Pistol powder supply

[Micro man]

Been viewing the upcoming elections and social issues in general and have been working on stockpiling my reloading supplies.

As far as pistols go I reload for 38 special,9 mm, and 45ACP. I generally go to the range to target shoot paper and stay in practice. I currently have about 6 different pistol powders on hand, most in 1 pound amounts. I do have a couple pounds of Bullseye and Unique currently. My question is if I want to stock up on one or at most two types of powder what ones would best serve me for what I reload.

Thanks for your input.

[griz]

Power Pistol would seem well suited to all three of those. Your Unique and Bullseye are good too.

[Jim Watson]

The last time I went to order pistol powder, HP38 was not to be found, so I bought Bullseye. A LOT of Bullseye. Either would do as well for non-magnums; and there are others, too.

Problem is, somebody will recommend everything on the market and you will be no better off than you started.

Power Pistol gives high velocity at the high end of standard pressure. It also gives a bright flash and loud report. One can was enough for me. Sorry, grizz.

[higgite]

Don't buy W231! It's horrible powder! Wretched stuff! Not even good for the flower beds. You'll hate it. If you already have some, send it to me for proper disposal. You're welcome.

[BJung]

Bullseye.

The powder has been around for a long time, target pistol shooters use it, and there is less demand for it compared to WW231

[kell]

I've had good results with Titegroup, and like they say -"A little goes a long way" You'll get about 20% more loads.

[gwpercle]

A few years ago I did what you are doing now .
Pistol Powders ...what you stock up on is related to what powders you can find .
I made a list of useful handgun powders , I load mostly cast lead bullets , and whenever I spotted a bottle of anything...I snapped it up .
Untill then I had loaded everything with Bullseye , Unique and 2400 then those disappeared
I load 38 special , 357 mag. 41 special , 41 magnum , 32 acp , 9mm , 40 S&W and 45 acp . The following powders proved useful :

700X
Red Dot
Bullseye
Accurate Arms #2
TiteGroup
HP-38
w231
Unique
Accurate Arms #5
Accurate Arms #7
2400 (magnum loads)

These were the powders I found and have tested and find very good .
Red Dot and the Accurate Arms Powders #2 , #5 and #7 are very promising.
Have not tried AA#9 but it may be a winner in heavy loads .
Good luck finding powders ,
Gary

[Nick_C_S]

For starters, it would seem it may be too late to stock up; as shortages have already begun.

The time to stock up was a couple or three years ago, through 2019.

The pistol propellants to stock up on are the ones you use a lot.

For me, it's W231, Power Pistol, and 2400. I have large stockpiles of all three - especially W231.

[Aguila Blanca]

Bullseye
Unique
Winchester 231/HP-38

[Marco Califo]

http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html
Is selling Lovex Ball powder that loads with Unique data. $95 for 6 pounds + Hazmat.
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...&currentpage=3
Midsouth has a very good selection of pistol powders available and they only charge $16.50 for Hazmat.

[totaldla]

Since the shortages are already upon us, I would suggest learning to love what you can get.
You may find some new favorites.

[Unclenick]

That sounds like a plan. Unfortunately, I can't take advantage of that principle as, just before the virus, I unwittingly laid in 8 lbs of Bullseye and 4 lbs of 231, so I'll have to shoot some of that up, first. Meanwhile, in a shortage, don't forget all the shotgun powders out there that work just fine in the calibers mentioned: Red Dot, Clays, Universal, and Longshot, Solo 1000, et cetera. Less popular in handguns, for no serious reason I can discern other than not being optimized specifically for pistol cartridges. But a sub-optimal powder you can get is better than an optimal powder you can't find anywhere. The penalty will be a little less velocity than you are used to or a little more powder per load, depending on whether we are talking something faster or slower than you are used to. I like Universal a lot because it is between Bullseye and Unique and burns more cleanly in the mid-to-near-max loads. Good powder for 45 Auto practice loads, in particular.

[Micro man]

Looks like W231 is a popular choice among many members. I checked 2 online sources and they say they have it in stock currently.

[mikejonestkd]

Micro, glad that you fund some online. 231/ HP-38 is a very versatile powder for the cartridges you listed. Its one of my favorite ones too.

[littlebikerider]

I was at the Scheel’s in Springfield IL today. There was a great variety of powder available. But primers? Only shotgun and large rifle.

[P Flados]

For pistols rounds, I am feeding a lot of them. Generally from one of my 8 lb jugs. Flavors are usually Promo (Red dot equivalent) or Titegroup.

You are a little late on the powders, but search long and hard and get what you can find. Again, an 8 lb jug is not "too much".

As previously noted, primers are worse. If you did not stock up, you will need to search long and hard, over and over and you will need to be ready to pay way too much.

Expect it to get worse before it gets better. Sorry, but that is what it is.

[FITASC]

Whatever you decide, buy it in 8# jugs, 2/case. Lot cheaper per pound that way

[ms6852]

Everyone seems to have recommended what I use already. After decades of reloading I try to limit my the variety of powders to as few as possible for what I reload, but in times like now I bend a little try something I haven't used. Normally the labels on the powder containers give a listing of their recommendations and I accept it so I buy it until times are good again.

[huntinaz]

Green dot not a bad choice either for those cartridges

[jetinteriorguy]

Red dot, green dot, 700x, clays, HP38/w231, all would work fine.

[SHR970]

Lots and lots of people HAVE to have Unique so it sells out fast. Most of them forget its kissing cousin HERCO so it usually stays in stock much longer..

[Nick_C_S]

Lots and lots of people HAVE to have Unique so it sells out fast.

Bullseye; and especially, W231 too.

The last shortage ('13) caught me flat-footed (long story - I'll just say at the time I didn't even know shortages of this type was a thing). At my LGS, W231 was the first to go. I couldn't get any more (HP-38 actually) for over two years. Bullseye showed up a little sooner.

The "magnum slow" (W296, 300MP, etc.) was the least difficult to find.

TiteGroup seemed relatively easy to get for the fast stuff. I think they produce a lot of it.

[Rangerrich99]

When this happened back in 2013, I just bought whatever became available in pistol powder, as long as it was well listed in my manuals. So I acquired several jugs of CFEPistol, PowerPistol, Bullseye, Unique, TG, and so on. This turned out to be a good thing, as I eventually learned to put together good recipes for my shooting with all of my powders.

If I absolutely had to pick one or two, it'd probably be TG and CFEPistol. But like I said, these days you may not have the luxury of waiting until specific bottles appear in your neighborhood.

I'm a lot pickier about my rifle and magnum powders, and consequently as soon as I was able (2016?) I bought several 8-lb. jugs of each of my favorite powders for those applications.

of course it's up to you, but I'd just look for the powders everyone else has already listed in this thread, and when any of them became available I'd buy what i could then figure out some good recipes from there.

[jimbob86]

I've had good results with Titegroup, and like they say -"A little goes a long way" You'll get about 20% more loads.

It meters poorly and double charges are easily possible. If you factor in the cost of guns and ER visits, it's not really very cost effective to try to save money on the cheapest component of pistol reloading by using high energy low volume powders.

[jimbob86]

Power Pistol will work well with all three of your cartridges.