[marineman]

Is Blue Dot pistol powder any good? Is it popular? Thanks.

[Randy1911]

Blue Dot was designed for shotshell loads. However, I do know people who use it in high power pistol loads like 44 Mag. And data is available.

[RoadKingMI]

I have used it in 44, 45LC and have had good luck. Though the manfacture did say somthing about not using it in mag loads and cold weather I think. I have never had a problem in Michigan in the winter but just wanted to mention it.

[SteveW-II]

It's a slow powder and only works well at max, or very close to it, loads. Very dirty if not 'at working pressure'. Good in most magnum loads. It might just be me, but it makes the biggest muzzle flash I have ever seen from handguns. Also works well in 147gr 9mm loads and 230 gr 45 acp, again, at max loads.

[Redneck with a 40]

I loaded some 165 gr Ranier's in 40 S&W, with 9 grains of Blue Dot. These things are sweet, laser accurate and they thump, I like it.:)

[Clark]

I use it in 223 for rodents.
I can shoot 100 rounds per hour and not get the barrel hot or dirty.
I have shot thousands of rounds this way.

It is dangerous in 223.
It can hang up in a powder measure.
It does not fill the case with a max load.
It should only be used in 223 by people who know what they are doing and are careful.

[LightningMan]

I like to use it in some .357 loads and yes there is a very noticable muzzle flash. :what: :eek: LM

[Clifford]

I use blue dot for some of my 38 super loads. 8.5 grains with a 130 grain RN and sometimes up to 9.5 grains but that is a compression load so don't use it unless you work up to it slowly. It is pretty clean and in my super gives of a 1 ft fireball at night.

[748]

It's not any good in 45ACP, unless you are loading insanly hot 45+P+ loads or some thing.

[Silverado6x6]

I am going to do some 40s&w loads soon using Blue Dot, I have read that having a fuller case on the 40 improves the accuracy, other people claim it doesn't burn well and is sooty for the .45acp.

[nitetrane98]

My all time favorite for heavy .357 mag loads. Quite spectacular at dusk.

[atblis]

10mm

[ilbob]

I have used it in 44 mag loads. Did not especially like it.

[Gryffydd]

I've been very happy with it in .45LC, .357, and 9mm. As has been said, it only works well at close to max pressure, much like many other slow powders like H110 or W296.

I've tried it in .45acp and got a lot of unburned powder and inconsistent results. It just doesn't have the pressure Blue Dot needs to perform well, unless you want to make some +p rounds, but for .45 ACP there are better choices for that.

At high pressure it's very clean, leaves almost no residue, almost no smoke...and one heck of a fireball. I like the fact that I can shoot a couple hundred rounds in my .357 and it barely looks like its been fired.

[Floppy_D]

I've used it for 357, 9mm, 40sw, 44mag and 44spl. It's a good powder for hot loads. Lotsa flash. :)

[Steve C]

Blue Dot is a relatively slow powder for pistol cartridges. It works best at the higher pressures found in magnums and high pressure semi auto cartridges. It can be used for loads in the .45 and .38 spl but its quite dirty at these lower pressures.

I use it in the .357 and .41 mag and have loaded some 9mm wit it.

[jjohnson]

Well.... Good for what, exactly?

Yes, it's a relatively slow burning powder, so if you're loading for your .38 snubnose, you will get lots of flash and relatively poor performance. If you're shooting something with a higher pressure load and maybe a longer barrel, it does get better. I wouldn't use it in "plinking" loads because it needs some time and pressure to do its thing properly. I've used it and liked its performance in: 9mm+P 147-gr, higher end .357, higher end (and longer barrel) .40, and .44 Magnum. I have NOT been happy with it for .38 target loads, 9mm or .40 plinking loads, or .44 Special in a revolver with 3" barrel.

It seems to be happy with higher pressures and, using QuickLoad, you can see that there's a huge difference between its performance in a 4" barrel versus a 10-inch T/C Contender or a Ruger revolver with a 7 1/2 inch tube. I found (by calculating with QuickLoad) a bunch of loads that weren't 95% burned before they got well past six inches of barrel. For that reason, when I reload in those calibers, I mark my loads: "Contender/Carbine." Blue Dot is one of a small handful of powders you might really like if you had a lever action carbine in a pistol cartridge (.357, .44 Mag, .45 Colt) because you can keep pressures relatively low while it finishes burning in the longer barrel. Of course, if you use THOSE loads in your snubgun, you will get an impressive :what: fireball.

[dogrunner]

Had great results with the stuff in 7.62/25 in the CZ 52..........very accurate, quite powerful.

[evan price]

I would have to agree, Blue Dot is really only useful in carbines and long barreled pistols. I would not even consider it for anything else but that (or shotguns of course). There are better, cleaner, safer powders out there.

[loadedround]

I have found it to be the best powder for use in my 10mm Delta Elite with 170/175gr jacketed bullets. Also have used Blue Dot successfully with medium-heavy 44 Mag loads. Be careful with this powder though, you can get very quick pressure spikes when approaching maximum loads. :)

[Ben Shepherd]

As the others have said- blue dot on the top end of its charge/pressure curve puts it squarely in the 80-90 of what a high pressure pistol round will do period. has been VERY accurate for me in the magnum cartridges.

But also as noted, when it's done it's done. I went from just fine to s.t.u.c.k. cases and slight head expansion with a .2 grain increase in 44 mag one time when I was pushing it. And it can act funny in really cold(below freezing) weather.

[SlamFire1]

I do not like Blue Dot. I have tried the powder in 9mm, 38 Spl, 357, 44 Spl, 44 Magnum, 45 ACP and 45 LC.

The only application that worked well was with Jacketed bullets in the 357. Even then, I got leading with cast bullets in the 357. With the same bullets, at similiar velocites, 2400 and AA#9 did not create leading.

Blue Dot burns poorly at anything but Magnum pressures. I had teaspoons of unburnt powder rolling around in my case dump box. In non magnum loads, my chronograph data shows huge extreme spreads, around 200 fps, showing that the powder is just not burning completely.

I did shoot it in 45 ACP. Even when the velocity average was 800 fps in a M1911, it gave a very hard recoil. Which to me indicates a high residual breech pressure. Maybe if you are going to shooting something like a Thompson, or some submachine gun that has a huge blowback breech block, it might work well. But I don’t want to peen the frames of my pistols.

I think it is an awful powder and don’t wish it on any one.

[Gryffydd]

In non magnum loads, my chronograph data shows huge extreme spreads, around 200 fps, showing that the powder is just not burning completely.

Why would you use a magnum powder in non-magnum loads? You're complaining that you used a powder for something for which it wasn't intended and you got poor results. That doesn't exactly make it an awful powder.

[DELTAJOHN]

I use it in 10mm, 40 S&W, and 357 mag loads. My other favorite, and often used powder is IMR HI-SKOR 800X which has a very similar burn rate.

John

[SlamFire1]

Why would you use a magnum powder in non-magnum loads? You're complaining that you used a powder for something for which it wasn't intended and you got poor results. That doesn't exactly make it an awful powder

I have Hercules/Alliant manuals that provide Blue Dot loading data in all the calibers I tested.

Hercules/Alliant does not label Blue Dot as a "magnum only powder" and it is not indicated in their load manuals. It would have saved me a lot of test time were I as knowledgeable as you and known that I was using it for something for which it wasn't intended

Maybe you can provide your source? A source better than manufacturer load data?

[atblis]

They do list it for some other thing but it is intended for magnum/higher pressures.

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/atblis/untitled.JPG

[Gryffydd]

Maybe you can provide your source? A source better than manufacturer load data?

I did the same thing you did. I tried it in .45acp, and it didn't work very well. I just didn't blame the powder and say it was awful and wouldn't wish it on anyone. I went back to using it for what it works really well on.

And nice pic, atlblis.

[jibjab]

I think there are much better powder choices for handgun, I don't load for shotgun so when the BD is gone, it's gone for good. I will say that BD has worked well for a reduced .308 Win load in my bolt action.

[Gryffydd]

I think there are much better powder choices for handgun
There are certainly better powders for the heaviest magnum loads, e.g. H110/W296. There are also better loads for lighter rounds, e.g. Bullseye or Titegroup. However, I think Blue Dot fills a nice niche at somewhere a bit slower than Unique. It's not quite as versatile, but it's much cleaner (when loaded properly), and can hit higher velocities. You can get close to the maximum for any given cartridge, as Ben Shepherd said. But you do it with a lot less powder than H110 and you're not as likely to encounter compressed charges, which is nice on a progressive.

Of course being somewhere in the middle can be a disadvantage too. You can't load it light, and you can't get as much performance as you can out of H110/W296.

[SlamFire1]

Being Rip Van Winkle, ever so often I wake up and find that the world has changed.

However, long ago, I purchased a keg of Blue Dot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/BlueDotcan1990.jpg

You cannot read the lot date, but it is 1990, but the price of $52.00 (about $20.00 less than 2009 pricing) ought to be a hint to the age.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/BlueDotCandatecode.jpg

Back in the inky shadows of the past, Hercules gave out free reloading manuals. This one is from 1992.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/1992HerculesGuideCoverpage.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/1992HerculesGuidepage2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/1992HerculesGuidepage3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/1992HerculesGuidepage2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/1992HerculesGuidepage3.jpg


If you can see it, there are one heck of a lot of Blue Dot load data for “non magnum” cartridges. I don’t see any asterisks next to the non magnum cartridges with a foot note that explains “* Just Kidding, this is not its intended application.”.

Back when I bought this powder, in the early nineties, I did not receive any email messages from the future telling me, “In 2009, the Alliant Company internet site recommends Blue Dot for only magnum cartridges”. (Maybe Al Gore had not invented the internet yet.)

I had to find out for myself that Blue Dot does not work well in standard cartridges.

It is my opinion that Blue Dot is a poor choice for a pistol powder. Being a “magnum pistol only” powder which incidentally leads with cast bullets, is not the beginning of a great relationship.

I have found 2400 to be an outstanding and flexible magnum pistol powder. Unique is the most versatile of them all, and Bullseye, while not as flexible, is outstanding in its applications.

Blue Dot, I don’t recommend it for anything.

[Gryffydd]

In any case, expecting a powder considerably slower than Unique to work well in .45acp simply because load data exists doesn't make the powder bad.

Blue Dot, I don’t recommend it for anything.
That's fair enough. I can accept this.

I think it is an awful powder and don’t wish it on any one.
It was this I didn't agree with. Just because it's not more versatile than Unique and gives better velocity than H110 at the same time doesn't make it a bad powder. It does some things very, very well.

[SlamFire1]

I've been very happy with it in .45LC, .357, and 9mm.

Well every so often, when hope abides anew, I drag out that keg of Blue Dot and hope to find a good application.

Your experience with Blue Dot is so different from mine in 45 LC and 9mm.

My data is below. My standard loads of Unique and Bullseye show much tighter standard deviations and extreme spreads. And again, leading popped up with the 9mm loads.

I mean just look at the extreme spreads, almost 200 fps in some loads.


Maybe it will do well with cast bullets and rifle cartridges.

5 1/2" USFA Rodeo

250 LRN (.452") 8.5 grs Unique thrown, R-P cases, CCI300 primers
12-May-02 T = 80°F

Ave Vel = 855
Std Dev = 16
ES 59.91
High 885.4
Low 825.5
Number Shots 12


250 LRN (.452") 11.5 grs Blue Dot R-P cases, WLP
11-Sep-05 T = 85 °F
shoots close to point of aim acceptable accuracy


Ave Vel = 845
Std Dev = 48
ES 183.6
High 933.3
Low 749.7
N = 18



250 LRN (.452") 12.0 grs Blue Dot R-P cases, WLP
11-Sep-05 T = 85 °F

shoots close to point of aim good accuracy

Ave Vel = 904
Std Dev = 44
ES 149.6
High 955.2
Low 806
N = 15


M92 FS Beretta Bar Sto Barrel


125 LRN .356" Valiant 4.0 grs Bullseye S&W cases WSP
OAL: 1.110'
9-Apr-06 T = 58 °F accurate

Ave Vel = 1099
Std Dev = 12.16
ES 44.48
High 1124
Low 1080
N = 15


125 LRN Valiant .356" 6.0 grs Blue Dot S&W cases WSP
OAL: 1.110'
9-Apr-06 T = 58 °F

Ave Vel = 1048
Std Dev = 32
ES 94
Low 1012
High 1106
N = 14



125 LRN Valiant .356' 6.5 grs Blue Dot S&W cases WSP
9-Apr-06 T = 59 °F

Ave Vel = 1148
Std Dev = 30.87
ES 140.6
High 1226
Low 1085
N = 33


125 LRN Valiant .356" 7.5 grs Blue Dot S&W cases WSP OAL 1.110"
27-Mar-06 T = 60 °F

Ave Vel = 1326
Std Dev = 29.81
ES 105.2
High 1383
Low 1278
N = 27

accurate, too much recoil, hard functioning of pistol: leading at end of barrel

[Gryffydd]

250 LRN (.452") 11.5 grs Blue Dot R-P cases, WLP
ES 183.6
250 LRN (.452") 12.0 grs Blue Dot R-P cases, WLP
ES 149.6

I'll wager that if you had continued in that direction to around 13.5-14.0gr you would have seen that ES continue to shrink. Now, that may not be something you want to shoot out of a Rodeo, but 14gr under a 250gr Nosler JHP gave excellent results in my Bisley Blackhawk. When I say I was pleased with it in the .45LC it wasn't being used for standard pressure loads. In both 9mm and .357 I was using it with jacketed rounds as well, so I can't speak to the leading problem.

I appreciate you posting your notes. I definitely respect your record keeping ability!

[Redneck with a 40]

I like my Blue Dot .40 loads so much, I went and bought another pound.:) 9 grains behind a Ranier 165 gr burns very clean and pushes them pretty good, 1100 fps. I like they way they shoot.