best 9mm powder

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My current 147gr match load uses HS6.

I have been wanting to do some experimenting with faster powders. Currently I am working with Unique. Yesterday I found a load with a good average velocity of 875, but my extreme spreads are 50+ FPS over the course of a 15rd string over the chrono. Is this normal? My HS6 loads are more consistent in terms of velocity so far.

I have Titegroup as well, but have not done anything with it so far.
 
VV 3N37 for high powered 124gr loads (expensive - meters great)

Blue Dot for carbine loads (cheap + up to 15-20% velocity gain vs. pistol velocity - funny enough though, I can achieve VV 3N37 performance w/o issues in the pistol also)
 
I’ve mainly used W231 and Unique. Of late I’ve been testing W-AutoComp. It appears to have flash suppressor inhibitors. Meters with no problems the charge weight variation is not problematic nor nettlesome in application.
 
Don't leave titegroup in your powder measure very long or it will be a perminent resident there. I had to clean it out of mine with a wire barrel brush after only one month. It glued itself fast. I also use titegroup in 9mm at 4.5 gr. and have had good luck with it. As Kodiak Beer stated he uses though, I have found that 4.0 gr is a lot more pleasent to shoot. I am going to try power pistol though. Titegroup heats up my barrels to fast from a fast burn.

Good luck with all these choices.
 
right on guys!! thanks for all the replies and info. I guess i have some trial and error to do. i am gonna start woth some unique and some w231 to see which one works best. i have a friend that was a range instructor at several academies so i've got the hook up on some brass for a while!! thanks again...
 
Unique, despite some people saying it is dirty and it meters bad, is an excellent powder to have on hand. I use it for .380, 38, 40, 45 and 9mm. For three of the calibers, I don't even have to change my charge on my Lyman 55 powder measure.

I say this with the provision that you keep loading reasonable and stay away from the right end of the loading data until you have more experience. A decent middle of pack load is just fine for pistol shooting. Doesn't beat you up, doesn't beat the gun up, and it is close enough to full power that you gain skills for self defense.

Clutch
 
ny32182 said:
My current 147gr match load uses HS6.

I have been wanting to do some experimenting with faster powders. Currently I am working with Unique. Yesterday I found a load with a good average velocity of 875, but my extreme spreads are 50+ FPS over the course of a 15rd string over the chrono. Is this normal? My HS6 loads are more consistent in terms of velocity so far.

I have Titegroup as well, but have not done anything with it so far.
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What are loads are you using with HS-6?
 
I use 4.8gr HS6 with a 147gr Precision Delta FMJ loaded to just under magazine length. This puts me at an average of about 880fps with an extreme spread of about 30fps, from a G34.
 
tkcomer said:
Ramshot's True Blue for me. Looks like dust, meters like water.
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Another vote for true Blue. I discovered True Blue during the "Great Gun Stuff Rush of 2009" and really liked it.

Unique, Blue Dot and Accurate Arms powders are my alternates for the 9x19.
 
9 mm isn't especially fussy
Click to expand...
Yep.

Of the "medium" speed powders for close to full/full strength loads with 115 & 124/5 Gr bullets True Blue, Unique, Solo 1250, SR-4756, AA #5, Universal, HS-6, N330, N340, & WSF have all worked well enough for me. Some did a little better for velocity to charge ratio, or cleanliness, or worked better for short barrels (3"), or long barrels (16") or both short and long barrels, but they all worked acceptably well overall.

I just shot some 115's over 6.3 Grs of True Blue the other day. Did just fine. :)
 
Universal clays!! Meters perfectly, unique doesn't and burns very clean, unique doesn't.
The reason I compare it to unique is they are right next to each other on the burn chart so they have the same applications.

I've excellent results with jhp, lrn and fmj in 9mm. It also gets fabulous accuracy and close to factory performance out of my 44 mag with a 4" barrel.
 
Viht 3N37, hands down. I load 5.6gr. behind a Rainier plated 124gr. RN for my target loads, and out of my G17L it will shoot nice tight little groups or one ragged hole depending on distance. Little to no flash, consistent, etc. I like it way better than the others I have tried (but those seem to be pretty popular considering these posts).

That said, I like Viht powders period, and tend to use them for most of my pistol rounds, save 10mm where I use 800X and Blue Dot. The Viht used to cost more, but now it seems the other brands cost more (at least here) which makes the Viht only marginally more expensive.

I weigh each charge, very time consuming, but if you use a disc or charge thrower and depend on volumetric metering, the 3N37 is hard to beat. Viht cylindrical powder is very uniform, and I use the trickler less with this powder than any other formed pistol powder (800X and Blue Dot measure the worse, especially 800X).
 
Oh yeah, I haven't used N340 for 9mm, I have it and use it for .40 and .45, but I can say it would meter the same as 3N37 as it looks identical. I just haven't bothered working up another load for 9mm as the 3N37 was it once I tried it.
 
N340 is great with jacketed or plated 124/5 Gr bullets in 9MM. 3N37 should meter better because it is finer, like N310. I have some but have not tried it yet, except in .32 Long.
 
steveumd said:
I like Unique, but am willing to try something cleaner with the same accuracy. Anyone have such a load?
Click to expand...

I had a clerk a cabelas tell me about Universal Clays when i could not find any Unique during the great ammo/component rush of 2009. I bought a lb and have never looked back. (as of now I've gone through about 4 lbs.

You will love universal clays if you like unique. 4.8g is super accurate and CLEAN in my 92fs and Ruger SR9c. I use a precision delta fmj seated to 1.155 and a rem jhp seated to 1.12. They shoot good in both guns.

The rem HP shoots at 1119fps out of the sr9c but I've never chronograghed it out of the 92f.

If you happen to use the lee auto disk the .53 disk is what I use for 9mm and it is spot on since it is a small flake powder.

Hope that helps!
 
I've used Universal, HS-6, SR 7625 (my personal favorite) and Titegroup with good results. Universal and Titegroup meter well, HS-6 and SR 7625 meter exceptionally well in my Redding 10X.
 
If you're looking for reloading data for Silhouette, then you can also use data for WAP (Winchester Action Pistol). According to Ramshot, WAP and Silhouette are the same powder.
 
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