Your pistol powder "trinity"

[Roy W.]

45 ACP.........WST
38 SP...........231
9MM.............231
357 MAG.......2400

 

[GF1]

Unique
Blue Dot
2400

 

[bwelch47]

powders

231
Unique
2400

For general use-only one-Unique.

 

[M29since14]

231 / HP-38 (.45 Auto, .44 & .38 Spls, .32s, light loads in the magnums)

HS-6 (9mm, .38 Super, .40SW, 10mm)

2400 or W296 / H-110 (the magnums - no firm preference between the two but might tend toward 2400 just a bit.)

 

[madmikeb]

Bullseye
Unique
2400

This covers it for me! These are the only powders I have used for years. I did just pick up dies for my .500 and .460 though so I may have to broaden my horizons. Thinking about trying some Trailboss.

 

[imashooter2]

Bullseye
2400
Lil' Gun

 

[S&W HE]

231
Unique
Blue Dot

 

[wantmoresmiths]

I'm down to 2 primary powders WW231 and Clays. These 2 powders cover 95 percent of my loading. AA#5 fills the gaps.

WW231 - 9mm, 38 special, 40S&W
Clays - 40 S&W (bunny farts) and 45 ACP

AA#5 for mid power (1000 fps) 41 and 44 mag

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Absolutely, ArchAngelCD! Made me think about it, thought it was an interesting issue.

I throw in some Lil'Gun on occasion too, but mostly confined to carbines or the Contender these days.

Don't get me wrong, I have 12 pistol powders on my rack right now but I always seem to come back to those three. (14 if you want to count W231/HP-38 and W296/H110 as separate powders which I don't)

AA#5
AA#9
Power Pistol
2400
Clays
Universal
W231 & HP-38
HS-6
Longshot
W296 & H110
Lil'Gun
Trail Boss

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Bullseye
Unique
2400

Very appropriate that this should be the first reply. I also have used SR4756 for the infamous Speer handbook .45 AR load, but those three do seem to cover everything. Nothing bad to say about the others, and there's more than one way to skin a cat, but the above is the classic answer.

 

[amazingflapjack]

For hand guns: Unique, Unique, and Unique. Flapjack.

 

[Treeman]

If I must limit it to 3 ......Red Dot, Unique and 800X.

 

[gregintenn]

Bullseye
Unique
2400

That's my short answer as well.

 

[Snowbandit]

Unique
2400

On the rare occasion I would decide to drag out a gun with a barrel longer than 4 inches I might use some Blue Dot or H-110. Haven't done that in many years so everything gets Unique except 44 Magnum.

 

[EricInAZ]

For everyday range loads:

WW321
Titegroup
Titewad

For non-standard loads like .357 rifle & 6" barrel revolver use, I like Blue Dot.

 

[fredj338]

A comment in another thread got me thinking about the pistol powder trinity. I guess we all have at least 3 for different power loads and chamberings to suit almost all of our handloading situations.

It appears on reflection that mine is:

WSF (good for most autopistol cartridges and I have developed loads for most straightwall cartridges at moderate target and plinking levels; I get exceptional accuracy, and it meters great; also I use it in a lot of shotshell loads)

PowerPistol (excellent mid to upper range powder for jacketed bullets in many auto and straight pistol cartridges, seems to be a favorite of Brian Pearce's too)

WW296 (a long time favorite for most magnum level loads)

I keep a few others around for special applications (Unique and Blue Dot primarily) but those three serve most of my pistol loading needs and I could live without those two if necessary.

What's yours?

IMO, WSF & PP are so close as you could elminate one. For me, a "trinity" of pwoders would be a fast, medium & slow to cover all handgun apps from 380 to heavy 44mags & 45colts. So mine would be:
WST or W231
WSF, PP or Unique
2400, AA#9 or H110
I could load anything w/ those. I keep about 6 pistol powders though as some just do better than others for "tweener" rounds like the 10mm & 357sig (Longshot, AA#7 or BlueDot). SOme also like uberfast powders like BE, Clays, etc for bunnyfart loads.

 

[mtgianni]

Red Dot
Unique
2400

I shoot a lot of 296/H110 because I have a lot of it but it could be replaced with 2400 which I also use in cast rifle so it gets the nod.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Bullseye
Unique
2400

Also.

My second tier is:

Trailboss
Power Pistol
IMR4227

 

[Joni_Lynn]

I mostly use HP38/WW231, Unique and WW296. There's others here but they don't see too much use. I may start using 700X in some of my 45acp.

 

[336A]

As soon as I use up the last little bit of H110 I have on hand the only pistol powders I'll be using is Unique and 2400. I love how well these two work in my .41 mag. I just hope that the 2400 will work as well in the .44 mag carbine.