Decent powder for pistols AND shotgun?

[Rusty Shackleford]

This is a rookie question. Can you guys give me a list of powders that work okay in 9mm, .40s&w, and 12 gauge?

If it also worked with other pistol calibers, that would be great too...

I'm in an apartment and I'd happily give up perfect performance in some calibers/gauges in order to not clutter up my closet.

...semi-related. Has anyone used a black and decker workmate as a reloading bench?

 

[jmstevens2]

All 3 major powder manufacturers have this type of site. Depends on what you are doing. 700X works on them as I recall.
http://www.hodgdon.com/basic-manual-inquiry.html

 

[cfullgraf]

I use Unique for 20 and 28 gauge shotshells. It is a great handgun powder as well.

I use W296 in the .410 shotshell. Great magnum handgun powder as well. A great 30 carbine powder, too.

 

[atblis]

IMR 7625 I've used it in 9mm and 12 gauge. Meters well. Don't know about 40 S&W.

What kind of shotgun loading are we talking? Target?

 

[glenns]

I've reloaded my shot shells with Clay Dot for the last 3 years. There are some pistol recipes for Clays (same as Clay Dot) in Lyman's 49th Edition.

I believe a lot of trap shooters use Red Dot. Lot of Red Dot recipes in Lyman's.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Unique is where I would look.

 

[Uniquedot]

Unique is where I would look.

Good advice. It would have been a lot simpler if the OP had asked which powder won't work for all three. Most powders that you can load 12 ga. shotshells with will also work with 9mm and 40.

 

[J_McLeod]

HS-6. It's great in 9mm, and it has recipes for 40 and 12ga. I really like HS'6 with 147gr MBC lead bullets. It's made for both shotgun and pistol, and you could probably load several other calibers with it too.

I'm also working in a small space. I considered the black and decker, but decided on one of these instead. I think you could still make it work with the Workmate though.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_25240-16878...rrentURL=/pl_0+1_0__s?Ntt=tool+stand&facetInf

Kobalt Universal Stand. I bought it for about 30, and bolted some 3/4" plywood to the top and bolted the press to the ply wood. Total cast about 35.

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=149938&d=1317152148

 

[LiveLife]

Although I don't currently reload for shotgun (I do have two Texan M IV reloaders and going through the manual at the moment ), I do use Promo/Red Dot for 9mm, 40S&W and 45ACP plinking loads.

 

[TooManyToys]

UNIQUE might be the best "do it all" powder ever.

 

[wr400]

I agree with Unique! Every time I want to hate it I just end up loving it even more!

 

[Striker Fired]

Pistol and shotgun powder? hp-38, Longshot, Unique,Sr 7625, Red Dot, Green Dot, Blue Dot,Cays, WST,WSF, 800x, Titewad, Titegroup,Universal,and several more I can't think of right now.So you can pretty much just pick any powder you want and it will work.
Top ones=Red Dot,Green Dot,Sr7625,WST,WSF

 

[Blue68f100]

WW-WST will work. WSF if your shooting 20 ga. Both all ball powder and meters fine in most all dispenser.

 

[Jim Watson]

I really like 700X for 12 ga trap loads and have loaded a lot of pistol ammo with it.
But it is a large flake and does not meter well in small charges, I don't trust what it does for 9mm subsonic, for example.

If you load light shotshell loads, look at WST and plan on light target loads for pistol.
If you want full service loads in 9mm and .40, look at WSF which is suitable for good stout hunting shotgun shells.

 

[LeverGunJunkie]

Hodgdon Universal fits this bill perfectly. I use it my 12ga, as well as my 9mm, .45, and .40. Plan to use in my 10mm too. Great powder, meters well, and haven't had any trouble finding it. Only complaint is it seems to be a little dirty in my 12.

According to my books it appears HS-6 would do well too, as pointed out earlier.

Longshot works too, but I haven't found a lot of 12ga recipes. I use it in my 9mm and 16ga.

 

[gamestalker]

Longshot will load all of those mentioned, and with very good performance. I've been using Longshot for 12 ga. when upper end performance is desired, and discovered some years back it is a top performer with 9mm & .40 also. But you didn't mentioned what performance range your are seeking.

 

[kludge]

Universal for those pistols.

 

[USSR]

The problem with one powder for shotgun and the 9mm and .40S&W is, a proper powder for the handgun cartridges is really better suited for upper-end 12 Gauge shotgun loads. But, I agree, Unique would probably be your best bet. I use the same powder (Solo 1000) for my 12 Gauge loads and .38 Special and .45 ACP, but those 2 handgun cartridges are low pressure rounds and better suited to a faster powder.

Don

 

[oneounceload]

Unique, Universal Clays, Clays, ClayDot, Red Dot will all work in handguns of that range and in many shotgun recipes.

Hodgdon and Alliant both have recipes for their powders

As to the workmate, I find the top to be a little flimsy, depending on the type of press being used, but making a stronger top that can be secured to the base works well for many folks

 

[tlen]

red dot, green dot, unique, herco, & blue dot. I got special buy on Herco and use it for .38/.357, .40 S&W/10mm, 45acp, .44 mag., and heavy shotshell loads.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Thanks guys, good info. It looks like I would have been better off asking which powders that were good for 12gauge wouldn't work for pistols.

 

[CatsEye]

Solo 1000, made for shotguns but great for 9mm, .40 and .45.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Without knowing what type of 12ga shotshells you are making it's hard to suggest a powder.

I see Clays, Clay Dot, Red Dot and a few others in that burn rate range listed above. They are shotgun powders but IMO way too fast for loading the 40 S&W. I thing you would be much better off with slower shotgun powders for loading the 40 S&W like HS-6, HS-7, Longshot or Herco or powders on the slightly faster side like Unique, Universal or WSF if your shotgun load dictates their use. IMO you should decide which shotgun powder will most suit the load you are looking to build and that will tell you which powder to use since the 9mm and 40 S&W are high pressure rounds. If you had thrown in a low pressure round like the .38 Special along with the 40 S&W it would have complicated things considerable.

 

[Ky Larry]

I don't reload shotgun ammo so I can't help you there. About 20 years ago I lost my home in a very bitter divorce. The apartment I move into had a huge bathroon. I bought a B&D WorkMate at a yard sale and mounted my press and powder measure on it. I loaded everything from .223 to .30-06 on it with no problem. When finished, it folded up and was stored in a closet.

 

[archer1214]

I use Clays to reload 45acp and 12 ga...so far no problems and both shoot very well.