Multi use powder suggestion for pistol

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Thanks for clearing that up!

They're all made in the same facility: St. Marks Powder, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, Crawfordville, Florida.

I googly-mooed the St. Marks manufacturing facility. Wiki and GD-OTS have pages for it. It was built in 1969 between the St. Marks River and the Gulf Coast. Plant operation was transferred to St. Marks Powder in 1998. The facility manufactures propellants used in military ammunition and some small arms propellants are sold to commercial manufacturers or marketed by Winchester and Hodgdon Powder Company for civilian handloading.

 

[markr6754]

I have a four pounder of it, meter’s pretty well for me

Maybe that's where I went wrong. I should've bought the 4lb jugs rather than the 8lb jugs. My flakes must be bigger to match the larger container.

 

[JCSC]

This has been a good informative post. I just finished off my HP38, so I’m going to replenish it and see how well it does In the other calibers.

my first foray in pistol reloading was the 9 and 380 with tight group and HP38. I had a combination of test loads between both.

HP worked great in the 380, but seemed sooty / dirty in the 9. Just so happened that the tight group test worked flawless in the 9 and I never looked back, so I probably didn’t get my pressure up high enough for the HP38 to seal up and burn properly.

8# of HP38 is 10,000+ rounds, so I won’t need more for some time.

 

[irishlad]

I use W231 for all my pistol rounds. 380, 9mm, 45 acp and 45 Colt. I don't shoot my pistols very often and just load plinking loads. One of my grandson's shoots them more than I do.

 

[Targa]

Universal has worked well enough for me that I had no intention of trying anything else until a friend gave me an unopened 8lb jug of 231. Both work wonderfully for numerous applications.

 

[cfullgraf]

It's the same powder, I use the two interchangeably. The only difference is between lot to lot and that hold true with all powders.
I guess when Hodgdon bought out the Winchester line of gun powders, and they renamed Win 231 to Hp-38, some people couldn't handle the change and demanded the Winchester labeled powders. There must have been quite an outcry because Hodgdon has been labeling the powder both, ever since.
Same as with H110 and W296.

In my opinion, W231 and HP-38 have always been the same powder within lot to lot variations. I feel that Winchester and Hodgdon had a deal that the two powders could not be advertised as the same.

After Hodgdon obtained the marketing rights for the Winchester branded powders, things changed. Hodgdon has said that W231 and HP-38 are the same (ditto for W296 and H110). Again, the powders are the same within lot to lot variations

Current reloading data supports this opinion as new data is identical for both powders.

Past data before the Hodgdon buyout of the Winchester brand is probably different in loading data between the two powders. The piwders sere probably tested sepaately coming up with different data due to lot to lot variations.

Besides that Hodgdon has said that W231 and HP-38 are the same powders (and W296 and H110 are the same), you can use the data interchangably.

This is my opinion. That and six bucks will get you a designer cup of coffee.

 

[cfullgraf]

Since I haven’t seen but just a couple of votes for TiteGroup and True Blue, I’d stack my shelf with those when my go-to powder isn’t available. I’ve been able to find both pretty easily over the past few months.

I discovered True Blue during the 2008 shortages. It seemed like a big secret then and no one was buying it.

It has been a good powder for me in 9x19. It also is useful in other cartridges that I have done some dabbling with. I may shift those cartridges over toTrue Blue as well at my next loading session for 9x19.

Titegroup has not worked well for me. I have used it mostly in 38 Special wadcutter loads and I found I needed more powder in the case to acheive a similar velcity as the publish data indicated.

With the published loads,I had a couple bullets that did not exit the barrel.

Fortunately, I only bought one pound of Titegroup and it has been consumed.

Many folks have success with Titegroup. Not me.

 

[cfullgraf]

I use W231 for all my pistol rounds. 380, 9mm, 45 acp and 45 Colt. I don't shoot my pistols very often and just load plinking loads. One of my grandson's shoots them more than I do.

W231 is a good powder for these uses.

Happy shooting with your grandson.

Mine just turn one. I am still figuring when we can shoot together, grandpa, father and son.

 

[JayZee]

I really like seeing my favorites being shared here.
Bullseye, "the dots"(red/blue/green), universal, unique and titegroup/wad.

All I have used with good results!!

 

[RashQuestion]

+1 on Ramshot True Blue!

You won't go wrong with W231, Be 86 or Sport Pistol. Just different strokes for different folks!

 

[AJC1]

True blue is decent with heavies in 357, ok in 45, and I got rid of my 9 before I got the bottle. I would get Silhouette over true blue every time... it's terrible in 38 from start to +p+

 

[Shak3s1977]

I'll add another vote for True Blue. That's is my go to powder for 9mm and 45acp. I agree with AJC1 that's its decent in 357 mag. I've loaded alot of 158gr bullets in 357 and it will work, but I'd rather use #9 or 2400 for that caliber. I can't speak for True Blue in 380, but the way it works in 9mm and 45acp, I'd be willing to give it a try.

It would be hard to not like Unique either, but that seems to be hard to come by for me right now. I do see True Blue just about everywhere right now.

 

[AJC1]

I'll add another vote for True Blue. That's is my go to powder for 9mm and 45acp. I agree with AJC1 that's its decent in 357 mag. I've loaded alot of 158gr bullets in 357 and it will work, but I'd rather use #9 or 2400 for that caliber. I can't speak for True Blue in 380, but the way it works in 9mm and 45acp, I'd be willing to give it a try.

It would be hard to not like Unique either, but that seems to be hard to come by for me right now. I do see True Blue just about everywhere right now.

I prefer Silhouette over true blue in every loading but TB works... my 357 load is 7.2 grains under a 180 sil running 192grains. Cfep is just as available and is better than TB in my testing for 38. Honest engine I will not be buying TB or CFEP again. I do respect those that like it, just plenty of testing to go....

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I prefer Silhouette over true blue in every loading but TB works... my 357 load is 7.2 grains under a 180 sil running 192grains. Cfep is just as available and is better than TB in my testing for 38. Honest engine I will not be buying TB or CFEP again. I do respect those that like it, just plenty of testing to go....

Have you tried 4100/Enforcer for that 180SIL? Curious how it worked out. For a carbine barrel, No.11FS is also worth a try but don’t try it in a snubby. Suppressant or not it’s still kinda slow for a short barrel.

 

[Y-T71]

I've burned bottle after bottle after bottle of 231/HP-38 and Unique over the years because they simply work.

They're versatile, proven powders with reams of reliable data for nearly every pistol cartridge in existence and I'll never be without them on my shelf.

Having said that BE-86 is, in my opinion a real contender against those 2 for versatility and performance.

Of course time will tell but I can see BE-86 becoming a "household name" in powder in short order.

 

[Buzznrose]

I used Win 231 for 9MM and a few others. It is versatile for sure but a
it is kinda dirty. I’m in the process of switching over to Vihtavuori powders. Like the 320 a lot for 9MM range loads. Plan on trying 310 and 340 for .38’s and hot .357’s respectively.

but I’m a newbie so my advise comes with a grain of salt…

 

[AJC1]

Have you tried 4100/Enforcer for that 180SIL? Curious how it worked out. For a carbine barrel, No.11FS is also worth a try but don’t try it in a snubby. Suppressant or not it’s still kinda slow for a short barrel.

I haven't but I'm not against the idea... not very much load data on the sil and I don't have those powders... to be honest I haven't fully tested out the 2400 or the #9 loads either. I'm currently out of gas checks so I'll need to focus on those first... my standing goal is to load a pound of every powder in a reasonable burn rate. I have a looooong way to go, but if it was easy the goal would be meaningless.

 

[JCSC]

What are the downsides to CFE Pistol? It doesn’t seem to get many votes, but they sure make it sound like a one stop shop for pistol?

 

[AJC1]

What are the downsides to CFE Pistol? It doesn’t seem to get many votes, but they sure make it sound like a one stop shop for pistol?

It's good in auto pistol... my assessments are based on my low tech accuracy tests and how much I use... I get good accuracy at 8.4 grains for a 200 swc in a 45 acp. I get those same results at 5.4 grains of tightgroup. So I'm paying 40% more to do the same thing. If your hunting or building SD ammo velocity windows matter for terminal performance... what someone is trying to accomplish is a huge part of why someone prefers one over another. Having a simular speed and recoil pattern to a person's carry ammunition is also important to some, or the ability to make power factor. Finding someone doing what your doing will help tailor recommendations to your loading style. My case is weird because I'm collecting load data for my guns so I have options in a spotty market. Generally people ask very open ended questions that give answers that don't apply well to their situation.

 

[Buzznrose]

What are the downsides to CFE Pistol? It doesn’t seem to get many votes, but they sure make it sound like a one stop shop for pistol?

I don’t think there are any downsides to it. When I was getting back into reloading and shopping for powders during the Covid drought, the shelves were pretty slim pickings. I was looking for Unique but that flavor has been unobtainable for a long time at my dealer.

The guy who ran the place pointed me towards a couple powders he said were newer but up and coming…CFE pistol and Win 244. Both were available. I thought about them but decided on a couple pounds of Win 231, just because I’d loaded with it 20 years ago.

I think the CFE series is a solid choice…and pretty flexible.

 

[The Glockodile]

The only powders I have, bought during times of plenty, with the aim of minimizing variety, primary uses in bold...

Alliant Power Pistol: .380 ACP (?), 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .44 Magnum (believe it or not, yeah!).
Hodgdon Longshot: 9mm, 9x25mm Dillon, .40 S&W, 10mm Auto, .45 ACP, .45 Super.
Hodgdon H110: Well, what else for...

There's a huge overlap - Power Pistol can also be used for "suboptimal" 10mm loads.

 

[WeekendReloader]

What are the downsides to CFE Pistol? It doesn’t seem to get many votes, but they sure make it sound like a one stop shop for pistol?

CFEP works ok for me in 9mm. It likes to be loaded on the higher end to clean up. It is pretty sooty on the low end.
I prefer WIN231 and VV N320 for plinkers in my 9mm.

 

[bihj]

Unique

 

[snowman357]

win231 or zip very similar and easier to find

 

[Electrod47]

Guys, Geez! 3 pages and every impossible powder to find these days recommended and nobody mentions the one that fills the bill. And you can probably find now today.
RED DOT RED DOT RED DOT I always keep a 8lb caddy OR 2 on hand. Will serve you for decades. Did I mention RED DOT?