Best metering powders for pistol

millrite · Feb 13, 2012

I was using unique, but it would never meter with repeatability, so I switched to titegroup, and it meters very consistent and burns very clean compared to unique, however it does not fill the case well. Can anybody recommend a powder that burns clean, meters well, and perhaps has some more case filling capacity?
I have heard the winchester powders meter well and burn clean.
Thoughts? I load for .38, .357, .41,.44, and normally load on the light end of the spectrum. I understand that no single powder is best for all the posted cartridges, and have no problem using and keeping more than one powder in the cabinet so fire away.

fred5876r · Feb 13, 2012

I am sorry I don't load any of the calibers you mention, but for what it is worth I love WST for .45 ACP. It meters great, burns extremely clean, and has good volume (fills the case well). A great powder for lighter loads.

Hulltech · Feb 13, 2012

I use Bullseye for .38special. 3 grains of that with Lyman 150gr wad cutters.

4barrel · Feb 13, 2012

powder

millrite said:
I was using unique, but it would never meter with repeatability, so I switched to titegroup, and it meters very consistent and burns very clean compared to unique, however it does not fill the case well. Can anybody recommend a powder that burns clean, meters well, and perhaps has some more case filling capacity?
I have heard the winchester powders meter well and burn clean.
Thoughts? I load for .38, .357, .41,.44, and normally load on the light end of the spectrum. I understand that no single powder is best for all the posted cartridges, and have no problem using and keeping more than one powder in the cabinet so fire away.

I like 2400 for a case filler on all----except on 38 I like bullseye or 700x.---JACK

HAWKEYE10 · Feb 14, 2012

I use Winchester 231 for 9mm, 38 spc., 40 cal., and 45ACP. I think it meters very good and is a good powder for a lot of hand gun calibers. Bullseye is also good. Don

ArchAngelCD · Feb 14, 2012

Ball Powders meter best. W231 (HP-38), HS-6 (W540) and W296 (H110) are my "Powder Trinity" and I load everything with those 3 powders although I do try a lot of other powders. You can also try Accurate powders like AA#2, AA#5, AA#7 and AA#9. They are also Ball Powders and meter very well.

I would use W296 on the 3 magnum calibers and HS-6 for downloaded loads. IMO W231 was made for the .38 Special and I use almost nothing else.

Fishslayer · Feb 14, 2012

W231/HP38 is in the same neighborhood as Unique and meters very well.

Burn Rate

For fast powder I like Bullseye & Green Dot.

For .357 Big Dogs I like 2400. All meter really well.

jibjab · Feb 14, 2012

So "41 and 44" means 41 mag. and 44 mag. or 41 Colt and 44 spl or something else.
and "38 and 357" means 38spl and 357 mag. or 38 super and 357 Sig.

Pocketfisherman · Feb 14, 2012

W231, WST, VV N310, VVN320. That will pretty much cover you.

Gamer · Feb 14, 2012

I like VihtaVuori N320. I happened on some of it when I bought a used press. It meters very well and burns pretty clean. I'm using in in a variety of calibers so far, 45ACP, 45LC, 38 Spec.

Products - Lapua

Rule3 · Feb 14, 2012

ArchAngelCD said:
Ball Powders meter best. W231 (HP-38), HS-6 (W540) and W296 (H110) are my "Powder Trinity" and I load everything with those 3 powders although I do try a lot of other powders. You can also try Accurate powders like AA#2, AA#5, AA#7 and AA#9. They are also Ball Powders and meter very well.

I would use W296 on the 3 magnum calibers and HS-6 for downloaded loads. IMO W231 was made for the .38 Special and I use almost nothing else.

Yes, yes and yes. Bullseye meters real well also.

Where is the darn LIKE button?

parabarbarian · Feb 14, 2012

When it comes to metering badly Unique is the standard by which all other powders are measured. Wet dirt would meter better.

I use a lot of Power Pistol for 38/357 and, in my Dillon, it meters with solid repeatability. Same for the 2400 and 300 MP I use for 357 carbine loads. I tried some HS-6 recently and it meters well too.

RIKMAN · Feb 14, 2012

Parabarbarian,

That was really funny! I just started using unique again. It is a pain, but so versatile ....I'm using it for light 41 & 44 magnum loads.The charges were all over plus or minus .1-.5 and I'm using a nice Redding powder measure that meters Varget pretty accurately.

millrite · Feb 14, 2012

I use a redding powder measure also, and it works very well with my rifle powders, but unique is truly uniquely bad metering.

To clarify the issue, I am loading for .38 special, .357 magnum,
.41 rem magnum, and 44 rem magnum. I hope to be loading for 45 long colt soon if I can find the right 25 to add to the collection.

Regards Mill

Goldstar225 · Feb 14, 2012

I've had no trouble with Winchester 231. Power Pistol, which has a burn rate similiar to Unique, meters exceptionally well.

G.A.Sea53 · Feb 14, 2012

I am a big fan of Unique powder and will agree that it sometimes meters
with more variation than most of us would really like.
Now for the big question how many of you can tell the difference in
the groups you shoot with Unique and a powder that meters very closely?
I cannot see the difference even on the best of my shooting days.

PattonTime · Feb 15, 2012

Best metering powders

I have switched to Accurate powders as much as I can.
The only other one I use a lot of is Power Pistol.
As far as I have seen it can be used wherever Unique was used, as can either #5 or # 7 in Accurate Powders.
Now, I am not meaning grain for grain, although I have seen some cases where a book will show Unique and Power Pistol with same load.
Nothing meters as well as Accurate though !!!
Although I agree with other poster, at the short ranges I shoot a pistol I do not know if I can tell the difference with Unique's spreads of .1-.2 grains but it drives me crazy !

fredj338 · Feb 15, 2012

First, if you can't get Unique to meter, you need a better measure IMO. It runs to 0.1gr accuracy in my old Duo & Dillons. Any ball or spherical pwoder will meter smoothly & accurately. If you liked the burn rate of Unique but can't get you measure to run well (Lee is a good example) then try WSF. Almost identical burn rate & meters a bit better than Unique. AA#5 is even better, but I am not 100% sold on it vs WSF. TG makes lovely fertilizer.

blujax01 · Feb 15, 2012

I read about the metering problems with Unique right after I bought a pound and was apprehensive about using it. I loaded 100 rounds of 9mm 147 STHP over 4.4 grains of Unique, double checked every 10 to 20 rounds and the drop didn't waver even a tenth of a grain over the whole run.

TSQUARED · Feb 15, 2012

In addition to the ball powders such as W-231, WSF, etc. I have found that many Alliant powders such as Bullseye, American Select and Power Pistol provide very consistent powder drops. For reloading mild loads of either plated or lead bullets in 38 Special, 357 Mag, 44 Special, & 45 Colt I prefer Trail Boss which fills the case and measures very uniformly in my Dillon 550. While Titegroup measure very uniformly and provides small velocity variations I find that it burns very hot and prefer powder which do not burn as hot - even Bullseye burns a lot lower in temp.

Best metering powders for pistol

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