Power Pistol recipes

[ajpelz]

I just bought my first can of power pistol.

I am soliciting recipes for using this powder. I mostly load; 9mm, 38 special, 357 magnum, 380 ACP, and 45 ACP.

Any advice in using this powder is appreciated. How does this powder meter out of a dispenser? I use a lot of Unique, so I am used to weighing each charge individually due to its poor metering performance.

 

[3five7]

Power Pistol meters very well through most powder measures. Check out Alliant Powder company's website for receipes with different calibers.

Alliant Powder - Home

 

[SWID]

It does quite well in my RCBS powder measure, the 50th round weighs the same as the first.

And I love in in a 10mm with heavier bullets. Haven't tried it in anything else.

 

[Tell Sackett]

Power Pistol is the same size flake as Bullseye and it meters like a dream. Power Pistol does too.

As for loads, they should be easy to find both at Alliant's website and in newer manuals.

The only downside to Power Pistol that I have heard is it's flash. It seems that some folks have tried to use it for self defense rounds only to find it has some bad characteristics around sun-down!

If that doesn't matter to you, have at it!

 

[flop-shank]

AJ, IIRC the burn rate of Power Pistol is between Unique and Herco. I've not experimented with it a lot, but I don't think it tends to spike pressure super fast if you get past a max load like fast powders tend to. Perhaps other more in the know than me will chime in about that. And yes, it meters like no other powder I've ever used. When my big supply of Herco runs low, I intend to explore the idea of using it as my #1 medium speed (read most used) powder.

 

[TSQUARED]

The Alliant Powder website has a lot of recipes for power Pistol. Personally I prefer WSF in 9mm and a faster burning powder such as American Select or WST in 45 ACP.

 

[Smithhound]

This past weekend I test fired 5.0g of Power Pistol behind a 124g Ranier plated RN, put 20 rnds into a small coffee can lid at around 30 feet off hand. All ejected, no stovepipes and this load locked back the slide in a 9mm Sig P226, I was very satisfied with it. I did not have my cronograph at the range but I estimate around 1000fps. Primers looked fine and I did not noticde anything wrong with the flash, this was at an indoor range.
I'm going to crono this load and most likely make it a standard. I was really impressed with it.
This was my first attempt at load development with 9mm, I also used a load of Bullseye and another of Unique, both were underpowered and gave stovepipes and did not lock back the slide.
I've been loading since 1980, just have never got into the 9mm untill recently, so I'm not a noob at it.
This struck me as a very good practice load for that pistol.
RD

 

[shovelwrench]

If you tell us what bullet your gonna run you might get some data from us

I use PP for .380 and .45 full power loads.

 

[ajpelz]

If you tell us what bullet your gonna run you might get some data from us

I use PP for .380 and .45 full power loads.

Hornady XTP in both those calibers. 90 gr. and 230 gr. Also in 357, 158 gr. In 9mm and 38 special, I mostly run Golden Sabres, 124 gr. and 125 gr.

Thanks for the replies thus far.

I appreciate it.

 

[shovelwrench]

How about the guns your usein?

You can run Alliants 4.8 behind a 90gr anything (I currently run this in my Colt 1908 behind an XTP)... They did list 4.6 behind 100gr, IIRC, I was runnin 4.6 behind a 102 Golden Saber.

The .45 is different.

The problem I find with PP in .45 is you can load it HOT, the gun will handle it, but for how long????

I'll only reference you some reading.....

The M1911 Pistols Organization Forums Site - Hornaday 230g TAP .45

The M1911 Pistols Organization Forums Site - Power Pistol and .45ACP

Theres some much better threads in here The loads in the previous threads I know to be good data.

 

[ajpelz]

How about the guns your usein?

You can run Alliants 4.8 behind a 90gr anything (I currently run this in my Colt 1908 behind an XTP)... They did list 4.6 behind 100gr, IIRC, I was runnin 4.6 behind a 102 Golden Saber.

The .45 is different.

The problem I find with PP in .45 is you can load it HOT, the gun will handle it, but for how long????

I'll only reference you some reading.....

The M1911 Pistols Organization Forums Site - Hornaday 230g TAP .45

The M1911 Pistols Organization Forums Site - Power Pistol and .45ACP

Theres some much better threads in here The loads in the previous threads I know to be good data.

"7.5 Power Pistol Hornady 230 XTP 980 fps four inch barrel (Wow)"

Thanks for the links and advice. In 380, I am shooting an LCP, or PPK, so I keep them no hotter than warm....

On the other hand, the 45 is out of either a 1911, or a 4566, so I am pretty excited about the performance that I have to look forward to. According to my book, 230 grains at 980 FPS should put muzzle energy just a hair under 500 ft-lbs.

 

[shovelwrench]

Yeah there are some much hotter loadings in the search I provided... If you do read the threads there is some very good info there. Like I said, you can load PP in a .45 hot enough to batter a gun to death. I'm not sayin you can't shoot the stuff, just that its hard on the gun to do it regulary. Both a decent 1911 and a Smith 3rd gen (assuming its not alloy frame) should handle PP at its upper most loadings, just not all the time. I run the hot stuff to test for function and accuracy, thats it, then I carry it...... I shoot my carry mags every now and then and put fresh ammo in em.

Same goes for the .380, both those should be fine guns for the load I listed...

 

[cocojo]

Power pistol powder looks the same and meters the same as bullseye because power pistol is nothing more than bullseye powder enhanced to a higher level and reformulated with more nitro. Powder charges are different.

 

[matsu]

bulk load name for power pistol is bullseye 84

 

[sonny]

I've been trying to find some of this, but haven't yet other than 4# cans. Here is their web-data.
Alliant powder reloading
Sonny

 

[shovelwrench]

Sonny,
Thats good info, I'm pretty sure alliant has dropped their loads since then. 9.1 behind a 185 in .45 has to impressive. I was loading 8+ behind Noslers 185JHP and it was quite a handfull.