AutoComp vs True Blue vs AA#5

Today I'm going to post the results I got from a head-to-head comparison of these three powders. Each of these powders is somewhat similar in that they each fall in the medium burn range for pistol powders, and are commonly used to replicate factory ammunition in semi-automatic cartridges.

Winchester AutoComp: Winchester AUTOCOMP is a ball powder designed for competition race guns. A perfect burn speed to feed the compensators with a higher volume of gas, it is a great choice for 38 Super, 9mm, 45 ACP and 40 S&W. With AUTOCOMP, competitors get off faster shots with minimal muzzle flash.

My opinion: AutoComp is a bit on the slow side for 9mm minor and .40 S&W major loads, but it is a workable powder in that regard. Lots of people use this powder for 9mm Major, but not with any load data that Hodgdon is providing. I use this powder for full-powered 9mm and .40 S&W loads for my carry and service pistols.

Ramshot True Blue: TRUE BLUE is the perfect powder for classic calibers such as the 38 Special, 44 Special, and 45 Long Colt. Its a double-base, spherical powder with great metering properties that make it an ideal choice for consistent results using high volume, progressive reloading equipment. It works well with cast bullets and is also an excellent choice for 9mm law enforcement rounds. Made in Belgium.

My opinion: This powder is new to me, and part of the reason I conducted this test. I've heard great things about it though. It is an extremely fine-grained powder. It has a dull finish and is harder to see in the case than most other powders.

Accurate Arms #5: Accurate No. 5 is a fast burning, double-base, spherical handgun propellant. This powder is extremely versatile and can be used in many handgun calibers. No. 5 offers a wide performance range from target and Cowboy Action applications to full power defense loads. This powder meters well and strikes a good balance between ballistics and cost efficiency. Made in the USA.

My opinion: AA#5 is a good powder, but I think there are better options out there. For 9mm, this powder uses higher charges for similar results compared to other powders. With light loads, there will be unburned powder left in the pistol, and velocity outliers are common. It's doubtful I'll buy this powder again when I finish off what I have in stock.

Today's Test is in 9mm, using 124gr RMR FMJ bullets and Federal SPP. Brass is mixed range brass. Each cartridge was charged with a Hornady Lock-n-Load powder dispenser. All of these powders meter excellently and should be considered equal in that regard. No unsafe pressure signs were observed in any of the following loads. Always do your own load workup.

The goal of this test is to judge how each powder produces factory-powered 9mm reloads.

Today's test guns were my Beretta APX Compact with a 3.7" factory barrel and S&W M&P40 2.0 with a 5" Storm Lake 9mm Conversion barrel.

All loads received five shots over the chronograph.

Winchester AutoComp


4.7gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 1009, 1008, 986, 1009 and 1013 fps.
Average Velocity: 1005 fps.
Extreme Spread: 27 fps

4.7gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 1042, 1047, 1047, 1034 and 1047 fps.
Average Velocity: 1043 fps
Extreme Spread: 13 fps

5.0gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 1059, 1064, 1047, 1077 and 1062 fps.
Average Velocity: 1061 fps
Extreme Spread: 30 fps

5.0gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 1085, 1086, 1097, 1090 and 1078 fps.
Average Velocity: 1087 fps
Extreme Spread: 19 fps

5.2gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 1093, 1118, 1077, 1099 and 1071 fps.
Average Velocity: 1091 fps
Extreme Spread: 47 fps

5.2gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 1114, 1107, 1133, 1127 and 1135 fps.
Average Velocity: 1123 fps
Extreme Spread: 28 fps

Ramshot True Blue


4.9gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 926, 915, 958, 912 and 938 fps.
Average Velocity: 929 fps
Extreme Spread: 46 fps

4.9gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 964, 952, 974, 963 and 969 fps.
Average Velocity: 964 fps
Extreme Spread: 22 fps

5.3gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 1015, 990, 982, 981 and 982 fps.
Average Velocity: 990 fps
Extreme Spread: 34 fps

5.3gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 1015, 1016, 1034, 1038 and 1024 fps.
Average Velocity: 1025 fps
Extreme Spread: 23 fps

5.6gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 1027, 1023, 1068, 1054 and 1010 fps.
Average Velocity: 1036 fps
Extreme Spread: 58 fps

5.6gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 1103, 1059, 1066, 1046 and 1064 fps.
Average Velocity: 1067 fps
Extreme Spread: 57 fps

5.8gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 1062, 1073, 1043, 1113 and 1042 fps.
Average Velocity: 1066 fps
Extreme Spread: 71 fps

5.8gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 1081, 1086,1078, 1069 and 1120 fps.
Average Velocity: 1086 fps
Extreme Spread: 51 fps

Accurate Arms #5


5.3gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 913, 892, 918, 923 and 966 fps.
Average Velocity: 922 fps
Extreme Spread: 74 fps

5.3gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 956, 967, 969, 982 and 964 fps.
Average Velocity: 967 fps
Extreme Spread: 26 fps

5.6gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 964, 959, 938, 964 and 961 fps.
Average Speed: 957 fps
Extreme Spread: 26 fps

5.6gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 1007, 973, 999, 982 and 985 fps.
Average Velocity: 989 fps
Extreme Spread: 34 fps

5.8gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 959, 1013, 973, 966 and 1012 fps.
Average Velocity: 984 fps
Extreme Spread: 54 fps

5.8gr Chronograph Results (S&W): 1011, 1022, 1033, 1024 and 1021 fps.
Average Velocity: 1022 fps
Extreme Spread: 13 fps

6.0gr Chronograph Results (Beretta): 1033, 1008, 994, 1036 and 1047 fps,
Average Velocity: 1023 fps
Extreme Spread: 53 fps

6.0 Chronograph Results (S&W): 1058, 1066, 1049, 1042 and 1060 fps.
Average Speed: 1055 fps
Extreme Spread: 24 fps.

Conclusion

Winchester AutoComp is the clear winner of this test. It produced the best velocities with the least powder, and was the most consistent velocity-wise. It will remain my favorite medium-burning pistol powder. AA#5 is an acceptable powder, but the charge weights are high while the velocities are average. Admittedly though, there is little money to be saved when it comes to powder in pistol reloading. Ramshot True Blue falls somewhere in the middle, it's a good powder but not better than AutoComp. At least not so in this application.

If this sort of content interests you, please check out a previous test I conducted where Winchester 244 was compared to Accurate #2 and Hodgdon Universal.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...d-to-accurate-2-and-hodgdon-universal.880761/

GeoDudeFlorida said:

Thanks for the write-up. Do you take suggestions?

.380ACP 100gr. PRN powders: AA#2, TiteGroup, Bullseye, IMR 700X or Ramshot Competition?

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Maybe, but I'd need a 380 first. But I can already tell you I wouldn't be recommending a medium or large flake powder for pistol reloading.

Shooterbob said:

I see the velocity and es numbers what about grouping? Seems a mite important when saying clear winner

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Accuracy testing wasn't a part of the comparison. I'm a firm believer that the shooter is almost the limiting factor in pistol shooting, and the barrel plays a large factor beyond that.

lordpaxman said:

Thanks for the write up. I usually don’t load heavy 9’s but will keep this thread in mind.
? - what COL did you use?
? - Was the RMR bullet their in-house RN?
I have a lot of mixed HS brass but take a bit of time to separate a single HS in the hopes it’ll reduce one variable. I agree the group size may not matter that much but POI vs POA may. I use quadrille paper clipped to an A sized backer, clipped to a target stand. It doesn’t take too much more time, and at least I have that if I want to refer to it in the future. Just some random thoughts if it helps. Good luck.

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I don't think anything I shot in the test qualifies as "heavy". All loads tested are supposed to fall below the 35k PSI pressure level and showed no indications they were significantly above it. Western load data does have +P loadings for 9mm, and I do use this load data regularly, but not for this test. I will be using the +P data for my next comparison, probably next week.

The OAL I use is 1.11" and they were RMR produced bullets.

POI and POA aren't relevant for testing bullet weights that factory guns (with fixed sights) are designed to shoot. It would do nothing to predict if another random pistol is going to shoot it low, high, left, or right. I also don't have any equipment, such as a Ransom rest, to precisely measure small differences.

I understand that some people would like every data point that I could have possibly included. I don't include certain things for one of the following three reasons:

1. It's going to be different in your pistol anyway.
2. A certain measurable thing (like OAL) is a guideline and not a hard rule.
3. I don't have the equipment necessary to remove enough of the variables present when shooting pistols.