[darkknight]

what is everyones favorite powder for .45acp, 9mm, .357/.38 special, .308 and 223. how much do you buy on avergae and how long does it last? getting into relaoding and looking for advice on what to get. Im waiting for the manuels to come in to so i am really shooting blind with this question and all help is apprciated.

[Walkalong]

W231, WSF, AA #5, & N330 are great for 9MM

W231, AA #2, AA #5, & N320 are great for the .45

W231, AA #2, & N320 are great for .38 Spl.

AA #9, W296 are great for .357

H335 is great for .223, should work in .308, but I have not reloaded it.

[Texastbird]

Start with Unique. It works well in all those pistol loads for me. It sounds like you are just getting started. One pound will get a lot of ammo loaded (hundreds) for you to try out. Keep it simple at first, then you can experiment with other powders later. Anyway, that's what i did. Don't know about the rifle stuff. Good luck.

[spencerhut]

Start with Unique. Can't really argue too much with that. You will always find a use for the Unique no matter what pistol caliber you end up loading. There is a good reason it's been around ~100 years. ;)
Win231/HP38 would be good also. Try some Power Pistol when you get an itch to make some high zoot stuff. It's a good metering powder that works well in a great many pistol cartridges.

H335(ball) and/or IMR4895(stick) for the .223 and .308. If you are going to trickle and weigh each charge 4895 is good stuff. If you are going to load on a progressive H335 might work better since it flows better through just about any powder measure better than 4985 does.

[NuJudge]

Not many .308 shooters around here are there?

I shoot lots of .308, much of it through an M1 and M1A. For it, nothing but 41.5gr IMR or H 4895 with a 168 Sierra and a Winchester primer in a LC case.

For the .223, it would help to know what bullet weight you are using, and if you anticipate any high temperatures. WW748 does incredibly well with 52 grain bullets, and it does quite well with every bullet weight, but pressures get high in hot weather. I prefer 4895 with 69's, and RL-15 with 80's.

I was shooting a lot of 231 in .45, but have switched to Bullseye.

I generally shoot 231 in .38 and 9mm.

CDD

[GunTech]

If I had to pick one rifle powder, it would be 4895.

Right now I don't reload for pistol. Too much factory ammo.

[CZ57]

All fine choices mentioned so far. Starting off with a single handgun propellant is probably wise. Unique is good for that as is AA#5, but there is a newer powder that I believe is even better and will give you very good handloads in the calibers you reload: Ramshot True Blue.

The .223/.308 choices are good, as is RL-15, and another Ramshot powder that works very well and may save you a $ or two: Ramshot TAC.

There are 7000 grains in a pound of powder, so as an example only, if you were loading a 9mm bullet with 6.0 grains of True Blue you should get around 1167 reloads.;)

[Jim Watson]

HP38/Win 231 for non-magnum handgun.
Varget for non-magnum rifle.
I don't shoot enough magnums to have a preference.

[XD-40 Shooter]

Ditto Unique, I use it for my 40 S&W reloads and my 357 reloads. Unique works great in both, gives good, solid, mid-range performance. Using max charges in 40 S&W, Unique has given me stellar performance, beyond factory numbers.:D

For "hot" magnum loads in 357, I bought some Blue Dot. With my 125 grain bullets, I'm pushing these at 1600 fps, 14.3 grains.:D:eek:

[tbtrout]

Win 231 and IMR 4895

[Lennyjoe]

W-231 for .45

H-335 for .223

Dunno about the others. Haven't gotten there yet.

[wally]

Unique can pretty much equal factory loads in all but the magnum calibers, and its still not bad for the magnums. Blue Dot will give you the full magnum experience and make folks look over to see what you are shooting. After trying a variety of powders initially, I've used only these two for handguns the past 20+ years.

--wally.

[DMZ]

I load straight case pistol cartridges and find these powders are in the in those that makes my "best loads" list:

Unique

231

2400

[jhansman]

Titegroup for pistols, H335 and Varget for .223.

[RugerOldArmy]

9x19 - Power Pistol, Blue Dot, and Unique
.45 ACP - Bullseye and 231
.223 - Varget (match), TAC (bulk ammo), Benchmark, 748
.308 - RL15 and Varget

[Never No More]

Imr 4895

[evan price]

Titegroup for pistol. Varget for .223 & other rifle. IMR 3031 for .308. IMR 4895 for 30-06.

[ArchAngelCD]

9mm & .38 Special = W231/HP-38
9mm +P = Powder Pistol
.38 Special +P = Longshot
.357 Magnum = W296/H110
.45 ACP = W231/HP-38
.45 Colt = W231/HP-38 & Trail Boss

[Lone_Gunman]

Two problems with Unique I have noticed are that it doesn't meter as nicely from a Lee Pro Auto Disk as W231 does, and it also seems to burn a little dirtier.

[GooseGestapo]

.38spl- Bullseye (8lbs seems to last forever)
.45acp- Clays " " " " @3.5gr
9mm- LongShot best accuracy w/jacketed or cast from 3 different PPC 9's
.223/.30-06/.308 Reloader 15 it don't get any better-vel's and accuracy.
7mm-08 IMR4350 best accuracy my gun
.257wbymag/.300RUM WC-860 (near 1-hole accuracy and peak vel's).

[P97]

I use Unique for .45 ACP and IMR 4895 for .308. I shoot a lot of .45 so I buy the 8 LB. Jugs. One Lb. will load a lot of Cartridges.

[cdrt]

Bullseye for the .45 ACP and .38 Special. I can get 2,000 rounds out of one can for the .45 and well over 2,000 for the .38. Some say that Bullseye is dirty, but I think a lot of it has to do with what lube is on the bullet. In my Clark .38 Special 1911, Bullseye is pretty clean. In the .45 somewhat dirtier. In the .38 I'm shooting swaged HBWCs. In the .45, std lubed bullets.

For the .308 I used IMR 4895 since I'm loading for an M1 Garand.

[Barr]

For non-magnum handgun, Alliant American Select works very good and is very clean. I also use this for 12-gauge Target loads. I can use this powder is just about everything but rifle and sub-gauge shotguns. Most medium to large bore pistol cartridges use 3.5-6 grains max. A little bit of powder goes a long way.

In magnum handgun, it is hard to beat the classic Alliant 2400. It gives good velocity and will not leak out of certain powder measures like Hodgdon H110. I also use this powder in .410 shotgun shells.

For non-magnum rifle, I am starting to lean towards Hodgdon Varget. I was using Reloader 19, but the Varget kicks much less and seems to perform just as well if not better. IMR 4064 has also been a pretty good powder for me in .270 Winchester.

[BeJaRa]

Unique will be a very good powder for all your handloads. it can be a bit dirty in the 45acp since it is such a low pressure cartridge, butit is not that bad. I personaly have been using W231 for 45acp but it is quite smoky with hardcast lead bullets. i know the smoke is most likely from the bullet lube, but I did not have this issue using Unique.

[caz223]

9mm= bullseye for light loads and plinking, power pistol for medium to heavy bullets and medium to full power. Really hotrodding 9mm calls for hodgdon HS-6 or VV powders. With Bullseye, a little goes a long way, with HS-6, not so much. ;)
.45 acp: Everyone has a favorite, mine is unique, but WSF and power pistol are good, too. About 1000 loads to a pound with unique, depending on power and bullet weight.
.38 spl=Power pistol and 125 grain JHPs. More than 1000 loads to a pound, and that's at +p levels.
With .223 I like H335 for bullets 50 grains and lighter, which is mostly what I shoot. You really go through the powder in rifle rounds unless you shoot something like .22 hornet.

[Bottom Gun]

Unique is probably the best all around powder I have used.

[rc109a]

I like Varget for both my 308 and 243 loads. I have tried reloader 15 with fair results. I also tried H414 for the 243, but it looked like a shotgun blast at 100yds. Love Trail Boss for my 41 mag light loads and H110 for mag loads.

[Fatelvis]

Rifle = either 4895
pistol = Bullseye

[smitty_bs]

IMR4064 in a 30/06; you won't get any better accuracy.

[putteral]

Titegroup and Red Dot for my 9mm. A little goes a long way

[Shell Shucker]

I like Universal for 9mm, mid range 357, and mid range 45 Colt. Clays for 38 spl. They work well and also feed my shotguns.
Varget and H-4350 for 6.5x55 and 243.

[Linear Thinker]

Win231 for 45ACP, I tried just about every other fast powder, but 231 can't be improved upon.
Bullseye for 38Spec, I have a lot of it, will switch to W231 when I run out of old smoky.
Accurate 2230 for 223 with 55gr bullets, 2520 for 68 grainers.
LT