CFE pistol

Have used a little of it in 45 auto. I didn't like it with lighter bullets and didn't pursue it further in that cartridge. I have read of guys liking it with 230 gr bullets in the 45.

Has worked OK for me in midrange 44Mag.

I have used a limited amount in 45 Auto. Lower charges left the casings sooty. I can get a decent stout load in 45 that's accurate for me. Only other cartridges I've used it in was 380, 40 S&W, and 357 SIG.
I would guess you're not going to get the full power in 10mm and 38 Super with CFE-P. But you could possibly get a decent target load out of it.

It meters really well for me using the plastic LEE Perfect Powder Measure.
I used it in 9mm and not a big fan of it. I reload for plinking, mostly, and downloaded CFE-P makes a lot of soot.

It's close to #5 on Hodgdon's burn rate chart, but I personally consider #5 better suited to lower energy cartridges.

CFE P reminds me more of #7 in my limited use. But I have no plans to buy any more of either CFE P or #7 because I just don't care much for either one. YMMV.

I bought some when I first started loading 38 Super and picked up some HS-6 at the same time. I loaded about 50 rounds with it and decided I liked HS-6 better. I've since moved on from both and only load CFE in 380 now. I didn't care for it in 9mm either. It had to be loaded to near max to get reliable cycling in my 1911's with 9mm and 38 Super, and performance was less than advertised.

I hated buying it during the obama era, when it was the only powder available,.....but i have to admit, i’ve come to like it

it’s similar to HS-6 in burn rate, meters well thru a Dillon and works well in 38, 357, 44mag lead bullet 1000fps loads

Lots of soot, loading 124gr RN xtreme at 5.2gr for my 16" pcc rifle. Nice velocity at 1320fps but rifle is black very quickly. titegroup had similar debris

brutus51 said:

Gee AA#7 is one of my favorite powders for target 10mm and 38 Super loads.

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AA7 is probably my favorite for 38 Super and I can promise, CFE pistol didn't get within 200 fps of AA7 on the high end.

It's a very slow powder. It should work fine for 10mm and 38 Super. Not sure how it will do for .45 ACP.

It sucks for 9mm. Very sooty for me no matter how high of a load I took it.

For 9mm and .45 ACP - favorite, clean consistent measuring, best accuracy. Next favorites are TiteGroup and W-244.
Least favorites Universal, GO-36
Shot in DW Pointman 9mm 1911, Glock 19X, Glock 17 and Sig P320XL

It’s a slower pistol powder and I only load it for full power loads. Start charges will likely be quite dirty. At higher charges it cleans up nicely, delivers good velocity for heavier bullets. I have some on the shelf but prioritize N340 over it. Good luck.

I love CFE-P for 9mm and .380 in hi-velocity loads. Accurate as heck and meters like a dream. It is my favorite for those calibers.
For .40 S&W and .357 Sig, my favorite is Longshot.

taliv said:

I wish I’d read this thread before ordering a bunch. I’m going to use it in 9mm with 147g

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Just work your load up. You'll see at start charges the case may not expand and seal the chamber. Then as you work up, it will seal and the outside of the cases will be clean. Then, as you work up a bit more, the inside of the cases will start to get cleaner.
I was looking for a plinker round with a Berry's plated 115gn round nose. CFE-P is not the powder for that application.

I have some and used to use it because it was pretty versatile in terms of how many calibers I could use it on. Kept it as my primary powder of choice for 45acp and 9mm. As other users have noted it is sooty at the starting ranges. It is also flashy on 9mm. I still use it occasionally for 45acp loads. It works well, but you have to keep it at higher charges to keep the soot down. It isn't as dirty as Bullseye (I don't know of a dirtier powder, but Bullseye has loads for every caliber and then some), but there are cleaner powders.

In this time of shortages, if that's all I had, I wouldn't think twice about not using it. If you have other powders you prefer, go through those first. If shortages should continue to the point where you HAVE to use CFE Pistol, you won't care about a little soot. Instead, you'll be happy that you have new powder to work with and test.

CH

I have only used CFE Pistol for my 9mms. I may not know what I'm missing, but I have not experienced the sootiness. I'm running just over a minimum load under 115 grain Berrys FMJ and just under a maximum load under Hornady 147 grain XTP. I've run just under 200 rounds between the two bullets through two different pistols with no issues. I was using the minimum charge with the Berrys, but upped it from 4.9 to 5.0 grains mostly because I like round numbers. No issues with function in that or my M&P Shield.

I do wonder if I could get a more accurate load with different powder, but I'd have to get a more accurate shooter to go with it.

packetloss said:

It's a very slow powder. It should work fine for 10mm and 38 Super. Not sure how it will do for .45 ACP.

It sucks for 9mm. Very sooty for me no matter how high of a load I took it.

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Not to put too fine a point on it, but CFE sits #42 out of 158 listed powders. Faster than AA#7 but slower than AA#5. AutoComp and HS6, Power Pistol, Unique, and Trail Boss faster.

Probably ought to think about the length of barrel involved.

I've been using it for 9mm over 3" and think it works pretty well - in fact, have 8lbs of it. I use AA#2 for short barrel 9s' After using Unique for a lot of years when that was pretty much it, I don't get too concerned with soot. Just a part of life. Easy on and easy off.

Since I was able to buy an 8 lb jug of CFE-Pistol a few months back when there were reloading components to be had, I've been loading 9mm practice ammo with this powder. My load consists of a 124 gr LRN bullet over a medium charge of CFE-Pistol, once fired 9mm cases and a Win SP primer. I haven't noticed that my loads or pistol is any more dirtier after a shooting session if I had used bullseye or 231 powder. I am using Hodgdon recommended loads and am very happy with this combo for practice ammo. Will be trying this powder in my 45 ACP pistols shortly with hard cast 200 gr LSWC bullets shortly. Report will follow. Trying to conserve my regular pistol powders until I know they're available again.

DMW1116 said:

I was using the minimum charge with the Berrys, but upped it from 4.9 to 5.0 grains mostly because I like round numbers.

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I also ran 5.0gn CFE-P with the Berry's 115gn PLRN per Hodgdon's load data. It got cleaner as I went higher, but then that defeated the objective of a light plinker load. I switched to Win231 loaded at 4.5gn with the Berry's 115gn PLRN. Win231 is a more enjoyable plinker and downloads better than CFE-P for me.

I like CFE Pistol for my 9mm loads too. It's really just for plinking and practice, but I load 5.3 grains under an RMR 124 grain MPR. Winchester Small Pistol Primers in FC cases, with a COAL of 1.060" (a bit on the short side to fit in my CZ barrel, but this particular bullet is a bit short with a bulkier nose profile, so the internal volume isn't impacted as much as you might think). Depending on who's data you use this either is, or is close to a max load and all things being equal I'd rather be lower. But it's where the accuracy seemed best and as mentioned above, the stiffer loads are cleaner. I may start loading a smaller charge anyway just to conserve powder.