Blue Dot Pistol Powder

[atblis]

Ehh

They do list it for some other thing but it is intended for magnum/higher pressures.

 

[Gryffydd]

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

I did the same thing you did. I tried it in .45acp, and it didn't work very well. I just didn't blame the powder and say it was awful and wouldn't wish it on anyone. I went back to using it for what it works really well on.

And nice pic, atlblis.

 

[joneb]

I think there are much better powder choices for handgun, I don't load for shotgun so when the BD is gone, it's gone for good. I will say that BD has worked well for a reduced .308 Win load in my bolt action.

 

[Gryffydd]

I think there are much better powder choices for handgun

There are certainly better powders for the heaviest magnum loads, e.g. H110/W296. There are also better loads for lighter rounds, e.g. Bullseye or Titegroup. However, I think Blue Dot fills a nice niche at somewhere a bit slower than Unique. It's not quite as versatile, but it's much cleaner (when loaded properly), and can hit higher velocities. You can get close to the maximum for any given cartridge, as Ben Shepherd said. But you do it with a lot less powder than H110 and you're not as likely to encounter compressed charges, which is nice on a progressive.

Of course being somewhere in the middle can be a disadvantage too. You can't load it light, and you can't get as much performance as you can out of H110/W296.

 

[Slamfire]

Being Rip Van Winkle, ever so often I wake up and find that the world has changed.

However, long ago, I purchased a keg of Blue Dot.



You cannot read the lot date, but it is 1990, but the price of $52.00 (about $20.00 less than 2009 pricing) ought to be a hint to the age.



Back in the inky shadows of the past, Hercules gave out free reloading manuals. This one is from 1992.







http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/1992HerculesGuidepage2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/SlamFire/Reloading/1992HerculesGuidepage3.jpg


If you can see it, there are one heck of a lot of Blue Dot load data for “non magnum” cartridges. I don’t see any asterisks next to the non magnum cartridges with a foot note that explains “* Just Kidding, this is not its intended application.”.

Back when I bought this powder, in the early nineties, I did not receive any email messages from the future telling me, “In 2009, the Alliant Company internet site recommends Blue Dot for only magnum cartridges”. (Maybe Al Gore had not invented the internet yet.)

I had to find out for myself that Blue Dot does not work well in standard cartridges.

It is my opinion that Blue Dot is a poor choice for a pistol powder. Being a “magnum pistol only” powder which incidentally leads with cast bullets, is not the beginning of a great relationship.

I have found 2400 to be an outstanding and flexible magnum pistol powder. Unique is the most versatile of them all, and Bullseye, while not as flexible, is outstanding in its applications.

Blue Dot, I don’t recommend it for anything.

 

[Gryffydd]

In any case, expecting a powder considerably slower than Unique to work well in .45acp simply because load data exists doesn't make the powder bad.

Blue Dot, I don’t recommend it for anything.

That's fair enough. I can accept this.

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

It was this I didn't agree with. Just because it's not more versatile than Unique and gives better velocity than H110 at the same time doesn't make it a bad powder. It does some things very, very well.

 

[Slamfire]

I've been very happy with it in .45LC, .357, and 9mm

.

Well every so often, when hope abides anew, I drag out that keg of Blue Dot and hope to find a good application.

Your experience with Blue Dot is so different from mine in 45 LC and 9mm.

My data is below. My standard loads of Unique and Bullseye show much tighter standard deviations and extreme spreads. And again, leading popped up with the 9mm loads.

I mean just look at the extreme spreads, almost 200 fps in some loads.


Maybe it will do well with cast bullets and rifle cartridges.

5 1/2" USFA Rodeo

250 LRN (.452") 8.5 grs Unique thrown, R-P cases, CCI300 primers
12-May-02 T = 80°F

Ave Vel = 855
Std Dev = 16
ES 59.91
High 885.4
Low 825.5
Number Shots 12


250 LRN (.452") 11.5 grs Blue Dot R-P cases, WLP
11-Sep-05 T = 85 °F
shoots close to point of aim acceptable accuracy


Ave Vel = 845
Std Dev = 48
ES 183.6
High 933.3
Low 749.7
N = 18



250 LRN (.452") 12.0 grs Blue Dot R-P cases, WLP
11-Sep-05 T = 85 °F

shoots close to point of aim good accuracy

Ave Vel = 904
Std Dev = 44
ES 149.6
High 955.2
Low 806
N = 15


M92 FS Beretta Bar Sto Barrel


125 LRN .356" Valiant 4.0 grs Bullseye S&W cases WSP
OAL: 1.110'
9-Apr-06 T = 58 °F accurate

Ave Vel = 1099
Std Dev = 12.16
ES 44.48
High 1124
Low 1080
N = 15


125 LRN Valiant .356" 6.0 grs Blue Dot S&W cases WSP
OAL: 1.110'
9-Apr-06 T = 58 °F

Ave Vel = 1048
Std Dev = 32
ES 94
Low 1012
High 1106
N = 14



125 LRN Valiant .356' 6.5 grs Blue Dot S&W cases WSP
9-Apr-06 T = 59 °F

Ave Vel = 1148
Std Dev = 30.87
ES 140.6
High 1226
Low 1085
N = 33


125 LRN Valiant .356" 7.5 grs Blue Dot S&W cases WSP OAL 1.110"
27-Mar-06 T = 60 °F

Ave Vel = 1326
Std Dev = 29.81
ES 105.2
High 1383
Low 1278
N = 27

accurate, too much recoil, hard functioning of pistol: leading at end of barrel

 

[Gryffydd]

250 LRN (.452") 11.5 grs Blue Dot R-P cases, WLP
ES 183.6
250 LRN (.452") 12.0 grs Blue Dot R-P cases, WLP
ES 149.6

I'll wager that if you had continued in that direction to around 13.5-14.0gr you would have seen that ES continue to shrink. Now, that may not be something you want to shoot out of a Rodeo, but 14gr under a 250gr Nosler JHP gave excellent results in my Bisley Blackhawk. When I say I was pleased with it in the .45LC it wasn't being used for standard pressure loads. In both 9mm and .357 I was using it with jacketed rounds as well, so I can't speak to the leading problem.

I appreciate you posting your notes. I definitely respect your record keeping ability!

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I like my Blue Dot .40 loads so much, I went and bought another pound. 9 grains behind a Ranier 165 gr burns very clean and pushes them pretty good, 1100 fps. I like they way they shoot.