Pistol powders

[leemar28]

Im out of and cant find Bullseye, and down to 1 pound of Unique. Ive located a supply of Accurate TCM, Accurate No 2 , and No 7, and Ramshot Enforcer.
Loading 148 gr HBWC in .38 spcl , and .357 . Looking for a midrange .357 158gr cast swc, and .41 mag cast 215gr swc. None of my manuals have any data for the above powders. Will any of them work for my needs ?

 

[colt_saa]

I have no idea where you looked and only found four powders availble

i just went to a single website(Powder Valley) and found 48 different powders in stock and ready for immeadiate shipment

At a quick glance while there was no bullseye (i do not load bullseye anyway) but HP38 was in stock and that is my midrange powder for 38, 357, 41 and others

You might want to expand your search a bit

 

[HKSmith]

Anything you can do with Bullseye you can do with AA#2. Other powders I've used a lot of for similar applications are HP38 and VV N320.

 

[leemar28]

Colt... Of course you wouldn't know where I looked. I didn't say. You may want to reread my post.
HK , I appreciate your response ! I'll pick up a Lb of #2 and give it a try. Thanks !!

 

[.38SuperMan]

I've only seen Bullseye available once since Covid and it was way over priced.

I still have part of a bottle of BE but started looking for a good substitute and landed on Nitro100NF and AA#2. N100NF is a bit faster than BE and delivers excellent mild to moderate loads in 38spl. It's not position sensitive, is very economical and burns very clean even in mild loads. It also meters very well giving excellent consistency and I've had excellent results in 38 spl, 45 acp and 45 LC. I've experimented with 9mm and 124 gr polymer bullets but can't find a load that will reliably cycle my 1911's. Needless to say the recoil is mild with this powder and very well suited for snub nose and short barrrls due to its fast burn rate. Like BE though, the volume of powder is very small and a multiple charge would be possible.

After using many powders in many calibers over 40 or so years I've grown to love AA#2. I used to be a big 232/HP38 fan and have used many 8 pound cans but I've grown to favor #2. It's about as universal a powder as I've found and even works for mild 357 mag rounds. It will get you in a 35 case to the velocities of a hot +P 38.

#2 is a perfect and tiny sphere and meters like water. It's not position sensitive and is very clean in all loads. Accuracy is excellent.

Here's a link to the hard to find Accurate loading data;

https://accuratepowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/WP_LoadSpec_1-23-14.pdf

Hodgdon now owns AA and publishes a very good loading manual in a large magazine form. You can order it direct and some gun stores have it for sale.

 

[Mike in Reedley]

231 and it's twin HP38 seem to be available from most sources. 231 is close to Unique and meters much better at lower charge weights. It will do most everything you listed you want to do. Good luck.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Of the powders you listed AA#2 will do a good job in the .38 Special for you. For midrange .357 Magnum loads AA#7 will work well.

AA#2, #5, #7 and #9 are all good powders but they are mostly unavailable near me. Besides my main handgun powders are W231/HP-38, W540/HS-6 and W296/H110.

 

[243winxb]

Accurate powder load data has changed, powder also.

Double check Accurate load data, it has changed. Had problem with #9.

S&W M28-2, 357 Magnum, High Pressure, Locked Action, | The High Road

Over the years, Accurate had changed the powder in the bottle & used same load data. #5 is a perfect example.

Hopefully, Hodgdon will change this, but not likely.

My IMR 4198 powder has been made in Canada & Australia, with no change in load data. If burn rate is within 10% I dont think Hodgdon cares.

Use starting load, work up. Remember, ball powder will spike pressure with a small increase of powder.

 

[rockquarry]

I've only seen Bullseye available once since Covid and it was way over priced.

I still have part of a bottle of BE but started looking for a good substitute and landed on Nitro100NF and AA#2. N100NF is a bit faster than BE and delivers excellent mild to moderate loads in 38spl. It's not position sensitive, is very economical auburns very clean even in mild loads. It also meters very well giving excellent consistency and I've had excellent results in 38 spl, 45 acp and 45 LC. I've experimented with 9mm and 124 gr polymer bullets but can't find a load that will reliably cycle my 1911's. Needless to say the recoil is mild with this powder and very well suited for snub nose and short barrrls due to its fast burn rate. Like BE though, the volume of powder is very small and a multiple charge would be possible.

After using many powders in many calibers over 40 or so years I've grown to live AA#2. I used to be a big 232/HP38 fan and have used many 8 pound cans but I've grown to favor #2. It's about as universal a powder as I've found and even works for mild 357 mag rounds. It will get you in a 35 case to the velocities of a hot +P 38.

#2 is a perfect and tiny sphere and meters like water. It's not position sensitive and is very clean in all loads. Accuracy is excellent.

Here's a link to the hard to find Accurate loading data;

https://accuratepowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/WP_LoadSpec_1-23-14.pdf

Hodgdon now own AA and publishes a very good loading manual in a large magazine form. You can order it direct and some gun stores have it for sale.

Here's

Check Powder Valley occasionally on Bullseye. I bought five pounds last summer and an eight pound keg about a month ago. The keg was around $230.00 + shipping and haz. fee, another forty or fifty dollars.

 

[colt_saa]

Colt... Of course you wouldn't know where I looked. I didn't say. You may want to reread my post.
Thanks !!

I apologize for the poor wording of my post

I should have said something more along the lines of . . . I am astonished a supplier of hand loading components only had four powders to offer you in today's market

I also meant to express that while I do not keep track of the availability of Bullseye, I utilize HP38/Winchester 231 for that same hand loading role and those powders have been readily available for more than a year now

 

[leemar28]

Thanks to everyone for the good information and links to data !
No hard feelings Colt !

 

[DWalt]

AA#2, Clays, Red Dot, and 700-X are all good stand-ins for Bullseye.

 

[max503]

I scored some Bullseye last week. It's out there.

 

[mtgianni]

Western Powder Manual, now out of print since the sale has data for AA2 in 38 & 357. Enforcer and AA 7 have data shown for 41 & 357 at upper ranges not necessarily mid ranges. I have had decent results with AA2 and wc but not as good as with Bullseye.
If you PM me a phone # I will text you pictures of whatever data you would like to see.

 

[Nevada Ed]

231 and it's twin HP38 seem to be available from most sources. 231 is close to Unique and meters much better at lower charge weights. It will do most everything you listed you want to do. Good luck.

close ?

Maybe almost close to Unique.

I find w231 closer to Green Dot, in my tests.

 

[tjpopkin]

Im out of and cant find Bullseye, and down to 1 pound of Unique. Ive located a supply of Accurate TCM, Accurate No 2 , and No 7, and Ramshot Enforcer.
Loading 148 gr HBWC in .38 spcl , and .357 . Looking for a midrange .357 158gr cast swc, and .41 mag cast 215gr swc. None of my manuals have any data for the above powders. Will any of them work for my needs ?

Accurate#2 is as good as Bullseye. A good substitute...the best would be VVN310.

 

[elpac3]

AA#2, Clays, Red Dot, and 700-X are all good stand-ins for Bullseye.

You can add VV N320 to the mix as well. Very clean burning

 

[rh73]

Here is a link to Western Powders Handloading Guide edition 8,circa 2020.
https://ramshot.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WesternPowdersHandloadingGuide8.0_WEB.pdf

 

[ArchAngelCD]

..........
My IMR 4198 powder has been made in Canada & Australia, with no change in load data. If burn rate is within 10% I dont think Hodgdon cares.

Use starting load, work up. Remember, ball powder will spike pressure with a small increase of powder.

Let me see if I can say this without being too confusing.
From what I read:

Hodgdon discontinued IMR 4198. Actually what they really discontinued was H4198. What they did was eliminate the H4198 powder but use the IMR 4198 formulation rebranded as H4198 and eliminated the IMR 4198 name.

Sorry if I made that confusing but I tried to explain it well.

What really confuses me is why both are still on the Hodgdon WEB site when this was supposed to happen at least a Decade ago? I have no idea what's going on or even if both powders are now the same or not. In the past they were slightly different not like W231 and HP-38.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Just my $0.02 worth...

I have found CFE-Pistol to be a very versatle powder for many pistol calibers, and...

Per the Hodgdons website it is AVAILABLE!

CHEERS!