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Old 02-15-2021, 06:30 PM
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Default Favorite pistol bullet/powder combination?

So I'm sure all the reloaders will have their favorites.... Lets hear them. My go to powder is Unique, I use it in just about every caliber I load for. I bounce between Berrys and Xtreme bullets, for the semi autos. I use trail boss with a SWC for the wheel gun.
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Old 02-15-2021, 06:54 PM
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Bullseye, unique, 2400
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Old 02-15-2021, 07:08 PM
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.45ACP...My absolute favorite is the S&W Model 945 and a load of Bullseye (4.1gr) with a Missouri bullet (Hi-Tek coated) 200gr SWC (H&G 68).
For .32 target...A great super accurate load is 1.8gr VVN310 under a Lapua 100gr PbWadcutter.

.357... I find 14.5gr. 2400 under a 125gr. Montana Gold JHP is also very accurate.

9mm... VVN330 5.0gr. under a Montana Bullet 124gr JHP. In my 952 or 3566 Tactical with 9mm barrel, under 2" @ 50yd.

.44 Magnum (12 guns); I use 23.5 gr. H110 under a cast 240gr. (Lyman 429244)... Used for 25 years for White Tails.
The list goes on....I reload 25 different calibers.
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Old 02-15-2021, 07:21 PM
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I've been reading alot on running heavy bullets, for reduced felt recoil. For faster follow up shots. Like 147s in a 9mm. I shot IDPA and have some 147gr bullets on the way. Any of you guys load anything like this?
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Old 02-15-2021, 07:21 PM
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Default If I'm looking for accuracy......

9mm with 147 grain bullet and a light load of Acc #7.
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Old 02-15-2021, 07:23 PM
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9mm for me right now is 6.0gr of Unique with a 115 Xtreme bullet.

45 ACP is 5.8gr Unique pushing a 230gr Berrys.
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Old 02-15-2021, 07:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChillyDog View Post
I've been reading alot on running heavy bullets, for reduced felt recoil. For faster follow up shots. Like 147s in a 9mm. I shot IDPA and have some 147gr bullets on the way. Any of you guys load anything like this?
over Titegroup for minor power Most popular with competitors.
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Old 02-15-2021, 07:57 PM
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5.0 grains of Unique and Cast Lead bullets:

9mm Luger / 105 gr. SWC , 115 gr. RN , 120 gr. TC , 124 gr. TC

38 Special / 105 gr. SWC . , 124 gr. SWC , 148 gr. WC , 150 gr. SWC
158 gr. SWC , 160 gr. WC , 170 gr. SWC

41 Special (light 41 magnum load) / 237 gr. SWC (NOE Keith) , 215 gr. WC (NOE 413432)

44 Special / 250 gr. SWC

45 ACP / 200 gr. SWC , 230 gr. TC

Not only can you do a lot with Unique but a 5.0 gr. charge can cover a lot of territory .
For my portable reloading kit I made a powder scoop from a 380 auto case with a section of #12 electrical wire for a handle ... I can scoop 5.0 grains of Unique with it every time ... turns out I can reload several different calibers with that one scoop .
If you are on a budget ... scoops are a cheap way to measure powder and nearly fool proof !
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Old 02-15-2021, 07:58 PM
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9mm for me right now is 6.0gr of Unique with a 115 Xtreme bullet.

45 ACP is 5.8gr Unique pushing a 230gr Berrys.
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Old 02-15-2021, 08:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChillyDog View Post
I've been reading alot on running heavy bullets, for reduced felt recoil. For faster follow up shots. Like 147s in a 9mm. I shot IDPA and have some 147gr bullets on the way. Any of you guys load anything like this?
Yes, yes I do!
45 ACP, Nosler 250 grain JHP Sporting Revolver Handgun Bullet, 7.0 grains Longshot over a WLP ... Amazing. F/Y/I ... this is a pistol load, as I have no 45 caliber revolvers.

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Old 02-15-2021, 09:40 PM
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SW M27 357 Magnum - Vihtavouri N340, 158gr lead powder coated,
or
DW Model 740 357 Maximum- 4227, 196gr Bradshaw-Martin powder coated

Excellent from 100 to 200 yards.

Prescut
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Old 02-15-2021, 09:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChillyDog View Post
My go to powder is Unique, I use it in just about every caliber I load for.
Ya gotta love Unique.

For my .380 and 9mm carry loads, I use a top end load of Unique for 90grXTP HP/.380, and 115gr Hornady HAP HP. For .380 practice loads, Green Dot and 95gr/Missouri, for 9mm, Green Dot and 115gr Missouri, both the plated bullets.

.38 Special carry load, Speer 158gr SWC HP, over +P charge of Herco, .38 Practice load, Red Dot and 158gr Speer SWC.

.357 mild load, 158gr Speer LSWC over Red Dot. Medium load 158gr Missouri LSWC over Unique or Herco. Top end load, 158gr Speer jacketed HP over max charge of 2400.

.44M mildest load, Red Dot and 180gr Hornady Cowboy.
Medium Load, 240gr Missouri LSWC over Unique or Herco. Bear medicine, max load of W296 with Hornady 265gr RNFP.

I have multiple .380's, 9mm's, .38 Special's, .357's, and .44M's. The above combinations keep a range of loads to the same poi out to close threat distances, 7-15yds. For longer shots I need to make sight adjustments to maintain credit card size groups at 25yds. Hunting range distances need fine tuning to be effective at 50yds+
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Old 02-15-2021, 10:13 PM
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Every thing I load, 44 spl, 44 mag, 10mm, 9mm, 45 ACP, .357, is loaded with only 2 powders. AA#5, AA#9.
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Old 02-15-2021, 10:36 PM
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For Cowboy and medium handgun ammo WW231 with cast, coated or Jacketed.

WW748 for ball type 223

H 4227 for 220 sub-sonic 300 Blackout

Varget for 155 Palma 308 & 75 A-max 223 1000 yard guns

322 & Benchmark for 6PPC and 22 BR

US 869 for 338 Lapua mag (104.0 grains!) 1000 yard gun

IMR 4831 SC for 6x284 w/70 gr. Blitzking out to about 700 yards.

71 gr IMR 3031 w/ 500gr Solid in 450 3 1/4 Nitro Express (matches sights at 50 & 100 yards.

45-70 has so many good powders, it is easy to start a fight on which is best! I like lots of IMR 3031 with 400 grain cast RNFP/GC for a hot Marlin load. Trail Boss and 300 gr RNFP target load. Real FFg Black Powder and 485 gr RN in my Shiloh Sharps 1874.

The Lyman loading Manual 45th edition has a Unique load for everything being shot in 1973.

I buy many rifle and shotgun powders in 8 pounders and my favorite handgun powders in 4's or 8's. And I still ended with over 75 one pounders of different powders.

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Old 02-15-2021, 10:48 PM
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231 for the 30 caliber and .45acp handguns and Unique for the big 40's.

Last edited by max; 02-16-2021 at 12:05 AM.
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Old 02-15-2021, 10:53 PM
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.45 colt-.455-.45acp-.45 Schofield with Red Dot-Clays or Clay Dot.
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Old 02-15-2021, 11:01 PM
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Oh man...

2400 and zero 158gr JHPs for .357mags

Power pistol and .40S&W 165/180gr

2400 and 240gr XTP for .44 mag

And my absolute favorite favorite is H110 and some 125XTPs, only out of the Coonan, Dear lord that fire ball !
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Old 02-15-2021, 11:11 PM
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So many powders, so many bullets, so many guns, so little time to shoot...

My favorite gun to shoot right now is my 629-1 and my favorite load is a 44 Sp. 200gr cast RNFP with 5.9 gr Trailboss. Very accurate out of this revolver, and it won't jar your fillings loose.
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Old 02-15-2021, 11:31 PM
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45 ACP 230 grain Hi-Tek cast loaded with Ramshot True Blue.

9mm 147 grain Hi-Tek cast loaded with W231. I like the feel of my TiteGroup loads more, but the 231 loads are just more consistently accurate for me.

357 Magnum with 158 grain cast LRN loaded with H110 from both a lever action and a 686+.

The Unique loads I've tried ranged from good to outstanding in terms of performance, but for pistol loads, I don't want to have to measure every drop. Unique's variance was just too high for my Lyman 55 and my rhythm. With the ball powders that I've landed on once I get the measure dialed in, I'm good to go so long as I keep the powder above the baffle. I still measure frequently to check that its still on, but it always is.
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Old 02-16-2021, 12:09 AM
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With the standards, 38 spec, 357, 41 mag, 44 spec, 44 mag, 45 ACP/AR and 45 Colt, I usually start with the Keith loads with Bullseye, Unique and 2400. From there I move to HS6, 4227 and H110 if I haven't found a good load with the former. It is really unusual for a Keith load not to shoot reasonably to outstandingly well. In my limited experience.
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Old 02-16-2021, 12:12 AM
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38 titegroup
9 titegroup
45 W231
44, 41, 10 HS-6
308, 6.5 rifle H4895
and that's all
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Old 02-16-2021, 12:53 AM
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19 grains of H110 and a 300 grain XTP bullet are a blast in my 44 mags.

Last edited by Benchrest1; 02-16-2021 at 12:56 AM.
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Old 02-16-2021, 01:10 AM
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Just getting started in it really but...

Bullseye and DEWC powder coated in the 38 spl
Bullseye and 200gr SWC and 200gr XTP in the 45
Unique, HS6, some H110 and 2400 in the 44 mag and 500JRH
Lil Gun in the 50 Beowulf
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Old 02-16-2021, 02:43 AM
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One powder that I enjoy using, shince I have a lot of it that I carry over from 12 Ga. trap loads is Green Dot powder.

In my J fram snub nose I can get a 110 JHP to go from a light 755fps to a +P 950fps.
A lead 158 will do a nice 592fps to a +P loading at 822fps

In a 686 L frame a 158 lead target load at 592fps to a hot 1281fps

With my C9 3.5" pistol a 124 FMJ starts at 916 and goes up to a nice 1133fps.

Sure there are other powders that get a few more fps out of your loads but for an all around do it all powder, this is pretty nice to have on the shelf.
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Old 02-16-2021, 05:21 AM
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I guess I'm still enthralled by the concept of overall versatility in powders...?

As such, Accurate #5, Unique & WIN 231 are pretty much my equal favorites in the pistol calibers.

My favorite bullets seem to evolve (and revolve) with their availability now-a-days...?

Cheers!
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Old 02-16-2021, 05:38 AM
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231/HP38 with 158 grain swaged lead SWC .38 bullets in .38 special.

Same powder with 200grain SWC .45 bullets in .45 ACP
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Old 02-16-2021, 06:54 AM
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I have no idea.

I keep a lot of Universal and CFE Pistol powder on hand.

Rifles, a lot of Varget CFE 223, and Reloader 15 and 19 on hand.

Handguns, more 158gr, 200gr cast swc's 250gr cast rnfp.

Rifles, mostly 55gr and 150gr FMJ's.

Honestly when I get something different, like a new bullet type or caliber there are times I find myself having a difficult time choosing which powder to try first.

Variety is the spice of life...
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Old 02-16-2021, 07:14 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevada Ed View Post
One powder that I enjoy using, shince I have a lot of it that I carry over from 12 Ga. trap loads is Green Dot powder.

In my J fram snub nose I can get a 110 JHP to go from a light 755fps to a +P 950fps.
A lead 158 will do a nice 592fps to a +P loading at 822fps

In a 686 L frame a 158 lead target load at 592fps to a hot 1281fps

With my C9 3.5" pistol a 124 FMJ starts at 916 and goes up to a nice 1133fps.

Sure there are other powders that get a few more fps out of your loads but for an all around do it all powder, this is pretty nice to have on the shelf.
Sounds like I may need to try Green Dot.

My wife's 642-2 hasn't made much more than 800 fps with CFE Pistol and 125 gr Sierra HP's. Mid 600's to low 700's with Universal and Unique.
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Old 02-16-2021, 07:48 AM
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Fav Powders:

W231 - for 45 acp
Titegroup - for .38 Spl, 357 Mag. & 9mm
Unique - for .45 Colt
H4895 - for .38-55 7 .45-70

I have also used Bullseye and H4198 but have standardized on the ones above.
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Old 02-16-2021, 09:07 AM
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I like pushing 158XTP .357 with Vihtavouri N105. I'm getting 1,379fps and besides, I still have +9lb of the powder.

Plus factor, I also found that I can push 147gr 9mm to 1,025fps with N105 too...
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Old 02-16-2021, 09:15 AM
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One that hasn't appeared
45 long colt 7.5 gr BE-86 255 gr acme coated swc.
Very accurate load.
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Old 02-16-2021, 11:45 AM
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44 Special Unique 6.8 gr .430 240 gr. home cast swc
38 Special Bullseye 2.7 gr. .358" 148 gr home cast wc
32S&W Long Bullseye 2.1 gr. .312" 100 gr home cast swc
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Old 02-16-2021, 12:11 PM
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32 H&R RCBS 98 SWC with Unique or AA2
38 Special 358477 LY with Unique targets a button nose wc and BE
357 180 gr LBT and WC820/AA9
40 175 gr Lee and Power Pistol
44 special 429421 LY with Unique
44 Mag 429421 with Red Dot as a plinking/target load Same bullet with Wc820 for a mag load
Yea I am a caster
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Old 02-16-2021, 12:53 PM
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.45ACP - 4.2 / Bullseye, 200 grain lswc.
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Old 02-16-2021, 02:20 PM
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45 acp 200 lswc 4.0 bullseye
38 spl 158 lswc 3.5 bullseye
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Old 02-16-2021, 02:28 PM
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Smith 44: 20.5/2400/250 RCBS SWC
Ruger 44: 25/H110/250 RCBS SWC
475 Linebaugh: 28/H110/430 LBT LFN
Light Loads
Smith 44: 8/Unique/250 RCBS SWC
475 Linebaugh: 20/Bluedot/385/ LBT LFN
Most everything else I use H110, 2400, unique, and BE. Not a whole lot of light loads used. Recoil dead, just don't bother Me. Brain damage maybe. Maybe just Me.
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Old 02-16-2021, 02:43 PM
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I load .38 Spl., .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Spl., .44 Magnum, .45ACP, and .45 Colt all with Titegroup. For most calibers I use Berry’s plated bullets. Outstanding accuracy and my light loads are easy on me and my guns.
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Old 02-16-2021, 02:46 PM
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.41 Magnum...8.0 grains of Unique with any bullet. A 210 will run 950+- fps from a 4" barrel depending on the bullet...and make little tiny groups...
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Old 02-16-2021, 06:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TMan51 View Post
Ya gotta love Unique.

For my .380 and 9mm carry loads, I use a top end load of Unique for 90grXTP HP/.380, and 115gr Hornady HAP HP. For .380 practice loads, Green Dot and 95gr/Missouri, for 9mm, Green Dot and 115gr Missouri, both the plated bullets.

.38 Special carry load, Speer 158gr SWC HP, over +P charge of Herco, .38 Practice load, Red Dot and 158gr Speer SWC.

.357 mild load, 158gr Speer LSWC over Red Dot. Medium load 158gr Missouri LSWC over Unique or Herco. Top end load, 158gr Speer jacketed HP over max charge of 2400.

.44M mildest load, Red Dot and 180gr Hornady Cowboy.
Medium Load, 240gr Missouri LSWC over Unique or Herco. Bear medicine, max load of W296 with Hornady 265gr RNFP.

I have multiple .380's, 9mm's, .38 Special's, .357's, and .44M's. The above combinations keep a range of loads to the same poi out to close threat distances, 7-15yds. For longer shots I need to make sight adjustments to maintain credit card size groups at 25yds. Hunting range distances need fine tuning to be effective at 50yds+



How is the accuracy with the HAP bullets out of your 9mm? I ran them for a batch and at close range say out to 10 yds they did ok. At the father range say 20-25yds thtas about the max at our club for IDPA they didn't do well for me. I had them loaded at 5.8grs of Unique Shooting from my 5" pro. I switched to Xtreme bullets and Berrys 115gr and they seem to do great. Im going to try some 147gr Xtreme for this season. I've been reading alot about the heavy gr bullets and reduced felt recoil for faster follow up shots. Maybe I read to much but I like to tinker with things.
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Old 02-16-2021, 06:37 PM
cowboy4evr cowboy4evr is offline
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My most used powder is Winchester Super Field (WSF ) . 8.5 grs using a 210-240 gr cast bullet is very accurate and yes , " it's clean shooting " . In my model 58 , that's my everyday standard load . I don't have a chrono but it's probably 900+ fps . I'm not really concerned about velocity as I am more about accuracy / consistency . Regards Paul

Last edited by cowboy4evr; 02-16-2021 at 06:38 PM.
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Old 02-16-2021, 07:13 PM
smithra_66 smithra_66 is offline
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18.5 gr. of 2400 with a Montana Bullet Works 255 gr. Keith SWC in 44 mag cases.

Nothing crazy but plenty of power for hunting, ringing steel, or just plinking.

It runs about 1100 fps out of my 4" model 29-2.
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Old 02-16-2021, 07:25 PM
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Numerous good suggestions. My favorite was 215 grain .411 inch purchased cast out of used Ruger OM Blackhawk 41 magnum with LPP, 7.4 grains 231. Safe in my revolver.... Accurate.

If you try this, please work up and be sure all is well.
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Old 02-16-2021, 07:37 PM
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I seem to use 6 grains of Unique and cast bullets in a number of cartridges....9mm, 40 S&W, 45 acp.

The .38 spl gets reduced to 5 grains and a cast bullet.

Works well for me and they are all very accurate

Randy
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Old 02-16-2021, 09:21 PM
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Literally tens of thousands of rounds fired with my favorite load:

141 gr wadcutter (Cramer mold), 2.7 gr of Bullseye.
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Old 02-16-2021, 09:34 PM
M29since14 M29since14 is offline
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The only real pet I have is the H&G #68 for .45 Autos. It seems to be one of those bullets that works so well you can’t mess it up with any reasonable powder I can think of. My favorites are Bullseye, 231/HP38 and WST. I’ve probably used more WST (and before that one, 452AA) in the .45 than anything else.
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Old 02-16-2021, 10:01 PM
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My cast 429244 gas check hollow points (Ray Thompson design bullet) 245 grains with 20.5 grains of 2400 in .44 mag or 17.5 grains 2400 in the .44 Special.
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Old 02-22-2021, 07:35 PM
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My favorite load for the .44 mag is Lyman's 429421HP@235g and 8.6g of Green Dot. Velocity is 1061fps with an sd of 13 outta 4-1/4" Smith model 69.
Outta my 5" 629-3 Classic DX, that load chrono's 1084fps with an sd of 18. Many groups of 5 shots are under 3/4" at 25 yards from a rest. (This gun has a 4x Leupold EER scope mounted on it.)
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Old 02-22-2021, 08:06 PM
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My go to round for the novice shooter. 38 spl 158 grain semi-wad cutter, pushed by 3 grains of Bullseye.
Yes, it’s a bunny fart. That’s the plan. Put that in a K or L frame let a novice shoot it. Wait for the smile.
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Old 02-23-2021, 06:46 PM
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Light loads here too. Universal 4.5 gr 158 gr RNFP for all my 357's and lever rifle. Fun load
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Old 02-23-2021, 07:07 PM
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Asking my favorite single bullet/powder combo is much like asking my single favorite song ever — can’t do it!

However, I will name one that never lets me down, and one I never deviate from. It was a very easy one because it’s legendary and it came long before I was rolling my own:

.38 Special, swaged lead hollow base wadcutter, 2.7 grains Bullseye, and a light roll crimp. Used mostly in my 52’s, but also fantastic in my PPC revolvers.
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