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  #1  
Old 02-14-2012, 12:24 AM
millrite millrite is offline
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Default Best metering powders for pistol

I was using unique, but it would never meter with repeatability, so I switched to titegroup, and it meters very consistent and burns very clean compared to unique, however it does not fill the case well. Can anybody recommend a powder that burns clean, meters well, and perhaps has some more case filling capacity?
I have heard the winchester powders meter well and burn clean.
Thoughts? I load for .38, .357, .41,.44, and normally load on the light end of the spectrum. I understand that no single powder is best for all the posted cartridges, and have no problem using and keeping more than one powder in the cabinet so fire away.
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Old 02-14-2012, 12:32 AM
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I am sorry I don't load any of the calibers you mention, but for what it is worth I love WST for .45 ACP. It meters great, burns extremely clean, and has good volume (fills the case well). A great powder for lighter loads.
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Old 02-14-2012, 12:35 AM
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I use Bullseye for .38special. 3 grains of that with Lyman 150gr wad cutters.
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Old 02-14-2012, 12:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by millrite View Post
I was using unique, but it would never meter with repeatability, so I switched to titegroup, and it meters very consistent and burns very clean compared to unique, however it does not fill the case well. Can anybody recommend a powder that burns clean, meters well, and perhaps has some more case filling capacity?
I have heard the winchester powders meter well and burn clean.
Thoughts? I load for .38, .357, .41,.44, and normally load on the light end of the spectrum. I understand that no single powder is best for all the posted cartridges, and have no problem using and keeping more than one powder in the cabinet so fire away.
I like 2400 for a case filler on all----except on 38 I like bullseye or 700x.---JACK
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Old 02-14-2012, 02:26 AM
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I use Winchester 231 for 9mm, 38 spc., 40 cal., and 45ACP. I think it meters very good and is a good powder for a lot of hand gun calibers. Bullseye is also good. Don
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Old 02-14-2012, 02:50 AM
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Ball Powders meter best. W231 (HP-38), HS-6 (W540) and W296 (H110) are my "Powder Trinity" and I load everything with those 3 powders although I do try a lot of other powders. You can also try Accurate powders like AA#2, AA#5, AA#7 and AA#9. They are also Ball Powders and meter very well.

I would use W296 on the 3 magnum calibers and HS-6 for downloaded loads. IMO W231 was made for the .38 Special and I use almost nothing else.
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Old 02-14-2012, 03:03 AM
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W231/HP38 is in the same neighborhood as Unique and meters very well.

Burn Rate

For fast powder I like Bullseye & Green Dot.

For .357 Big Dogs I like 2400. All meter really well.
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Old 02-14-2012, 04:06 AM
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So "41 and 44" means 41 mag. and 44 mag. or 41 Colt and 44 spl or something else.
and "38 and 357" means 38spl and 357 mag. or 38 super and 357 Sig.

Last edited by jibjab; 02-14-2012 at 04:14 AM.
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Old 02-14-2012, 11:27 AM
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W231, WST, VV N310, VVN320. That will pretty much cover you.
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Old 02-14-2012, 11:58 AM
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I like VihtaVuori N320. I happened on some of it when I bought a used press. It meters very well and burns pretty clean. I'm using in in a variety of calibers so far, 45ACP, 45LC, 38 Spec.

Products - Lapua
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Old 02-14-2012, 12:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ArchAngelCD View Post
Ball Powders meter best. W231 (HP-38), HS-6 (W540) and W296 (H110) are my "Powder Trinity" and I load everything with those 3 powders although I do try a lot of other powders. You can also try Accurate powders like AA#2, AA#5, AA#7 and AA#9. They are also Ball Powders and meter very well.

I would use W296 on the 3 magnum calibers and HS-6 for downloaded loads. IMO W231 was made for the .38 Special and I use almost nothing else.
Yes, yes and yes. Bullseye meters real well also.

Where is the darn LIKE button?
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Old 02-14-2012, 01:20 PM
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When it comes to metering badly Unique is the standard by which all other powders are measured. Wet dirt would meter better.

I use a lot of Power Pistol for 38/357 and, in my Dillon, it meters with solid repeatability. Same for the 2400 and 300 MP I use for 357 carbine loads. I tried some HS-6 recently and it meters well too.
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Old 02-14-2012, 05:30 PM
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Parabarbarian,

That was really funny! I just started using unique again. It is a pain, but so versatile ....I'm using it for light 41 & 44 magnum loads.The charges were all over plus or minus .1-.5 and I'm using a nice Redding powder measure that meters Varget pretty accurately.
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Old 02-14-2012, 05:58 PM
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I use a redding powder measure also, and it works very well with my rifle powders, but unique is truly uniquely bad metering.

To clarify the issue, I am loading for .38 special, .357 magnum,
.41 rem magnum, and 44 rem magnum. I hope to be loading for 45 long colt soon if I can find the right 25 to add to the collection.

Regards Mill
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Old 02-14-2012, 10:51 PM
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I've had no trouble with Winchester 231. Power Pistol, which has a burn rate similiar to Unique, meters exceptionally well.
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Old 02-14-2012, 11:17 PM
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I am a big fan of Unique powder and will agree that it sometimes meters
with more variation than most of us would really like.
Now for the big question how many of you can tell the difference in
the groups you shoot with Unique and a powder that meters very closely?
I cannot see the difference even on the best of my shooting days.
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Old 02-15-2012, 02:36 AM
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Default Best metering powders

I have switched to Accurate powders as much as I can.
The only other one I use a lot of is Power Pistol.
As far as I have seen it can be used wherever Unique was used, as can either #5 or # 7 in Accurate Powders.
Now, I am not meaning grain for grain, although I have seen some cases where a book will show Unique and Power Pistol with same load.
Nothing meters as well as Accurate though !!!
Although I agree with other poster, at the short ranges I shoot a pistol I do not know if I can tell the difference with Unique's spreads of .1-.2 grains but it drives me crazy !
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Old 02-15-2012, 03:08 AM
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First, if you can't get Unique to meter, you need a better measure IMO. It runs to 0.1gr accuracy in my old Duo & Dillons. Any ball or spherical pwoder will meter smoothly & accurately. If you liked the burn rate of Unique but can't get you measure to run well (Lee is a good example) then try WSF. Almost identical burn rate & meters a bit better than Unique. AA#5 is even better, but I am not 100% sold on it vs WSF. TG makes lovely fertilizer.
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Old 02-15-2012, 08:21 AM
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I read about the metering problems with Unique right after I bought a pound and was apprehensive about using it. I loaded 100 rounds of 9mm 147 STHP over 4.4 grains of Unique, double checked every 10 to 20 rounds and the drop didn't waver even a tenth of a grain over the whole run.
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Old 02-15-2012, 03:28 PM
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In addition to the ball powders such as W-231, WSF, etc. I have found that many Alliant powders such as Bullseye, American Select and Power Pistol provide very consistent powder drops. For reloading mild loads of either plated or lead bullets in 38 Special, 357 Mag, 44 Special, & 45 Colt I prefer Trail Boss which fills the case and measures very uniformly in my Dillon 550. While Titegroup measure very uniformly and provides small velocity variations I find that it burns very hot and prefer powder which do not burn as hot - even Bullseye burns a lot lower in temp.

Last edited by TSQUARED; 02-15-2012 at 03:30 PM.
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Old 02-15-2012, 03:50 PM
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Many years of Unique with a Lee disc measure and never a problem with accuracy.
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Old 02-15-2012, 03:59 PM
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Unique has made my only squib loads and my only double charged loads. Both were obvious (thank goodness) but I have been able to duplicate them both in powder measures from Lee, RCBS, and Lyman.

Win 231 / HP-38 flow like water in all of the above units.
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Old 02-15-2012, 04:05 PM
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231 for 38S 9MM 32 380 45 Then Accurate #7 for 41M 44M 357
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Old 02-15-2012, 04:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rule3 View Post
Yes, yes and yes. Bullseye meters real well also.

Where is the darn LIKE button?
When you find it let me know. AA#7 handles 38 spec,357 mag,9mm, 40 S&W, 44 Spec, 44 magnum, and 45 acp for me. It meters like nothing else I've encountered.
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Old 02-15-2012, 04:46 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PattonTime View Post
I have switched to Accurate powders as much as I can.
The only other one I use a lot of is Power Pistol.
As far as I have seen it can be used wherever Unique was used, as can either #5 or # 7 in Accurate Powders.
Now, I am not meaning grain for grain, although I have seen some cases where a book will show Unique and Power Pistol with same load.
Nothing meters as well as Accurate though !!!
Although I agree with other poster, at the short ranges I shoot a pistol I do not know if I can tell the difference with Unique's spreads of .1-.2 grains but it drives me crazy !
I've been meaning to try Power Pistol and it must be very popular because the LGS is usually sold out!
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Old 02-15-2012, 11:21 PM
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"To clarify the issue, I am loading for.... "

Please excuse my rudeness, I just feel there are enough variables in reloading with out adding assumptions and misunderstandings.

Mill, I can relate to your frustration with Unique, perhaps if I only had a dipper to measure powder and didn't have scale I would be happy with it.

I have a Redding model 3 powder throw with the micro-pistol meter, I have trouble metering large flake powders with it.

I have tried AA#5 which works well in warm loaded .38 spl, .44spl and .45 acp. But I can do all this with W-231. AA#5 is dense and not a good case filler. I have used AA#5 for down loaded .357 mag and .44 mag and it worked well, but I normally use AA#9 or 2400 for these cartridges.

I have been thinking of trying Universal, it's density and charge weights are similar to Unique and it is said to meter well.http://www.tacticoolproducts.com/powder.pdf

My other thought for a medium burn handgun power are VV N340.

Good luck
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Old 02-16-2012, 12:44 AM
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Give Unique a break!!! It's a hundred and ten years old!!!
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Old 02-16-2012, 12:51 AM
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"Give Unique a break!!! It's a hundred and ten years old!!!"

If it aint broke, fix it till it is.
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Old 02-16-2012, 07:33 AM
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And I guess for a hundred and ten years consumers have been showing how stubborn they can be by continuing to buy this large flake binding bogging powder. I tried loading some 9mm Mak last night and thought I would use my Hornady LNL Autocharge to measure out some Unique instead of me having to hand measure it into the 505 scale. I'm trying to do a T/E on a new bullet mold and want to make sure the load data is very strictly adhered to and low and behold... The Autocharge would get it right to the end... Try to get that last little bit... and then

DUMP!!!

A large glob would fall out... I swear that once I use this last pound I will never buy this stuff again.

You guys are making me want to try AA#7 though.
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Old 02-16-2012, 12:12 PM
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"I tried loading some 9mm Mak last night "
"You guys are making me want to try AA#7 though. "

AA#7 maybe to slow for 9x18 Mak ?, because of the blow back action.
I have had good results with Bullseye, W-231 and AA#5,
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Old 02-16-2012, 02:37 PM
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When I meter Unique, I make sure my RCBS Uniflow has the baffle in it and I keep it at least 2/3 full, plus trying to be consistent on how I work the lever. Those three things will keep me +/- 1/10th of grain.
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Old 02-16-2012, 04:59 PM
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Quote:
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When I meter Unique, I make sure my RCBS Uniflow has the baffle in it and I keep it at least 2/3 full, plus trying to be consistent on how I work the lever. Those three things will keep me +/- 1/10th of grain.
what is the baffle ? I don't think my rcbs powder measure has one. It is about 30 years old though.
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Old 02-16-2012, 05:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rebs081 View Post
what is the baffle ? I don't think my rcbs powder measure has one. It is about 30 years old though.
A powder baffle fits in the bottom of the reservoir and helps equalize the pressure in the cavity.
Lyman Powder Baffle - Sinclair Intl
Redding powder measure baffel - Sinclair Intl
Uniflow Powder Measure Powder Baffle

They aren't that hard to make.
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Old 10-21-2014, 06:17 PM
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There is nothing wrong with Unique, it just doesn't get along with powder measures. Most flake powders don't. Use a ball or spherical powder in your powder measure and your good to go....If you want to use Unique or any of the dot powders use a Lee dipper and a scale.
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Old 10-21-2014, 07:56 PM
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Default Knock on it.....

When your powder measure is in the 'fill' position, knock with the handle a couple of times, just do it consistently when you find what works best.

And I use the dipper and scale and trickler a lot. Practice makes it go faster.
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Old 10-21-2014, 08:09 PM
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I try to avoid the whole "will it meter" thing and just buy ball/spherical powders. Reloading is hard enough with ADD without watching throw weights go up and down.
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Old 10-21-2014, 08:26 PM
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I hear such good things about AA#5 I would like to try it for .45 hardball loads. Bullseye meters well, but is not case filling. Green Dot is case filling but meters terribly.

I think you will find that case filling powders are either very large flakes (meters poorly) or slow and requiring more powder, which is inefficient if you are not going for top velocity.
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Old 10-21-2014, 10:24 PM
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I prefer WSF for metering perfectly with a burn rate very close to Unique. A commercial reloader shared a number of his loads and discussed WSF vs Unique. After trying WSF I am a convert.

The best luck I have had with Unique was using the RCBS little dandy. The fixed rotor drums never changed or dumped inappropriate charges.

To the original question- what powder will work well and meter well for light charges in the cartridges listed?

Winchester 231, WST, WSF would all work well with the disclaimer that some of the loads will not be found in XYZ loading manual. (of course there are several new powders out that are not in manuals either..and people are getting great results with them..)

VVn320, 330 or 340 would work well too.

The greater question is which powders can you easily obtain and work with. Powder availability seems to vary more from state to state than S&W prices..Hope this helps
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Old 10-21-2014, 11:23 PM
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Powders that meter superbly.

1) Any of the Accurate Handgun powders, as in #2, #5, #7, and #9. If you can't find a suitable burn rate among those 4 you aren't loading a handgun.

2) IMR SR7625, a great choice for reduced recoil range loads. The one negative is that it's extremely position sensitive in the revolver calibers. However, it works great in 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP.

3) Vihtavouri 3N37. It's what I use in place of SR7625 in 38 special and a 6.7 grain charge will produce 800 fps from a 6 inch revolver with a 125 grain plated bullet. Based on what I've read the N320, N340, and N350 should also meter superbly.

4) Hodgdon H110. It is simply a FANTASTIC powder for full power 357 Magnums featuring a 140 grain or heavier bullet. The only potential downside is that it can be flashy and a real boomer out of a shorter barreled revolver. The upside is with a 6 inch revolver or any rifle it is a powder that produces excellent accuracy.

5) Hodgdon CFE Pistol. I recently picked up a few pounds for my reserve/new trials. Looking at the granule size and shape it's very similar to SR7625, so I expect it will meter superbly. However I haven't tried it out yet so there is a remote chance I could be wrong about the metering and the following is speculation. As for uses, looking at the load data it seems to be a bit or a tweener that falls in the Accurate #5 to Accurate #7 range. As a result it should be good for near full power loads from any of the major semi calibers, and the 38 and 44 specials. For a Magnum caliber it's a bit fast so it should work best with a light for the caliber bullet and should work fairly well out of a 3-4 inch barrel.

PS; those who are seeing "only" a 1/10 grain variation with Unique in a small sampling really should do some reading up on Statistics. I use an RCBS Competition and I've done a 50 piece Capability Study on Unique. Based on the results 93% of the thrown charges will be within 1/10 grain, 5% will exceed 2/10 grain, and 2% will have a variation up to 4/10 grain. IMO a 4/10 grain variation isn't acceptable even if it's only 2 out of 100.

Last edited by scooter123; 10-23-2014 at 06:39 AM.
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Old 10-23-2014, 12:56 AM
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I load W231/HP38 for standard loads and W296/H110 for magnum loads.
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Old 10-23-2014, 01:25 AM
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I haven't seen powder in the stores for months.
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Old 10-23-2014, 01:09 PM
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HS-6, CFE Pistol, SR7625, and 296 have metered well for me.
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Old 10-27-2014, 07:14 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by millrite View Post
I was using unique, but it would never meter with repeatability, so I switched to titegroup, and it meters very consistent and burns very clean compared to unique, however it does not fill the case well. Can anybody recommend a powder that burns clean, meters well, and perhaps has some more case filling capacity?
I have heard the winchester powders meter well and burn clean.
Thoughts? I load for .38, .357, .41,.44, and normally load on the light end of the spectrum. I understand that no single powder is best for all the posted cartridges, and have no problem using and keeping more than one powder in the cabinet so fire away.
Tite group for me use it in 9mm,40,45 colt except for 357 sig use power pistol for that "a little goes a long way"
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Old 10-27-2014, 07:43 AM
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I hesitate to get into this discussion because there are so many variables about type of measure, technique, and other factors besides the powder itself, but "Fools rush in..." so here I come. If you want an easy to meter powder, even at the expense of clean burning and accuracy, just go with the smallest ball powder you can find. I'm using Accurate #7 and a long discontinued proprietary equivalent of #9 in my 327s for instance and am getting great results, but I can't do the same for their weak sisters, the 32 S&W Longs because they seem too slow. OTOH, I work carefully with appropriate measures such as the Little Dandy or Accu-Measure with fixed rotors to dispense Bullseye and Unique, etc. This works for me, YMMV. Technique, technique, technique!

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Old 10-27-2014, 08:48 AM
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Which powder meters best? That depends on which powder measure you use. Unique meters very well in a 55 for <6g loads.
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Old 10-27-2014, 09:35 AM
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Daboone, I agree when using the 55 as well, it is very consistent when repeating the same technique for each throw. I use it when loading on the Redding T-7 turret press.
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Old 10-27-2014, 06:48 PM
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I recently picked up some Bullseye. It meters very well in my Lee Perfect Powder measure. Very consistent throws. Does not leak from the side of the measure. Small problem is that the BE sticks in the output tube a bit more than some other powders. Not a problem. I just give the measure an extra tap. Works fine.
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Old 10-28-2014, 11:08 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnc486 View Post
Daboone, I agree when using the 55 as well, it is very consistent when repeating the same technique for each throw. I use it when loading on the Redding T-7 turret press.
^^^right there. I use the 55 and if a person raps and taps consistently it will throw consistently. I think that with any powder or meter you can get variation depending on how you throw it. I don't use flake powders like 700x in pistol applications for this reason...too many other choices that are easier to use...but it's my go-to powder for trap loads at 18g. Power Pistol meters/performs well and I use it often but it's not quite as economical as some powders like 231. My Lyman 55 does as well as any as far as I can tell. IMHO it's more the powder and the technique than the brand of meter. I like and use Bullseye, PP, 231, HS-6, 2400, H-110 and their brand equivalents but have used others with good results. I recently used SR-4756 for 45acp and was happy with it. As a side note with 45acp I can't tell any difference between large and small primed cases in terms of range results. YMMV.
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Old 10-28-2014, 08:10 PM
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My RCBS does very well with the flake powders, +/_ 1or 2 tenths of a grain. I stay below max so it works for me.
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Old 10-28-2014, 08:31 PM
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Well, I just picked up a pound of HP38 today (stealth gloat). First I have seen in over a year. I loaded up about 30 development rounds and was very pleased with how well it metered. After the first 6 or 7 throws, every one was spot on.
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