A friend just sold me most of a 1 lb can of Autocomp for $5. I don't know much about the powder; I've never used it before. I got a couple questions if you guys don't mind.

1. How good a powder is this for short barrel .38 Special and .357 Magnum lead loads?

2. Is it an acceptable powder for .357 rifle loads?
Hodgdonreloading.com lists pistol load data, but not rifle load data. I mean, I know it will shoot out of a .357 lever gun, but is it a powder that excels in long barrels, or is it better suited to pistols?

Autocomp works better (IMO) in longer barrels and near the top of the load range. I use it exclusively but don't have a pistol with a barrel shorter than 5" (that I load for, my carry gun uses Critical Defense ammo) but you got the powder cheap, do some experimenting, it produces a lot of gas (it was designed for compensators) so you may get some impressive flames out of a short barrel.

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