to me, the slower powders produce less flash in some cases. In the case--pun unintended-- of the two revolvers, I have had the chance to use a variety of powders--from N-110, HS-6, W231, unique, bullseye, red dot, blue dot, W-296, N-340, to Lil' Gun. For my use in my firearms Lil' Gun works best--and a big factor for me is Flash since I shoot handguns ONLY at the indoor range. The pistols are a bit more restricted in the types of powder for which you can find accurate load data, but they seem to all require faster powders. These days, it seems the pocket pistol matches are fewer, so I don't load as much of the .32 or .380. After a lot of experimentation I ended up with w-231 in my powder bin after rejecting bullseye, unique, red and blue and white and green and purple and puce dot--ha ha--can you tell I am not an Alliant fan?

Anyway, as with anything in this business? hobby? endeavor?-- you need to experiment for yourself to find out what works for you and your particular firearms. PS, my experience with TA primers has been less than happy--Yes I know about the seating crush "required" ---a little investigation will reveal that the real problem is a less than acceptable QA as concerns cup diameters and heights---I tried 4 different lots of TA SP primers before giving up on them-----