titegroup-9mm

I used Titegroup in 9mm for a while.....prob 1,500 rounds. it did just fine I stopped using it mostly because I was uptight about it given various stories and cautions around it.
It worked great for the general plinking I do.

TiteGroup will make good loads for your 9MM. For ME, not so much on the 38Spl.
You have been around here long enough to have read some "Problems" with TiteGroup.
If I could buy for $15.00 per # or so, I would buy. If not I would stay with my WW-231/HP-38, and HS-6, Unique, PowerPistol loadings...Bill.

Hodgdon TiteGroup powder is what I use the most. It works well for 9mm, 45acp and I have used it for 380acp, though it is a very small powder drop for 380.

Chronograph data shows very consistent standard deviations with TiteGroup, normally 10 or below. I believe this is do in part to how well it meters. This is one powder I always have in stock.

Titegroup does a great job behind a 115 gr. XTP. You just have to take what should be normal precautions with measuring and checking the cases for double charges. Also, the claim for not being position sensitive is a real stretch of the truth. Walkalong has proven them wrong.
I would recommend the purchase. I would use it more, but I have enough HP38 & IMR 7625 to last a short lifetime.

ohihunter2014 said:

like what?

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Titegroup burns hot and violent with very narrow start/max charges that are less than .5 gr swing for many 9mm loads.

So if you are loading near max/max charge loads, being .1-.2 gr off on powder charge and bullet setback during feeding/chambering that results in deeper bullet seating could push pressures to over max. Checking neck tension/bullet setback would be a good insurance. Good thing Titegroup is not too temperature sensitive.

Having said all these, while I like W231/HP-38 with more forgiving pressure curve and even fast burning Bullseye/Red Dot/Promo for 9mm loads, Titegroup has produced slightly more accurate loads than W231/HP-38 for me and is popular with many match shooters.

ohihunter2014 said:

if I'm seating my 124gr extreme plated longer like 1.139 would I be okay?

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My normal COL for the 124gr Xtreme Round Nose is 1.140 to 1.150". This feeds well with all of my 9mm pistols.

You can calculate case powder fill in at 1.139" with 124 gr RN but Titegroup being dense powder, it won't be a compressed load even with max charge.

Regardless of working OAL used, key is sufficient neck tension to prevent bullet set back. If you do not experience bullet set back when rounds are fed/chambered from the magazine, you should be good.

I use it and 700X for 9mm. It meters pretty well and my ammo is accurate enough

Powder is by far your cheapest component. If you are looking to cut costs, I would look into different primers/bullets first. Buy whatever powder you like best and forget about that quarter of a penny you could have saved with the cheap stuff.

I haven't been all that impressed with it. All of the reviews I was read made it sound like it was the way the to go.
So far every load I tried the groups opened up some compared to W231. .
I'm going back to W231, HP38 the next time I get a chance to pick up some.
I'm using it in a AR9 and haven't tried it in a pistol yet.

Three or four years ago 700x was the only pistol powder i could get... Saved my bullseye for 45 acp and mostly loaded 9mm with 700x, no problem shoots just fine....

I jumped on an 8 pound jug back when powder was very scarce. I then bought a 1 pound bottle for testing. If I liked it, I'd be set, if I didn't like it, I could have easily sold the jug for what I paid for it. As it turned out, I liked it very much for 9/40/45/12 gauge. At lower pressure loads, it's quite dirty and smokey and stays that way right up to max charge weights (max normal, not +P range so there is still some safety margin). When loaded near max, velocity spreads go way down like in single digit fps.

For 38 special, if you aren't loading the bullets to full 357 pressures, the loads will be pretty smokey because the pressures will be quite low. The cases will be sooty and you'll get a lot of smoke, but they'll shoot fine.

It flows very well and yes it takes up very little room in the case so it is easy to miss a double charge if you aren't careful. It's really smokey with traditional lubed bullets and Alox, but not smokey at all with powder coated, plated of jacketed bullets so long as you are up there in the pressure range. It shoots very well in 12 gauge for my 3/4 oz skeet loads, buckshot loads and slug loads. Some say it burns hot due to the high nitroglycerin content. I don't shoot rapid fire (no more than 1/second) so it's no problem for me.

If you can get it for $16/pound, you are getting it for a little less than what you would pay for if you bought it in the 8 pound jug. I got my jug for $138 + tax. You certainly won't lose out because you could easily sell it for that price immediately and maybe even more if we have another powder shortage.

TiteGroup Cons: it burns too hot, the recoil is snappy, it stains the case and it's temperature sensitive. There have been reports of bridging/clumping in the powder measure as well. I also find that TG when combined with lead bullets creates excessive smoke.
Pros: it's cheap.

Titegroup burns hot, so you will find some of the coated bullets recommend that you do not use it. However, Acme coated red bullets seem to really like it. And it works well for plated and jacketed bullets.
The power is dense and the weights are usually a little lighter than many other popular powers, so a little more care is needed to not "double load" or not measure carefully.
For, me I usually get best accuracy near max load, but like any setup you make samples starting below max and work up.
It does not generate as much velocity as other popular powers like HP38.
I suspect that eventually CFE Pistol will be standard before long, given a choice I would pick CFE over TiteGroup or HP38 or Universal.

I have one friend who bought a large supply of Titegroup, another shifted from HP38 to CFE-P during Obama Panic II.
Me? I see no reason to change from HP38/W231 as long as I can get it. Lacking that, I will load Bullseye in preference to Titegroup.

ohihunter2014 said:

if I'm seating my 124gr extreme plated longer like 1.139 would I be okay?

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The closest anyone can answer that is you "should be". Every gun is different. Brass, primers, & maybe even scales are different.

I've never used Tightgroup. I've only heard the stories & have a guess to what actually happened to them. I have used singer pretty mean powders tho. I have a powder that is really fluffy. It's so fluffy a gallon of it weighs under 5 lbs. There is about 20 gallons of it & I'm afraid of it in anything that isn't a rifle. It might be OK in a revolver & lead bullets if you stay conservative. I tried to use it in my pistols & there was .2gn difference between not enough to cycle my slide to it cycled my slide but you couldn't read the head stamp anymore & the primers fell out if you tried to reload them.

Anyhow back to tight group. It sounds like there is to little difference between not enough & to much. I believe the people that have blown their guns up with it have ether been running over a safe load to start with or have dropped a double load & didn't catch it. The AR 223 I read about blowing up sounded like a double charge & the guy that did it even thought it might have been.

Having said that all I can suggest is test it for yourself & be careful. I like to save a Buck as well as the next guy. Red Dot & Bullseye are usually my pick of shelf powders because I'm cheap. I usually use unknown powder tho. I used to get unknown powder for a song since no one else wanted it.

I have used TG for many years. Primarily for .44 spl. and .45 Colt. I have used it often for .38 spl. and .45 ACP, although I prefer W231 for those calibers. Out of necessity I have worked up a TG load for .38 S&W which I measure instead of dump. I have read the pros & cons, however, I have never had a problem with it.
You need to make your own decision using proper reloading procedures for a safe result. You must have confidence in your components, or use something that you do.

You missed a great opportunity for a very good powder. I have used it for over 25,000 rounds and never an issue with either plated or Hi-Tek coated bullets. I use it for my competition loads as do several of my friends. As for accuracy, this young lady thinks it works fine.