Since powder is so hard to come by, I'm looking for a recipe for 125 Gr hollow point defense rounds using HP38. I have quite a few pounds of this and would like to use it up. Thanks for any help.

Hodgdon's load data webpage.

....231 is a very good general use powder. In case you don't know, while you are looking at the Hodgdon site you'll notice that HP-38 and Win 231 are the exact same powder with the same load date.

Since Hodgdon now owns Winchester, they maintain the two due to 'brand loyalty' as some people swear 231 is great and HP-31 is junk and vice versa.

THE IS ONLY TRUE FOR A FEW POWDERS.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

This^^^^^^

YUP! ^^^^^^ These days there is little need for a hard copy of loading data as everything is now online. I have 4 Reloading manuals that seldom get opened anymore - just go on the manufacturers website.

For a decade or more, my pistol powder has been Titegroup, but came across a few pounds of W231 and H38 the other day at a Cabela's, so loaded up some mid-power 124 gr plated with 4.4 gr of the latter, and shot some this week. What amazed me was the huge fireball as seen from behind the sights. I am sure from the side, it would have looked like a Star War's Blaster. No issue with it, but a fiery load. Maybe a slow burning powder.

Load what you have.

All the best and stay safe.... SF VET

You should have no problem with that combination. 231 is all I use for 9mm and it works fine.

Are your bullets copper jacketed hollow points, lead or coated?

Speer data Handgun Data

FWIW; Hodgdon publishes an annual reloading manual for around $10.00. I prefer hard copy, published manuals so I can look at one page/section and compare load data with various powders without switching pages/sites on my computer. I can even find data where I have no computer!

I'm not "old school" behind the time old geezer and I do have a new "smart" phone, but I'm not married to it. Sometime I even have to hunt for it because I left it somewhere (often it the little boy's room where I was playing games while sitting there ).

W231 is a "Medium powder" that almost get to a full load in a 9mm.
A lot depends on bullet weight, amount of powder and the OAL of the load.

With a 124 gr Gold Dot bullet at 1.12" OAL my chrony said;

3.5" barrel at 1068 fps ............. Unique at 1140 fps.

5" barrel, 124 HAP at 1.075" OAL .......... 1166 fps.

I could not get it to reach +P speeds in my pistols but it is very accurate
with target and standard load speeds.

Good luck.

I use W 231 for my 9mm, 45acp and 44mag. I get consistent case loads with this ball powder out of my RCBS Pro 2000. I load jacketed bullets only and get very accurate results on target. It's a economical powder using only 4 to 5.5 grains. I'm very thankful I've got 1 sealed 8 lb keg and 3.5 lbs on hand.

+P has nothing to do with bullet speed, it denotes higher pressures.

I use almost nothing other than W231/HP-38 for the 9mm. It's very accurate for me in 3 different pistols.

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SWCA #3437

HP-38 is my go-to pistol powder and find it to work best in the upper half of the load data table. Below that it tends to get sooty and leaves some unburnt powder--especially in my 9mm Mak load. Never really noticed an flash.

Uh, doesn't higher pressure (referring to one powder & one bullet) not generate higher fps...?

There is a point of diminishing returns where adding a lot of powder doesn't translate into proportionally higher velocity and also accuracy usually suffers.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Yes, generally you do get higher bullet speed as you get on the upper range of a particular powder's load, but some powders will yield higher bullet speed without exceeding SAAMI pressures. As an example, from the Speer website, their data shows that the 124 grain GDHP will get 1199 ft/sec with a charge of 6.0 grains of Alliant BE-86 powder. For the same bullet but using Win 231 powder instead of BE-86, a max load of 4.5 grains of 231 only yields a bullet speed of 998 ft/sec. So, if you are looking for a harder hitting faster round, powder selection is a big consideration.

I use 231 in my 9mm 1911 loads, which as other say is the same as HP38.

Using a 124 gn plated RN bullet I loaded 4.2 gn, .2 gn below maximum, for use in my Kimber 1911. I needed 1010 fps to make a 125 PF for use in IPSC. The local factory produced 9mm/124 gm ammo was pushing 1100 FPS/136 PF through the same gun.

At 4.2 gn I could not make PF and had to go above the 4.4 gn recommended maximum, which also did not make PF, to match the factory ammo. This matches a load recommended to me by my shooting mentor. He has used it in his 1911 for many years. I ended up backing his load off by .1 gn which placed the load between minimum PF and the factory ammo in my pistol.

COL is 1.150" which is right for my pistol and magazines. Any shorter and there are feeding issues even with RN bullets. Any longer and velocity drops off.

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View from down under

Why don't you just look it up on line?

You mean those pesky details make a difference ?

When asking for load data you can't expect us to " Harry Houdini " and mind read the details .
Bullet construction and shape , even the maker of them , is critical in working up load data... (we aren't baking cakes and I'm not Julia Child , so I like the term "load data" not recipe )
So bullet wise ... what cha got , Jacketed , Plated , Coated , Cast Lead ... those pesky details matter if you want a proper answer .
Gary

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NRA Member

HP38/W231 is a great powder for the 9mm, especially bullets in the 115-125 grain range. 20 years ago, I worked up loads using Remington's 115 grain JHP. It was easy to duplicate standard pressure 115 grain velocity. I even pushed it further to +P and duplicated Remington's +P 115 grain JHP load. I will not say how much HP38/W321 it took to duplicate +P loads because I was evidently far more brave 20 years ago than I am today. Suffice it to say that Winchester's published data is remarkably close to my results with standard pressure loads.

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Maybe mw choice of wording was not correct but......
A standard load in a 4" has a 115 gr at 1180fps and a 124 at 1150fps.

In my C-9 3.5" pistol with my loads that worked and shot well, w231 gave me;
115gr FMJ 945-1104fps ........ Gold Dot at 1121fps.
124gr FMJ 944-1044fps ........ Gold Dot at 1068fps.

Unique gave me 115gr fmj at 1263 ...... 124gr fmj at 1150 which might have been a +P pressure.
Blue Dot can reach these speeds without a full load and might have a standard load pressure?

My point was that a 4" +P load is usually over 1200fps and that w231 would not cut it in my 3.5 & 5" pistols.
However the full loads with these bullets in FMJ or JHP would not be something that I would want to step in front of.

I’ve had good results using 231/HP38 with lead bullets in 32 S&W L and 38 Spl. How much should I adjust your suggested loads for jacketed 125s to start load development for 125 LRN?

TIA ~ Froggie

Why not try Hodgdon's PUBLISHED LOAD DATA for a 125gr LCN @ 3.9-4.4gr of WIN 231...?

What could be more simple and direct?

Cheers!

P.S. It's the same range as for a 124gr Berrys HBRN-HP if that is any consolation.