List of .45 ACP powders

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bainter1212

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Hey y'all,

I was at a gun store this weekend looking for powder to load some .45acp with. I had previously been using Unique but had run out recently. The first gun store (a "big box" ) had no powder of any kind in stock.
At a smaller shop down the street, a very helpful young gentleman, when I asked for pistol powder, pulled out some oddball stuff that wasn't in any of my manuals. When I saw what they were priced at, the young man could clearly see the dismay on my face.
After a moment's consideration, he pulled out a pound of Titewad and said "I think you can use this for .45acp". I said " shotgun powder?"

He got onto the Hogdon website and sure enough, you can use Titewad to load slow plinking loads for .45acp. Perfect. And this powder was way cheaper than the other stuff.

The goal of this post is.......

Can a list of powders that can be used for .45acp be compiled in one place? Does such a list already exist and if so, where?

In times of shortage, as we are currently experiencing, a big list of alternative powders would be helpful to a lot of people. I know that if that helpful young man had not known that I could use shotgun powder for my pistol loads, I would've walked away disappointed from that shop.
 
There could be others but some of these are no longer made.

3. Hodgdon Titewad*
4. Accurate Nitro 100*
5. Alliant Bullseye*
6. Accurate Solo 1000*
7. Scot Red Diamond*
8. Alliant Red Dot*
9. Alliant Promo*
10. Hodgdon Titegroup*
11. Accurate No. 2*
12. Alliant American Select*
13. Winchester AA Plus*
14. Hodgdon Clays*
15. Vihta Vuori N320*
16. Ramshot Competition*
17. Scot Royal D*
18. Winchester WST*
19. Hodgdon HP38*
20. Winchester 452AA*
21. Scot 453*
22. Winchester 231*
23. Ramshot Zip*
24. IMR 700X*
25. Alliant Green Dot*
26. Hodgdon Int. Clays*
27. Vihta Vuori N330*
28. IMR PB*
29. Accurate No. 5*
30. Scot Pearl*
31. Winchester 473AA*
32. Hodgdon HS-5*
33. Winchester WSL*
34. Alliant Unique*
35. Hodgdon Univ. Clays*
36. Alliant Power Pistol*
37. IMR SR-7625*
38. Hodgdon HS-6*
39. Ramshot Silhouette*
40. Winchester WAP*
41. Vihta Vuori N340*
42. Winchester 540*
43. Alliant Herco*
44. Winchester WSF*
45. IMR SR-4756*
46. Scot Solo 1250*
47. Vihta Vuori 3N37*
48. IMR 800X*
49. Accurate No. 7*
50. Hodgdon Longshot*
51. Scot Solo 1500*
52. Ramshot True Blue*
53. Vihta Vuori N350*
54. Vihta Vuori 3N38*
55. Hodgdon HS-7*
56. Alliant Blue Dot*
57. Winchester 571*
58. Vihta Vuori N105
 
Some of those slower ones are not particularly suitable. Any good manual will give you a good idea of which powders are suitable. After that go to the powder sites and look at their data.

Anything from #1 (Fastest) to around 44, 45, 46 ish could be made to "work".

Maybe folks could shout out their favorite .45 ACP powder(s). That would give you lots of choices right there.

Here are a couple.

AA #2, AA #5, N310, N320, N340, Unique, Solo 1000, Zip, WST, W-231.....
 
Wow....I love this site.

That list is exactly what the doctor ordered!

Thanks guys.
 
Western Powders has data for True Blue and Accurate #7 in 45 ACP.

I feel there are better powders for 45 ACP, but data is available for these.
 
I agree that there are much better powders than the ones towards the end of the list. But they will work, but probably leave unburnt powder, dirty, and maybe loss of accuracy. But they will work and function a gun. That would be longshot, accurate #7, blue dot. I have used them but they usually don't clean up until max charges or past them
 
The most used powders for loading the 45 Auto from my experience are:
AA#2, AA#5, Bullseye, Unique, Red Dot, Clays, HP-38/W231, Universal, AutoComp, WST, Zip and probably a few VV powders I have no knowledge of.

The above suggestion you consult a good load manual is a very good one.
 
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Etc.
 
918v said:
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Bullseye
Etc.
Click to expand...
That's all well and good and I can say:
W231
W231
W231
W231
Ect.
BUT, the OP said the local dealers have no powder, especially Unique which is what he uses so he wanted a list of possible powders he can use in case he finds a store with any powder on the shelf at all.
 
Unfortunately I also got caught shall we say "with my pants down" this last spring when I returned from Texas. Since it's next to impossible to shoot where I was in Texas I didn't even take any reloading equipment with me. As a consequence I wasn't quite as aware of how bad the supply problem had really gotten until I got back home and started shooting again.

I had gotten in a rut and pretty much only loaded 45ACP with only Universal but I had played a little with TrailBoss which does work pretty good. But when you combine it with cast boolits and home made lube don't expect to get a thousand rounds between cleanings.

The experience this last summer has taught me that there are numerous powders that are suitable for 45ACP. Currently I'm kinda fond of AutoComp.
 
I dont know how bad the situation is where you all are, but here in Northern CA powder is almost impossible to find. I found the Tightwad while visiting a friend in Reno. I bought it because it is affordable. If I had gone with the more expensive powder it would've put my costs real close to factory ammo costs.

I don't care if it shoots slow or dirty.....I just want to put affordable rounds down range.
 
Same dilemma!

I could only get IMR700x in the beginning. 8#! Worked awesome for .45acp.
As time went on, I got some Winchester super target, hogdon titegroup, and some autocomp! 8# each! I good for over 40,000 rounds of ammo!

So far these are the ones I use. Look around online for powder, purchase it by the 8#"keg", along with primers to offset the $27 hazmat charge that UPS
Charges. Funny $27 to handle powder and primers, but they still just toss it
On your front porch, no signature.


Be safe
 
bainter1212 said:
I dont know how bad the situation is where you all are, but here in Northern CA powder is almost impossible to find. I found the Tightwad while visiting a friend in Reno. I bought it because it is affordable. If I had gone with the more expensive powder it would've put my costs real close to factory ammo costs.

I don't care if it shoots slow or dirty.....I just want to put affordable rounds down range.
Click to expand...
Be careful with Titewad and handgun cartridges. I'm not sure about now but originally Hodgdon strongly recommended against using Titewad in handgun cartridges. Titegruop is a different story.
 
ArchAngelCD said:
Be careful with Titewad and handgun cartridges. I'm not sure about now but originally Hodgdon strongly recommended against using Titewad in handgun cartridges. Titegruop is a different story.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

They do publish data for Titewad in .45acp on their website.....I may call them anyway to see if there are any disclaimers I should know about. I will check for excessive buildup or fouling as well when I get around to shooting it.
 
Clays is there at #14. And I agree it is a good powder for soft shooting light to medium loads. I like red and green dots a lot, myself.
 
5, 8, 22, 34, 48, 50, 52. Are my favorites. Bullseye works okay and I certainly wouldn't mind having some on my shelf but I like a fuller case than Bullseye allows. I don't like 800X at all except that it fills the case pretty well. I have 8lbs of Longshot but unfortunately I haven't had the chance to find a good load for it yet. My first couple test loads with Longshot were terrible, only the loads I've tried with 800X have been worse. I love True Blue for "full house" .45acp but don't like it in .45acp other than that. When the "shortage" gets better I have a few more I'd like to try like Universal Clays, AA#5, and Power Pistol. I may be trying WST and AutoComp here soon, found a place with some in stock, hopefully it's still there when get back by there.
 
This is the only powder I've ever used for any pistol loading and it is likely, at 8 lbs (6 pounds still remaining) that it will be the only powder I use for the rest of my life, LOL. It is a terrific powder but seems to be hard to find in the stores these days. :rolleyes:

WAPsmall_zpse63d09cb.gif
 
Mohave-Tec said:
This is the only powder I've ever used for any pistol loading and it is likely, at 8 lbs (6 pounds still remaining) that it will be the only powder I use for the rest of my life, LOL. It is a terrific powder but seems to be hard to find in the stores these days. :rolleyes:

WAPsmall_zpse63d09cb.gif
Click to expand...
You may already know this but if you run out just look for Ramshot Silhouette. Supposedly it's the same powder packaged in a different company's jug.
 
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