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

[Riposte1]

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

That is quite possible - as it says on the can it is surpluss powder. I have bought quite a bit of surplus powder over the years but the H-322 was the only one I've lost.

Riposte

 

[TheTinMan]

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.

AA #7 runs very well in 9mm Luger for me. It is my "go to" powder for practice 9x23 Winchester. Western Powders "Reloading and Load Data Guide Edition 5.0" has a ton of data for #7, and in many cases the difference between it and #9 is marginal. It's not listed for normal 45 Colt, but is for 30,000 PSI loads (which I would not try in a Smith & Wesson). I also have an electronic copy of the Accurate Arms 2003 Load Manual. That only shows #7 for 45 ACP +P, while the Western Powders manual shows a lot of load data for regular pressure 45 ACP.

AA #9 will get you more velocity in 44 Magnum.

 

[Sebago Son]

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

I inherited a nearly unused 8 pound caddy of Red Dot from my Dad when he passed. With the unavailability of Unique, it is a decent substitute in .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .45 Colt. I have yet to use it in .45 ACP, .38 Special or .357 but I have red good things....

 

[Kabong57]

I inherited a nearly unused 8 pound caddy of Red Dot from my Dad when he passed. With the unavailability of Unique, it is a decent substitute in .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .45 Colt. I have yet to use it in .45 ACP, .38 Special or .357 but I have red good things....

Timely post gents, Thank You. New to the board and starting just starting to stock up in anticipation of reloading when I retire. Have made a habit of purchasing factory ammo in 500 or 1K lots and keeping the brass segregated (probably over kill eh ?) . Bargain shopping when things are on sale and have a Foster CO-AX press. Redding Dies, CCI primers and a small quantity of bullets. Unsure of Powders to use and came across this post. Local Runnings Store had a Bucket Sale Friday and Saturday with every thing that fit in a 5 gallon bucket @ 15% off. Of your suggestions, CFE Pistol @ 37.52 in 1 pound bottles was all they had left in stock. Again, Thank You. Now still need to purchase a Powder measure.

 

[Sebago Son]

About a thousand years ago I sat on my Dad's knee and he taught me the art of handloading. When I set up my own bench in 1975 the equipment I started with was identical to his. One of the things I found tedious was check powder weight with our old Lyman beam balance scales. Fast forward 50 years and I have replaced those old scales with an RCBS digital with build in powder dribbler. I should have done that YEARS ago. Happy Trails! Drew

 

[skipperjb777]

Timely post gents, Thank You. New to the board and starting just starting to stock up in anticipation of reloading when I retire. Have made a habit of purchasing factory ammo in 500 or 1K lots and keeping the brass segregated (probably over kill eh ?) . Bargain shopping when things are on sale and have a Foster CO-AX press. Redding Dies, CCI primers and a small quantity of bullets. Unsure of Powders to use and came across this post. Local Runnings Store had a Bucket Sale Friday and Saturday with every thing that fit in a 5 gallon bucket @ 15% off. Of your suggestions, CFE Pistol @ 37.52 in 1 pound bottles was all they had left in stock. Again, Thank You. Now still need to purchase a Powder measure.

Around here, Austin, Tx CFE is near $50.00 a pound. I'd grab it. Use CFE for 9mm 147 grain. Ultimate Reloader had a video showing results using 4.1 gr of CFE with a Berry 147 gr plated bullet, CCI magnum primer with a COL of 1.150. Showed consistent speeds and low SD. I'm using that recipe except I use standard CCI-500 primers and use a COL of 1.140. I'm now playing with CFE in my 380 loads. Been using Titegroup , but now experimenting with HP-38 and CFE too. Hope to get to the range today and see how well the loads perform. Already know the CFE load is the snappiest, but I think it is probably the most accurate of the three loads I'm working with. Will be comparing the results between a Ruger Security Max, Walter CCP, Sig P238, Beretta 80x and S&W BG2 - both standard and comped.

 

[skipperjb777]

Got to the range and was able to shoot all three loads in 6 different pistols. All loads used the Xtreme flat nosed, copper plated 100 grain bullet, CCI-500 primers and were seated to a COL of .945. I used .945 because the original BG2 will not reliably chamber any re-loaded round with a COL greater than .960. All shots were fired from a bench rest and at 7 yards. Tite-Group was loaded at 2.8 grains, HP-38 at 3.0 grains and CFE at 3.8 grains. The CFE rounds were the most snappy rounds with the HP-38 the least snappy. Again the pistols used were the Ruger Security Max, Walter CCP, Sig P238, Beretta 80X Cheetah and the S&W BG2 original and compensated. The Sig performed best with the HP-38 load, worst with the Tite-Group load. The Ruger had the best results with the HP-38 and CFE. The Walter & BG2-Comp had the best results with the HP-38 followed by the CFE loads. The 80X Cheetah effectively had excellent results with all loads and the original BG2 liked the CFE load best followed by the HP-38. I will try the Tite-Group again but with a COL of .955 and see if that makes any difference the the consistancy of shot placement. For now it looks as though I will be changing by standard load for the 380 to the HP-38.

 

[stansdds]

HP-38/W-231 has been around for a very long time, it's a very good powder.

 

[Lance Boyle]

With that spectrum of calibers, it would be difficult to pick one powder that is optimum in all those.
If I had to pick one that you COULD use in all of those mentioned would be Unique.
As you said, loading the magnums at magnum velocities would merit a magnum powder like 2400 or W296/H110.
Target loads would benefit from fast powders like Bullseye or Tightgroup. Truly there is no one do-it-all powder, but IMO Unique would be a good choice if you had to go with only one powder. But why standardize? Reloading is all about versatility. That is why they sell more than one brand/type of pistol powder.

Agreed.

I find that sometimes it's just not that easy. You can have an accurate load with one powder then for whatever reason try to substitute a similar burn rate powder and not have quite the same luck in accuracy when loading to the same or similar velocity. Sometimes it will be as good or better and sometimes it won't be.

 

[Lance Boyle]

As Bullseye is difficult to locate, a replacement will work in all but may use only a small portion of the case capacity. I like AA2 as a BE replacement.

I just ordered that and it should be here today based on MTGianni's recommendations and others. In the mean time I had gotten a suggested load for the Clays I had on hand for some .32 S&W Long shooting. It was suggested in that size cast that reducing BE loads by two tenths a grain was a pretty good place to start. I had rather good luck and worked up to the load the poster suggested with decent accuracy and the load actually was hitting to my fixed sights. I'll likely rework the load with the AA2 and reserve the Clays to some other loads I use it for. The Clays is over 20 years old and leftovers from my skeet shooting days. It's great in .45 acp, .38 Spl and now .32 SW L.

 

[Lance Boyle]

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.

That is always my problem, the data! or lack there of I should say.

I have a wide range of medium burn powders that in my attempt to "modernize" my selection and have alternatives I have accumulated. Always had BE and W231 and H110 for basic coverage which was fairly broad. Out of BE and H110 at the moment.

I have W231, last pound on hand, CFE Pistol, Zip, AA5, BE86, Sport Pistol, WST, Clays Universal (yes, the old stock).

I tend to favor softer loads with faster powders for accuracy at the medium speed levels and to my opinion a better recoil impulse. The clean burn is just an added benefit. Although if something is truly grit leaving in a revolver load I may reconsider it.

my old Clays (regular, not Universal) is likely my closest to the fast BE powder. While there is some data it is hardly thorough in coverage, especially with cast lead endeavors.

That is the greatest benefit of having all the old standby powders,….the data is all been done and out there. The latest and greatest powders may not have any data outside of your modern usual cartridges, if any it's for a jacketed bullet that I am not interested in.

That's the beauty of these boards. We all can help each other find either published data or user data where someone else did the safe prospecting of load development. I use Gordon's reloading tool but I don't put blind faith in it,….lest I go blind from my mistake!

 

[Lance Boyle]

About a thousand years ago I sat on my Dad's knee and he taught me the art of handloading. When I set up my own bench in 1975 the equipment I started with was identical to his. One of the things I found tedious was check powder weight with our old Lyman beam balance scales. Fast forward 50 years and I have replaced those old scales with an RCBS digital with build in powder dribbler. I should have done that YEARS ago. Happy Trails! Drew

I bought a Hornady powder scale/thrower. It is pretty handy. I have two RCBS Uniflows, one with a small powder drum and the other has the large and a micrometer knob. I have not been using them. Doing my load workups they're pretty cool. I grab a primed and belled case, fill it with the powder and set the pan back and it automatically fills, trickled up to my charge setting. I can reset the speed but right now it's set fairly slow. Once I settle on a load and cease prospecting on that load workup, I'll probably go back to the small drum uniflow for production speed. Thinking of my .32s here. My larger pistol stuff is run on the 550B. Not sure that I want to do .32 H&R and .32 S&W Long on the Dillon. I did buy the shell plate and powder funnel but probably also need the extra small powder bar for the Dillon measure for the S&W Long loads. Options!

 

[slickshot223]

MO-5 has it covered

 

[cowboy4evr]

It's not just " what powder will do all ?" It's also a matter of what powders are available . Titegroup will the calibers you listed . HP-38 / W231 ( the same ) will work . Both of these are the faster powders . Going to slower powders , everyone mentions Unique , like it's available . But , there is a good unique substitute available , " BE-86 " . It's a slightly slower burn rate that Unique , but an excellent powder and ---- it's readily available in different size containers . If it were me , I would definitely seriously look at BE-86 . I have used it and liked it . Good luck , regards Paul

 

[Lance Boyle]

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.

Wow, that's shockingly sad. I was never a big Ramshot buyer but Big game, TAC and zip had their uses. They were a sleeper for good value before Hodgdon got a hold of the company. I am not surprised they did the old buy the competition to get rid of them thing. Maybe it's just they are going to focus sparse resources (guncotton) in their more profitable lines.

Either way I don't like to hear that news,

 

[Lance Boyle]

For the longest time I got by with three powders for all of my pistols, the well known 'trifecta':

Bullseye - Target

Unique - Medium Anything

2400 - Magnum

I could have gotten by with 2 of these but these covered everything I needed to do. After several powder shortages I ended up with a wide variety of powders, but if I had to pick a trifecta again, it would be:

Titegroup (or any of several target powders) - Target

HP 38/Win 231 - Medium Anything

The third is tougher. I like the versatility of 2400 over H110/Win 296 so I'd probably try Acc #9 or HS 6. I'd have to look into them more closely because I don't have knowledge of these, but I'd probably pick on that got good performance that didn't mind being reduced.

+1 on 2400.

I wish I stocked up more of it. I was a late discoverer of 2400, I just always assumed it was more like H110.

 

[rwsmith]

+1 on 2400.

I wish I stocked up more of it. I was a late discoverer of 2400, I just always assumed it was more like H110.

Yeah, like Blue Dot or Acc #9, it's a good magnum powder, but if you like maximum flash, boom and recoil, H110/Win296 or IMR 4227 are the ticket.

 

[Lance Boyle]

Yeah, like Blue Dot or Acc #9, it's a good magnum powder, but if you like maximum flash, boom and recoil, H110/Win296 or IMR 4227 are the ticket.

Ha! the opposite of what I look for! One of the features that interested me in my modernization plan of powder selection was flash retardant. There are a few that have it but really don't hi-light it. BE86 for one, I think WST is another.

 

[glenwolde]

If I was forced to load all those with just one powder, and given the current availability and pricing, it would be CFE Pistol. Everybody's going to say "Unique". I used it for a while, not a fan. While it has broad applications it doesn't meter all that well, doesn't completely burn in lighter loads, and never produced the best accuracy (which does matter to me). Universal was better and I switched to that. But you can't get either right now so that is moot.

I've been using CFE Pistol lately and it seems to have just as broad a range, burns cleanly, and produces excellent accuracy. W244 and WSF are also possibilities but I haven't tried them yet. Not sure I will, given CFE Pistol's performance. CFE Pistol is widely available and priced less than W244 and WSF from what I've seen.

CFE Pistol has performed really well in .38, .357, 9mm, and .41 Magnum for me. If it keeps that up I'll be hard-pressed to justify my continued fidelity to W231 for light to medium loads. That says a lot because I've been predominantly using W231 for 45 years.

Given your list of cartridges you're going to need something in the medium-burn range like the three I've mentioned. CFE Pistol won't give you maximum velocity in Magnum revolver cartridges but it will get you up into the middle of the velocity range, above the faster powders.

 

[Majeskty]

I have been seeing some no HAZMAT fee ads for powder and am considering stocking up if the prices are right. I have a variety of pistol powders on hand, but have never really considered pistol powder to be that important. I'm not into serious marksmanship, and usually just buy what is available. I have Bullseye, Tightgroup, Zip, Unique, and maybe more. I probably need to standardize on just one powder, but I really don't feel a preference. I do notice that the hotter loads tend to use a certain group of powders because of burn rates. Because of this, I may need 2 powders. Any recommendations?

I have used Winchester Super Target-WST for a few decades for 200-gr, 45ACP, being ball powder it meters well.
For 9mm, I have been using Accurate #7, again ball powder for flowing through my Dillon 550B.
If you do any reloading for 40 S&W the WST works well for my 165-gr rounds.