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Misssissippi Dave · August 27, 2012, 11:03 PM

My first criteria for powder is that it must measure well with my powder measure. I don't care to weigh each and every load. Ball powders do that well. Most flake powders do not. With lighter bullets or for softer shooting/slow rounds I prefer a faster burning powder. To move heavier bullets to a higher speed I want something that burns slower.

I have used a lot of AA powder this year. I used AA2 for 9 mm 115 grain and .38 special with 158 grain bullets. It worked in both but it wasn't quite as clean burning as I would like to have. AA5 with 115 grain bullet works but it is even better with 124 grain bullet. WST works much better with the .38 special and is very good in .45 acp. WST can even be used in 9 mm with good results as well as .40 S&W. I would not even try to load .357 magnum with a powder slower burning than AA5. I will try later this year to see how good I can get it to work. I think AA7 will be a better choice since it is a slower burning powder. Most of the powders I use for pistol loads are either AA or Winchester powders. They are fairly easy to get and the price is reasonable compared to powders like VV. VV is a great powder. The price seems to be the only bad thing I can find with VV.

I'm not loading lead bullets. Everything I'm loading now is jacketed so my particular loads probably are not what you are looking for.

I also like to have a back up load just in case I have problems getting a certain powder for a time.

August 27, 2012, 11:03 PM	#21
Misssissippi Dave Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2009 Posts: 1,411	My first criteria for powder is that it must measure well with my powder measure. I don't care to weigh each and every load. Ball powders do that well. Most flake powders do not. With lighter bullets or for softer shooting/slow rounds I prefer a faster burning powder. To move heavier bullets to a higher speed I want something that burns slower. I have used a lot of AA powder this year. I used AA2 for 9 mm 115 grain and .38 special with 158 grain bullets. It worked in both but it wasn't quite as clean burning as I would like to have. AA5 with 115 grain bullet works but it is even better with 124 grain bullet. WST works much better with the .38 special and is very good in .45 acp. WST can even be used in 9 mm with good results as well as .40 S&W. I would not even try to load .357 magnum with a powder slower burning than AA5. I will try later this year to see how good I can get it to work. I think AA7 will be a better choice since it is a slower burning powder. Most of the powders I use for pistol loads are either AA or Winchester powders. They are fairly easy to get and the price is reasonable compared to powders like VV. VV is a great powder. The price seems to be the only bad thing I can find with VV. I'm not loading lead bullets. Everything I'm loading now is jacketed so my particular loads probably are not what you are looking for. I also like to have a back up load just in case I have problems getting a certain powder for a time.