Best Powder For 38 spl, 357, 44 mag, 9mm, 45acp, and 45 Colt?

[MN Rifleman]

I’ve completely written off any Alliant powders as unobtainium for all practical purposes. Sad but true. Go with Titegroup and/or W231/Hp38.

 

[Yendor357]

Accurate No 7 would work in everything you listed.
I use it in 9m,and 45.
It meters consistently.
It fills up the case nicely.
I get fast velocities, and low SDs.
Accuracy is top notch.

Although not optimal for full power Magnum loads, it would serve well.

 

[KenTheHunter]

A do-it-all powder for 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum, and 9x19mm? I used to recommend Unique as being the closest to a do-it-all, but Unique is difficult to find these days. Alternative powders would be Accurate Arms #5 and Hodgdon HP-38/Winchester W-231. None of these will get you true magnum velocities, but are really good at creating reduced power magnum loads.

Might want to try Hodgdon Titegroup

 

[bedwards]

I've had one lb of powder go bad that I had bought at a yard sale in the 50 something years I've been reloading.

 

[oneeyedpete]

Perhaps not the best choice for one or the other calibers you mention, but Hodgdon Titegroup will work for all of them and is probably the most economical to use. The only thing it does not work for is hot loads in 357 Magnum for which Alliant 2400 is the best choice.

 

[rwsmith]

Accurate No 7 would work in everything you listed.
I use it in 9m,and 45.
It meters consistently.
It fills up the case nicely.
I get fast velocities, and low SDs.
Accuracy is top notch.

Although not optimal for full power Magnum loads, it would serve well.

I REALLY like Acc#7, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of load data for it. I've scraped up what I've needed from several sources. This was many years ago, maybe it's better now. Just a note: I used it in heavy-for-caliber 9mm and found it to be AMAZINGLY accurate. I felt like pro shooting it.

 

[rwsmith]

All this talk about the various powders and their availability brings to mind the question of shelf life. Given, we may have powders that are used frequently and shelf life really isn’t an issue but what about the powders that are rarely used? It may be because we don’t shoot it much or it may be that it didn’t work well but we are reluctant to dump it because it may work for something else in the future.

Is shelf life an issue and are there powders that degrade over time more than others?

Not one bit. like I said, due to shortages I've got all kinds of powder, some stored in not exactly optimal conditions and have never had any go bad.

 

[rwsmith]

If I was going to have to pick ONE for use in all those, I'd pick HP 38/Win 231. It's good for target and heavier loads, if not getting magnum rounds into magnum velocities. And like Yendor said, Acc #7 is darn good, too.

 

[Riposte1]

Forget shelf life as long as the powder is kept dry and stored indoors. I doubt anyone knows how long powder will last and retain all its properties. I've used fifty-year old powder that worked as well as new and I'm sure others have used older powders than that with perfect results.

I've heard of deteriorated powder, but in sixty years of handloading, I've never encountered any. Bad powder is likely the result of poor storage conditions or containers that weren't tightly sealed.

There are exceptions but generally I agree.

I bought a case of H322 once (I think at the time it was actually a surplus powder sold by Hogdens) - I used about a pound of it and let is set (climate controlled building) and lost 8 lbs of it - it turned red and had an awful odor. OTOH I've seen articles on 4895 that was good after 50 years!

I realize both of those are stick rifle powders, the only stick pistol powders I can think of right off is IMR 4337 and IMR 4759 - I have some 4227 in metal cans from the 70s - it seems to be still good.

Just Ramblin'

Riposte

 

[scattershot]

Red Dot will work. Maybe not the absolute best in all applications, but it will,work. Promo is the same stuff, without the dots.

 

[N7BLW]

I was given a sealed case of 1942 ball 30-06 ammo in 1965. I pulled the bullets and saved the powder. Tossed the corrosive-primed cases. I still have a little powder left. Loaded some ammo for my Garand, using the formula in Hatcher's Notebook. It still works fine today.

 

[Mongo Safari]

I was given a sealed case of 1942 ball 30-06 ammo in 1965. I pulled the bullets and saved the powder. Tossed the corrosive-primed cases. I still have a little powder left. Loaded some ammo for my Garand, using the formula in Hatcher's Notebook. It still works fine today.

Did almost the same. One full ammo can, SL (St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant) 1943, GI M2 Ball 30-06. Pulled bullets, saved/measured powder charges, drove out primers and reamed/uniformed primer pockets. Started over: from resized, Win LR primers, original powder/charge, to seat/crimp original bullets. Shot fine in Garand and 1903A3. A lot of work but enjoyable.

 

[TAROMAN]

The one and only:

 

[RevV67]

Like several have said already, no one powder will make full power loads for all the calibers you mentioned.
The purpose of my post here is to +1 for Win 231/HP38 as an ACCEPTABLE do it all hand gun powder.

True Blue is also fairly versatile, but Hodgdon, who recently bought Ram Shot, told me that none of the Ram Shot powders will be made in 2025.

Both meter well.

 

[71vette]

I’ll toss my hat in the ring on HP-38/Win231 as well. Jack of all trades, master of none. I’ve had good luck with Winchester’s 244 as well. It’s basically a cleaner 231.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

All this talk about the various powders and their availability brings to mind the question of shelf life. Given, we may have powders that are used frequently and shelf life really isn’t an issue but what about the powders that are rarely used? It may be because we don’t shoot it much or it may be that it didn’t work well but we are reluctant to dump it because it may work for something else in the future.

Is shelf life an issue and are there powders that degrade over time more than others?

I have powders that are 50 years old and I have powders I bought 4 years ago . The only problem I have ever had was two IMR metal cans that developed rust . One was 4227 the other 4350 . I poured both through a kitchen sieve an got the rust out and put the powder in new plastic containers and it shot fine. I have known people who stored powder in extreme heat that did lose powder. Keep it in an airconditioned room and it will last as long as you do. Same for primers and loaded ammo.

 

[Eddie Southgate]

There are exceptions but generally I agree.

I bought a case of H322 once (I think at the time it was actually a surplus powder sold by Hogdens) - I used about a pound of it and let is set (climate controlled building) and lost 8 lbs of it - it turned red and had an awful odor. OTOH I've seen articles on 4895 that was good after 50 years!

I realize both of those are stick rifle powders, the only stick pistol powders I can think of right off is IMR 4337 and IMR 4759 - I have some 4227 in metal cans from the 70s - it seems to be still good.

Just Ramblin'

Riposte

Sounds like it might have been badly stored before you got it .

 

[Law-dog]

A do-it-all powder for 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum, and 9x19mm? I used to recommend Unique as being the closest to a do-it-all, but Unique is difficult to find these days. Alternative powders would be Accurate Arms #5 and Hodgdon HP-38/Winchester W-231. None of these will get you true magnum velocities, but are really good at creating reduced power magnum loads.

I was on a 3 year quest to find a replacement for Unique, found it but not what I expected. It is B86, made by Alliant to replace Unique. I went through the load data for 380, 38, 38 Super plus P, 40, 10mm, 44 Spc, 44 mag, 45 acp, 45 colt and some others. It is not a 100% grain for grain substitution but it is close and it usually adds a few fps without getting pressure data to an issue.

Check your latest burning rate chart. Unique is 62 or so and B86 is 63. There are now 197 powders listed on the new burn rate charts and B86 was only recently added to be next to Unique. Problem is, it is $67 at Midway.

 

[Law-dog]

Since Unique has been relatively scarce, and BE-86 is listed right next to it on the burn-rate chart, and I was able to score a good deal on some BE-86, and still have some Unique in my stash, I decided to do some load "development" to emulate the Skeeter load using BE-86 (using Starline 44 special brass).

S&W model 29 6" barrel
Used Montana Bullet Works 255 Gr LSWC gas checked

Loaded 7.5 gr Unique.
Per Garmin Xero chrono, 5 shot samples, low 851.3 fps, hi 923.8 fps, average 893 fps

Loaded 7.0 gr BE-86
low 820.9 / hi 845.9 / average 831

Loaded 7.1 gr BE-86
low 817.9 / hi 827.2 / average 822.3 (go figure - but it was shot on a different day, so conditions were not identical)

Loaded 7.2 gr BE-86
low 838.6 / hi 852 / average 846.4 (same day as 7.1 load)

Going to bump my BE-86 loads to 7.3 & 7.4 and test another round

Thanks, i posted before i saw your reply, you are spot on.

 

[Inkgardener]

HP-38 for most everything for me. Magnums get H110. I use Unique some for the in between. This covers 99% for me.

I do have several other random cans I use just to use up when my 3 regulars weren’t available.