I know this might open up a can of worms but I am curious to see what powders people prefer for light handgun loads. I use Bullseye and Unique mostly for my light 38 special,40 S&W and 10mm loads. I have even tried some Power Pistol reduced loads. What I don't like about Bullseye is its dirty and Unique to a lesser extent but they work great for what I do. I use lead bullets for all my light loads and I always work down slowly for safety and reliablity but I am open to trying other powders if I know they work well. I am just curious to see what more people use and how does it work for you.

Unique is my choice. I clean my guns after anyway.

231 in 38 and Unique in 41, 44 and 45 Colt.

One powder that is a sleeper due to cost or what ever is........
Trail Boss.

I have used it with 125gr lead to 158gr lead bullets in my 38 special loads as well as in my .357 magnum for great target loads as well as super light low recoil loads.
One thing I like is how it fills the case..........a great beginners powder or for those that like a case 65% or more full of powder for safety reasons so a double charge can not happen.
2.5grs with a 148 HBwc for a super lite load for a 38 spl. and 3.3grs with the 158 LRN is also very soft in recoil and great accuracy in my snubs and 6" revolvers.

This and Bullseye are my go to lead bullet powders, now.

i use aa number 2 in 38,9mm, and aa number 5 in 40, i use bullseye in 45 acp.

Bullseye for light, target loads
Unique for mid range loads
2400, h-110, or W296 for barrell burners.

I probably will be in the minority here but I've had some Clays so I started to use it in 40 & 38 SP. I only use it for plinking. I do realize that Clays is a fast powder for 40 but plinking is just fine with lowest charge; recoil is not existent and it's clean burning.

VV n320 from .38's to .45's. super clean

W231 I have a few 8lb cans

For light loads in 38 Special, 45 ACP for revolver, and 44 Special with either lead or plated bullets I use Trail Boss powder. Meters very uniformly in my Dillon 550 and virtually impossible to double charge.
In 40 S&W I use either WST or Red Dot for powder puff loads. WST burn somewhat cleaner than Red Dot but I use a lot of Red Dot in shot shell loading.

I like Clays for light loads, cheap, easy to find, and burns nice and clean.

Pretty much any fast powder will work for light loads.

It depends. With the large magnum cases & lead bullets, I do like TrailBoss, fills the case nicely. For low vel loads in 9mm, 40 & all 45acp loads, tough to beat WST.

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I load a lot of light plinking 38sp loads with 158 gr cast RN bullets
and shoot them in my various 38sp and 357 mag revolvers. Light load
to me means less than factory 158 gr level and from what I read here
and other places many handloaders load pretty mild loads for plinking.
Fast powders work best and my favorite powder for years was W452AA.
WST is it's replacement but is not as good in my opinion. I recently
tried a few loads with a powder that looked ideal for light loads to
me and it seems to be a winner. But......there are no loads published
for it in the 38 sp. So I won't name it lest the chicken littles descend
on me en masse but I suspect that many handloaders are using it,
quietly. I think in time loads will be published but..not as yet.

I use W231 for all my light target loads in 9mm, 45ACP and 38/357. Meters perfectly in my RCBS Uniflow and produces accurate results.

Bullseye, 700x,Red Dot & Titegroup in 9,38,45 & 44.


BW

W231 for .38 Special and .45ACP. Unique for .357 Mag and .44 Special.

Bullseye is my go to powder for light pistol loads. If it is dirty, it cleans up easily with hardly more than a wipe down.

AA2 and Red Dot are my light load powders.

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For light loads : Bullseye , Red Dot and 700-X.
I don't understand why your Bullseye loads are " dirty ", this powder usually burns relatively clean. Try a little heavier crimp . All cast bullet loads leave a little residue, if your not leading the barrel you are OK.

Another vote for Clays! I use it in all my handgun target loads and it only leaves a dry grey residue on the gun instead of the sticky black mess that traditional handgun powders leave on your gun and hands. Sure, you clean your guns after shooting but why put up with a mess when you don't have to?

I load 2.3 grains under a Hornady or Remington (when I can get them) 148-grain lead hollow-base wadcutter in .38 Special cases, 4.0 grains under a Missouri Bullets 158-grain lead semi-wadcutter in .357 Magnum cases, 5.5 grains under a Missouri 240-grain lead semi-wadcutter in .44 Magnum cases and 4.0 grains under a Missouri 185-grain lead semi-wadcutter in .45ACP cases. In all those calibers, I get good accuracy and consistent velocity as well as positive cycling of my 1911.

I recently tried Winchester's AutoComp in one of my .44 Magnums using 7.5 grains under the same 240-grain LSWC. Accuracy was good but not quite as good as the Clays recipe above and it was filthy! The barrel of my 6" 629 was lined with unburned powder and the gun and my hands were black after 100 rounds.

Clays Universal isn't bad but it has to be loaded near maximum weights or it won't burn. I tried some in the .38 Special and .357 Magnum; it left the bench covered with little tan discs of unburned powder and each empty case had some in it. One of those discs even got under the extractor star, preventing the cylinder from closing.

Unless you're after barrel-burning velocities, Clays is all you need.

Ed

Another vote for CLAYS it burns clean & is position insensitive.

4.5 grains of IMR 700-x is really nice shooting for 200 g cast swc in 45 acp

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My 38 special loads with bullseye turn the cylinder black. After 100 rounds my fingers are black. I am crimping them they just run dirty. I tried power pistol reduced loads and they are much cleaner but I have to use a lot more powder. My jacketed bullseye loads are dirty too. Don't get me wrong I like bullseye but everybody I know that uses it have the same results. It cleans up easy enough it just looks horrible after a match.

I concur...

Bullseye, Clays, TrailBoss, Win231/HP-38. For 38spl I really like Bullseye with lead. And yup, it can be dirty, so can 231 depending on the charge/caliber.

VV n320. Burns cleaner than 231 and smokes less! Works well in .38 spl, 9mm and .45

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I use Bullseye for my all my light loads and it works great with my .30-06 cat sneeze loads.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Another vote for VV320.
Stu

I use mostly 3 powders for my handgun ammo, W231(HP-38), W540(HS-6) and W296(H110). For light loads I would and do use W231.

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