Limited local powders for 9mm thoughts?

[bfalcon00]

I was wondering your thoughts on powder for 9mm. I shoot plated 124 gr from xtreme and would like 1000 fps at least not really a powder puff guy. I currently use HP-38 but don't think I'm gonna see that again anytime soon and I'm about out. Locally I can get my hands on titegroup, bullseye, power pistol, red dot, and promo. I use an lee auto disk powder measure hence the reason I like HP-38 for the lower charges because it flows so well. I was leaning toward titegroup, but have never used it before. From what I understand its very dense so watch out and I've read complaints with lead bullets, but I shoot only plated so that's not a problem.

Thanks
Josh

 

[anothernewb]

not used it myself but power pistol gets high marks. Bullseye works for just about everything, provided you're after target velocities.

 

[ljnowell]

From that list I would use power pistol. I've used several pounds of it in the past.

 

[TimSr]

My go to 9mm powder is Blue Dot, but that might be hard to find also. One that might be available is WSF from Winchester. it makes great mild recoil 9mm loads and drops casings next to you. I think mine were like 1150fps with 125gr cast SWC bullets.

 

[41 Mag]

I'm using around 4.0grs of Bullseye under the Berry's 115 and 124gr plated with good results out of my P226. My velocity is just over 1050fps with either of those weights. Nice easy shooting, clean cases, and good groups.

 

[Reefinmike]

The past few couple times I've been at the bill goodmans guns how at hara arena, all three powder vendors had kegs of hp38. $210. Not a fantastic price but it's close to what you'd pay if you bought a single keg from an online vendor with shipping and hazmat.

Bullseye and titegroup will meter just as well

 

[cali_blues]

Titegroup is a great powder for 9mm. One of my favorite loads is 3.9gr under a 124 Xtreme RN at 1.150-155 OAL. It averaged 989fps out of a 4.25" 1911, 1039fps out of a XDM 5.25", and 1051fps out of a G17L 6". Very soft and plenty accurate for me.

Edit: yes it is dense so you need to pay attention, but 3.9gr fills the case about halfway, so it is very easy to spot a double charge.

 

[gamestalker]

Have you seen any Longshot around? LS is not a powder puff option, and actually functions very well at the upper end of the table, kind of similar to the Blue Dot option.

But I've heard it doesn't meter well, wouldn't know though.

GS

 

[SlowFuse]

I am going to be the oddball here and say red dot\promo. Same difference. It is a fast burning powder so a few lbs will go a long way. Perfect for plinking.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

Have you seen any Longshot around? LS is not a powder puff option, and actually functions very well at the upper end of the table, kind of similar to the Blue Dot option.

But I've heard it doesn't meter well, wouldn't know though.

GS

It does work very well at high charges. Same goes for using it in .40s&w. I haven't had trouble metering it through my Hornady powder measures. It meters about as well as W231, for my lot # of LS atleast. It does have a pretty random flake/kernel size and shape though, so maybe metering varies lot to lot. I haven't tried Power Pistol in 9mm yet, but PP or LS would be my choices if I really wanted to push plated 9mm.

Red Dot, Bullseye, Tightgroup, they'd all work pretty well, but the OP doesn't seem to want mousefart loads.

 

[PO2Hammer]

Power pistol.

 

[Steve C]

You can get your 1K fps from any of the powders mentioned. Power Pistol is the slowest of the bunch and can deliver top velocities but you'll use 25% or more powder per load with it than the other fast powders on your list.

Tight Group, Red Dot/Promo, Bullseye will all use no more than 4.5gr / round and you'll 4.2gr should get you 1K fps that should give you over 1,500 to 1,600 rounds per lb.

Personally I'll +1 on SlowFuse suggestion of Red Dot or Promo just because I've used it. Red Dot is a nice relatively bulky powder that you won't double charge a 9mm case as 8gr will overflow. Tight Group on the other hand will not and its possible to double charge.

Here's a picture of a 9mm case with 4.4grs of Red Dot and one with 8.7grs of TG.

 

[ku4hx]

Ramshot Trueblue will do as you want as will their Silhouette. I've standardized on Trueblue for 9, 40 and 45 but in the past Power Pistol has also worked well for the load you're wanting.

TB meters extremely consistently; Sil and PP are just a hair behind but also do very well.

All have easily gotten above 1,000 fps MV for me with X-Treme plated 124 grain bullets and all have burned clean and provided consistent velocities.

 

[bfalcon00]

Steve C thanks for the pics. Let me ask ya this. How do you like promo versus red dot. I use red dot sometime and got a 45 acp load I like pretty well. I understand the whole canister powder thing, but was wondering in your experience how much difference there was between the two?

 

[GoldieMI]

I use power pistol for 9mm for the following reasons:

1- available locally for me still in 4# jugs without being crazily expensive
2- started off using it in 9mm
3- meters consistently for me through my Lee auto disk as well.
4- works for my other hand loads for my pistols

 

[1KPerDay]

How do you like promo versus red dot. I use red dot sometime and got a 45 acp load I like pretty well. I understand the whole canister powder thing, but was wondering in your experience how much difference there was between the two?

I use Red Dot and Promo interchangeably and both work great for 9mm IME (and .45 as you've found out). If I have the choice and prices are pretty comparable I buy Red Dot just because I like the red flakes as one more confirmation of the powder you're loading. If you're trying for top velocity Power Pistol is probably the best out of your listed options, but it is noisy and flashy. It meters better overall than Promo/Red dot but my LCT with Pro auto disk throws very consistent charges of Red Dot and Promo as long as you stay around 4 grains or higher. I never get more than .1 grain variation and the variation is rare. and I've loaded 20K+ 9mm over the past couple of years.

My charges of Promo weigh generally about .1 grain more than the same orifice throws Red dot. Smaller orifices you may not see a difference. Close enough in my loads that I don't worry about it (I do confirm/weigh charges every time I change powders/loads though of course). I don't load max.

 

[Toprudder]

Of the powders you listed, I have used Titegroup and Power Pistol in 9mm, pushing 115gn Xtreme RN bullets. I tend to lean towards using Power Pistol, probably since I started out with it first and have used a lot more of it than Titegroup. Power Pistol has always worked well for me in 9mm. My standard load gives me between 1000-1050fps, which is a very mild load and is what my wife likes to shoot.

Titegroup will require about 1gn less than Power Pistol, so it is going to be about 20-25% more economical (just counting the powder costs) but the powder is the least expensive part of reloading 9mm.

 

[Hondo 60]

I've shot 1000's of rounds of 9mm using titegroup.
I tend to keep it on the low end, about 3.7gr. for a LEAD bullet
That consistently gets me in the upper 900 range.

So for 1,000 fps, from a plated bullet bump it up a bit.

Hodgdon's range for a plated bullet is the same as lead, 3.6-4.0
(Berry's recommends using low to mid jacketed data ( Hodgdon's data for a Sierra jacketed bullet is 4.1-4.4))

 

[Dudedog]

Given the ones you have listed I would chose titegroup or Red Dot/Promo. My pro disk will throw 4gr of promo + or - .1. (bigger flakes than Unique but meters better for me)
Titegroup has a vmd of about .085 so the .34 disk will throw about 4gr. My can of Promo has a caculated vmd of about .14 so to get 4gr I use the .56 disk. I like titegroup but it does not fill the case well and you could easily double charge a case if you not careful. (triple charge will fit) Promo fills a 9mm case nicely, a double charge would over flow.
I would tie those 2 for first, chose Power Pistol next, then Bullseye.
My caculated for the lb of Bullseye I currently have is .105, for Powerpistol
.091 so they are somewhere in between Titegoup and Promo.

I use 4gr Promo in 9mm with 124/125s and the same 4gr in .45 APC with 230s.
For 9mm I have had good results with 3.9 of titegroup but 3.7 was softer and really close. (prefer 3.7 lead coated, tie 3.7/3.9 with plated)

If you are after stout (close to MAX or MAX) I would say Power Pistol for sure. (big muzzle flash)
PP does take more powder per round if you are pinching pennies.

Hope you have good luck with whatever you choose, I have used all of them and all work in 9mm. (still prefer Universal as my first choice)


As a side note I have had good luck with WSF, and sometimes you can find it because it does not seem to be well known/popular. (meters well)

 

[blarby]

For most folks, this is not a limited selection, LOL

I'd go for the power pistol. Given what's available, I'd buy the bullseye, too.

 

[Lj1941]

Powder for nine

I have used Titegroup and Red Dot. They both work good for me. I at present us more Red Dot because I have a lot of it. Titegroup is good too with the need to watch out for double charges. This is to me not a big deal because I am extra careful no matter what the powder. Power Pistol is good too but IMO it doesn't make sense with target velocities. I use PP when I am after top velocities with jacketed bullets. I have heard warnings to avoid Titegroup with lead bullets because of leading. I have not found this to be a problem.

 

[tcj]

I always use Power Pistol in my 9's when I can get it.

 

[Oldman1151]

I use Titegroup with 115 LRN and have not had leading problems.

 

[Rule3]

Power Pistol.

 

[LiveLife]

How do you like promo versus red dot ... how much difference there was between the two?

use an lee auto disk

When I bought my first container of Promo, granules looked like Red Dot with larger round flakes mixed in (see comparison pic above) but the latest container essentially contains mostly larger round flakes.

Both meter with .2+ gr variance on my several Pro Auto Disks but my 20+ year old Pro Auto Disk with original wiper will meter Promo with .1 gr variance on 60-80% of the drops. So that's the powder measure I use with Promo.

Because they are different density powders, you will need to use different Auto Disk holes for the same powder charge and Alliant ask that we use Red Dot load data for Promo by weight only - http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/promo.aspx

I have been very happy with accuracy I got from Promo 9/40/45 loads and when my 8 lb container of Red Dot is gone, I plan to buy Promo after that.