getting ready to load some 44 magnums. 240 Keiths. I've used #9 in my 357m loads and I am very pleased with the results. I've never used 2400 before and I am curios on the differences between the 2 powders. Some say 2400 is really dirty. true ?

I'll be shooting my 629-2. ( waiting to get my hands on a Redhawk as well.

2400 is not that dirty as long as you keep it up near the top of the pressure range, like most other powders.

If you already have and use #9 I see no reason to change over to 2400. You really won't find any advantage from one over the other IMO. W296/H110 and Lil'Gun will deliver slightly more performance over AA#9 but 2400 won't.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I can't speak to #9 as I have never used the powder. Over the last 35 years I have loaded a lot of 44 Magnums with 2400 and W296. The older 2400 was quite dirty but it was changed a number of years ago to a much cleaner formulation. It also depends on loading density as to how much residue and unburned powder is produced. I like 2400 very much.

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Dick

slinging 240g Keith styles ... thats cast and that means lube. so the cleanliness factor is a moot point.
I go through 2400 like its water. its the most honest of the powders in this burn rate range. #9 ... its a close second and I like the stuff well enough. I usually use it with jacketed bullets though.

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it just needs more voltage

The burn rate for 2400 and AA#9 is similar. The main difference between the powders is that AA9 is a ball powder that is relatively dense, ie. it takes up less volume in the case per grain of powder when compared to 2400 that is a flake type powder.
Of the two 2400 is perhaps a bit more versatile than AA9 and being a relatively old powder you will find data for more cartridges than AA9, esp if load lead bullets for a rifle.
I load both the .357 mag and .41 mag using 2400 and AA9. I find velocities are often faster than the book indicates with 2400 while H110 and W296 generally produce near predicted velocities. AA9 generates loads similar to 2400 with aproximately 1.0 grain less powder in the .357 mag.

How could you load a .44 magnum cartridge with a Keith bullet and not use Elmer's favorite, 2400?

ok ok..I am getting a couple of pounds of each...

Or 10.0 gr. Unique?

What's 2400? I'm on my third 8 pound jug of AA #9. I also loaded 13.0 grains of Unique with a 240 grain bullet using published data. AA #9 can light up the range with mid-range to near max charges.

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S&WHF 366

I've never used #9 so I cannot comment. I've loaded a lot of 357 with 2400 but never noticed it being particularly dirty. It is certainly no worse than American Eagle which I use a lot of with no ill effects.

Lately I've been migrating my high end 357 loads to 300MP.

Have you chronographed any of the 300MP loads?

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S&WCA 1729

AA9 has less muzzle flash in my experience with .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum.

So far, only from a Marlin 1894C:

Alliant's new 300MP powder in a carbine

Follow Up Report on Alliant 300MP

Easy, when he was loading his ammo there was nothing other than 2400 available. Now there are many good choices, some may even be better than 2400!

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

That is a rather broad statement. If by that you mean when he was developing his heavy .44 SPl load then yes that is true. However H110 is not a new powder and has been around for a while. Keith made mention of H110 being used in conjunction with his 220gr .41 bullet back in 1968 on the last page of this article that he wrote in 1969. He was well aware that 2400 was not the only powder suitable for magnum performance.
http://www.elmerkeithshoot.org/GA/19...orite_Load.pdf

Great article! Too bad that there aren't those kind of authors and wealth of information available today in magazine articles. Now it is just a bunch of tacticool this and zombie that, with no meat. People are just lazy now and authors don't do in depth testing. Of course Elmer was from another era before lawyers and frivolous lawsuits. His articles, this included, is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

I don't think it was so much that 2400 was the only choice, it was just the best choice at the time. Whether it the best choice today is debatable but it is still a good choice.

2400 works very well with a standard primer. AA#9 benefits from a magnum primer in 44mag.

2400 won't leak out of a Lee Perfect but AA#9 will.

2400 won't erode the blast shield on a S&W329.

Neither will give you top velocities in 44mag - Enforcer, H110/296 & LilGun will do better.

You guys are taking my words above way too literally. I know there were other powders around but back then 2400 was considered your only real choice because it worked well, for the times.

Remember, go back even further and the original "powder trinity' was used completely differently than today. Bullseye was the handgun powder, Unique was the shotgun powder and 2400 was the rifle powder and it said so right on the can. Today all 3 are considered handgun powders but they can still be used for their original intent. If you go back far enough 2400 was a rifle powder and Unique was also marked a rifle powder for small caliber cartridges.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I like 2400 because it is much cleaner than Unique when used for 357 Mag loads. that and 2400 doesn't leave any carbon for me.

I use 2400 in heavy handgun loads, .410 shotgun loads and medium cast bullet loads in rifles and don’t find it to be the least bit dirty. I guess “ dirty” might be a relative term. I just never have thought of it as being dirty. Now, the old AL8 is what I would call dirty!

Blasphemy!

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Don’t know if this matters to you but I load on a progressive press and AA #9 meters better for me than 2400. It also has less flash and drama compared to 2400.

I’ve tried loading 300MP but it fills the .44 cases so full it’s hard to keep all of it in the case on a progressive press.

I wish it was still that easy. Just swing by the LGS and get a couple pounds of both..

I did recently pick up a pound of number 9 because I haven’t seen 2400 in a long time.

David.

One thing you need to mention is your barrel length. If you're shooting 3 to 5" barrels there's no point in loading slow powders like H110/W296 because a large amount of powder will burn outside the barrel.

The other key point is amount of powder in the case. These slow powders DO NOT perform well at less than near full case levels. If you want medium velocity Unique is very good and many other powders fall into the same level. Depends on what you've got on hand.

Have fun!

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

For some people “flash and drama” are two of the biggest attractions to the 44 Mag. Don’t discount them out of hand!

OTOH, the bench rest crowd seemed to really like those fine ball powders for consistent metering. I liked it (or at least its non-canister equivalent) when I was shooting cast bullets in a custom single shot rifle (for “Schuetzen”j. I would assume it would be quite useful with the 44 Mag and cast bullets as well, based on its performance there.

Froggie

A9 is one of my go to 10mm powders. 12.5gr under a 200gr Gold Dot will give me 1340fps, SDs in the single digits, low single digits and fantastical accuracy, and that's why I buy lots of it. I have loaded some 44 mag stuff with it and it performed fine but not like it does in the 10mm. 1343fpf, 7fps ES and 3fps SD with a 2.2" 8 shot group at 20yds is pretty fine in my book.
2400 I am completely unfamiliar with sadly. I have found that many of the oldies are still goodies, I just cant ever find any Alliant powders in stock anywhere. Must be a reason for that.

While it's true that the old 2400 was kinda dirty, the new stuff seems to burn pretty clean. And again, as in another post about 4895, it's one of just a few powders I buy in 4 or 8lb jugs. I bought my first 44 Mag in 1977, my Mom had to go buy it, I wasn't old enough, it was a Ruger Super Blackhawk that I still have. 2400 has always been my first choice, I have a RCBS "Keith" style mold that throws a roughly 245gr bullet with my alloy. The 2400 has always been my "go-to" powder, but that revolver has digested large amounts of #9, 231, H100, Blue Dot, and a few others with no complaints. I've shot lots of small and large game with the gun, have yet to hear any complaints from the critters about my powder choice. (If you need to see where you're going in the woods after dark, the H110 is an excellent choice, fire a shot in the air every now and then, you'll be able to see where you're going, quite the muzzle flash!) But it also seems to achieve peak velocity, if that's what you're after. All in all, enjoy your 44Mag, it seems to me one of the most forgiving, and versatile handgun cartridges ever. It will digest pretty much any halfway appropriate powder you can find. It won't care in the least. Mine seems to shoot pretty much anything accurately, from reduced loads with Trail Boss or Unique that barely clear the muzzle, to full throttle holy cr_p H110 loads that sting your hand.

I shoot a lot of AA9/WC820 and for me it likes heavy bullets, 240+ in the 44, and a strong crimp.

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Front sight and squeeze

My holy **** load, I I do mean HOLY ****!!! load is 17.4gr of H800x and a Hornady 200gr XTP. I've never experienced anything like that in any handgun that I've fired. The pressure wave actually distorted space and time. Made my ears ring behind the earplugs and muffs and scared the **** out of me and everyone else there that day. It also is quite accurate and as always using H800x, single digit SDs and low ES. I know the vast majority of folks dont like it because it meters like cornflakes and they have to trickle up each charge. I say big freaking deal, what's the hurry? I have had outstanding results all around with it, especially in 10mm and 44mag. Seems theyve discontinued it and that's too bad. I'm glad I still have 12 more lbs of it.

Factory Hornady 44 Magnum 300gr XTP claims 1,150 fps.

That "17.4gr of H800-X and a Hornady 300gr XTP" looks to be a (one of two possible) typo: 13.4gr of 800-X looks more like it...?

For 800-X, Hodgdons shows, for example, 15.2gr MAX for a 200gr JHP, and 14.2gr MAX (@ 39,600 cup) for a 240gr JHP: adding 25% more bullet weight and 3+ grains more powder just doesn't seem logical (or safe?) to me.

If it was meant to be a 200gr XTP (vs. 300gr) OR 13.4gr (vs. 17.4gr) 800-X powder, well...?

Cheers!

P.S. BillBro: Please advise me if I'm way off base here! Not trying to be a know-it-all.

True. My standard .44 mag load is my cast 250 gr SWC pushed by 20 grains of 2400) Elmer's bullet was 250 gr SWC with 3 equal sized square driving bands.
Not many molds out there that cast a true Elmer bullet. Cuz the square lube groves and square driving band are sometimes hard to eject from the mold.
Therefore the mold makers rounded of all the square corners and their front driving band is smaller than the other 2.

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S&W Accumulator

...but when I shoot a lot of 2400 my gun has a lot of golden yellow powder (like pine pollen) all over it.

At least it's a purty color.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

post #32..... 800x ;

800-x powder is a sleeper.

It has been listed as a pistol powder but it also started out in the early stages of developing Steel pellet loads for duck hunting when the pressures were brand new to everyone trying to develope a fast load that also safe.

After finding out it was good for just average loads that would bring home ducks and not maximum fps, I saved it for my pistols, with
the new improved Alliant "Steel" power available with data for steel loads.

In my J frame 38 special I found out that a 125 gr JHP did around....
Red Dot ......... 903 fps
Green dot ...... 903
Unique .......... 938
800-x ............ 952

I ran out of it shortly after this testing and never bought it again, since I
finally got some BE-86 and CFE-p to try out.

It will work if you still have some and are not in a hurry to load your ammo.

You like 9yr old threads I see.

AA#9 is said to be THE powder for spec 10mm loads. Works very well for me with 180 grain hardcast. There may be powders that equal its 10mm performance, but none are touted to exceed.

In 10mm, a faster powder, e.g. AA#5 or Unique, can do FBI-lite level loads well.

800-X has perhaps the most forgiving pressure curve I've ever worked with, and the velocities are staggering. If I wasn't already using no. 9 in the 45 Win Mag, I'd try it there. I've never loaded with 2400, which is odd since I love the 'push' from a case full of flakes.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

It is indeed. Also my go to in 357magnum as well. Clean burning 🔥 excellent accuracy. Better get me some more, I’m running low