Blue Dot Pistol Powder

[marineman]

Is Blue Dot pistol powder any good? Is it popular? Thanks.

 

[Randy1911]

Blue Dot was designed for shotshell loads. However, I do know people who use it in high power pistol loads like 44 Mag. And data is available.

 

[RoadKingMI]

I have used it in 44, 45LC and have had good luck. Though the manfacture did say somthing about not using it in mag loads and cold weather I think. I have never had a problem in Michigan in the winter but just wanted to mention it.

 

[SteveW-II]

It's a slow powder and only works well at max, or very close to it, loads. Very dirty if not 'at working pressure'. Good in most magnum loads. It might just be me, but it makes the biggest muzzle flash I have ever seen from handguns. Also works well in 147gr 9mm loads and 230 gr 45 acp, again, at max loads.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I loaded some 165 gr Ranier's in 40 S&W, with 9 grains of Blue Dot. These things are sweet, laser accurate and they thump, I like it.

 

[Clark]

I use it in 223 for rodents.
I can shoot 100 rounds per hour and not get the barrel hot or dirty.
I have shot thousands of rounds this way.

It is dangerous in 223.
It can hang up in a powder measure.
It does not fill the case with a max load.
It should only be used in 223 by people who know what they are doing and are careful.

 

[LightningMan]

I like to use it in some .357 loads and yes there is a very noticable muzzle flash. LM

 

[Clifford]

I use blue dot for some of my 38 super loads. 8.5 grains with a 130 grain RN and sometimes up to 9.5 grains but that is a compression load so don't use it unless you work up to it slowly. It is pretty clean and in my super gives of a 1 ft fireball at night.

 

[748]

It's not any good in 45ACP, unless you are loading insanly hot 45+P+ loads or some thing.

 

[Silverado6x6]

I am going to do some 40s&w loads soon using Blue Dot, I have read that having a fuller case on the 40 improves the accuracy, other people claim it doesn't burn well and is sooty for the .45acp.

 

[nitetrane98]

My all time favorite for heavy .357 mag loads. Quite spectacular at dusk.

 

[atblis]

works

10mm

 

[ilbob]

I have used it in 44 mag loads. Did not especially like it.

 

[Gryffydd]

I've been very happy with it in .45LC, .357, and 9mm. As has been said, it only works well at close to max pressure, much like many other slow powders like H110 or W296.

I've tried it in .45acp and got a lot of unburned powder and inconsistent results. It just doesn't have the pressure Blue Dot needs to perform well, unless you want to make some +p rounds, but for .45 ACP there are better choices for that.

At high pressure it's very clean, leaves almost no residue, almost no smoke...and one heck of a fireball. I like the fact that I can shoot a couple hundred rounds in my .357 and it barely looks like its been fired.

 

[Floppy_D]

I've used it for 357, 9mm, 40sw, 44mag and 44spl. It's a good powder for hot loads. Lotsa flash.

 

[Steve C]

Blue Dot is a relatively slow powder for pistol cartridges. It works best at the higher pressures found in magnums and high pressure semi auto cartridges. It can be used for loads in the .45 and .38 spl but its quite dirty at these lower pressures.

I use it in the .357 and .41 mag and have loaded some 9mm wit it.

 

[jjohnson]

Slow but Good (in some applications)

Well.... Good for what, exactly?

Yes, it's a relatively slow burning powder, so if you're loading for your .38 snubnose, you will get lots of flash and relatively poor performance. If you're shooting something with a higher pressure load and maybe a longer barrel, it does get better. I wouldn't use it in "plinking" loads because it needs some time and pressure to do its thing properly. I've used it and liked its performance in: 9mm+P 147-gr, higher end .357, higher end (and longer barrel) .40, and .44 Magnum. I have NOT been happy with it for .38 target loads, 9mm or .40 plinking loads, or .44 Special in a revolver with 3" barrel.

It seems to be happy with higher pressures and, using QuickLoad, you can see that there's a huge difference between its performance in a 4" barrel versus a 10-inch T/C Contender or a Ruger revolver with a 7 1/2 inch tube. I found (by calculating with QuickLoad) a bunch of loads that weren't 95% burned before they got well past six inches of barrel. For that reason, when I reload in those calibers, I mark my loads: "Contender/Carbine." Blue Dot is one of a small handful of powders you might really like if you had a lever action carbine in a pistol cartridge (.357, .44 Mag, .45 Colt) because you can keep pressures relatively low while it finishes burning in the longer barrel. Of course, if you use THOSE loads in your snubgun, you will get an impressive fireball.

 

[dogrunner]

Had great results with the stuff in 7.62/25 in the CZ 52..........very accurate, quite powerful.

 

[evan price]

I would have to agree, Blue Dot is really only useful in carbines and long barreled pistols. I would not even consider it for anything else but that (or shotguns of course). There are better, cleaner, safer powders out there.

 

[loadedround]

I have found it to be the best powder for use in my 10mm Delta Elite with 170/175gr jacketed bullets. Also have used Blue Dot successfully with medium-heavy 44 Mag loads. Be careful with this powder though, you can get very quick pressure spikes when approaching maximum loads.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

As the others have said- blue dot on the top end of its charge/pressure curve puts it squarely in the 80-90 of what a high pressure pistol round will do period. has been VERY accurate for me in the magnum cartridges.

But also as noted, when it's done it's done. I went from just fine to s.t.u.c.k. cases and slight head expansion with a .2 grain increase in 44 mag one time when I was pushing it. And it can act funny in really cold(below freezing) weather.

 

[Slamfire]

I do not like Blue Dot. I have tried the powder in 9mm, 38 Spl, 357, 44 Spl, 44 Magnum, 45 ACP and 45 LC.

The only application that worked well was with Jacketed bullets in the 357. Even then, I got leading with cast bullets in the 357. With the same bullets, at similiar velocites, 2400 and AA#9 did not create leading.

Blue Dot burns poorly at anything but Magnum pressures. I had teaspoons of unburnt powder rolling around in my case dump box. In non magnum loads, my chronograph data shows huge extreme spreads, around 200 fps, showing that the powder is just not burning completely.

I did shoot it in 45 ACP. Even when the velocity average was 800 fps in a M1911, it gave a very hard recoil. Which to me indicates a high residual breech pressure. Maybe if you are going to shooting something like a Thompson, or some submachine gun that has a huge blowback breech block, it might work well. But I don’t want to peen the frames of my pistols.

I think it is an awful powder and don’t wish it on any one.

 

[Gryffydd]

In non magnum loads, my chronograph data shows huge extreme spreads, around 200 fps, showing that the powder is just not burning completely.

Why would you use a magnum powder in non-magnum loads? You're complaining that you used a powder for something for which it wasn't intended and you got poor results. That doesn't exactly make it an awful powder.

 

[DELTAJOHN]

I use it in 10mm, 40 S&W, and 357 mag loads. My other favorite, and often used powder is IMR HI-SKOR 800X which has a very similar burn rate.

John

 

[Slamfire]

Why would you use a magnum powder in non-magnum loads? You're complaining that you used a powder for something for which it wasn't intended and you got poor results. That doesn't exactly make it an awful powder

I have Hercules/Alliant manuals that provide Blue Dot loading data in all the calibers I tested.

Hercules/Alliant does not label Blue Dot as a "magnum only powder" and it is not indicated in their load manuals. It would have saved me a lot of test time were I as knowledgeable as you and known that I was using it

for something for which it wasn't intended

Maybe you can provide your source? A source better than manufacturer load data?