Power Pistol in Moderate .45 acp 230 FMJ Loads Opinions ?

[geo57]

Unique has been my powder of choice for over 25 years in upper-moderate 45acp 230 FMJ loads ( 800 Fps range ), .44 mag 200 gr. RNFP cast cowboy loads @ 900 FPS, and moderate .357 mag 158 gr. JHP loads ( 1050 FPS range ) These days, Unique isn't always found all the time in my area . Power Pistol seems more readily available, has a burn rate just slightly slower than Unique, and seems to get favorable reports from users who load the types of power levels I do from all 3 cartridges mentioned above.
Alliant gives just 1 load for .45acp and 230 FMJ using Power Pistol. 8.1 grs giving over 900 FPS . My somewhat older manuals do not list Power Pistol. Have any of you successfully downloaded this to that 800 FPS range with 230 FMJ ? I'm also considering Hodgdon Universal for my applications for the 3 loads, but there seems to be fairly wide loading data inconsistantcies between different sources. Thanks

 

[rcmodel]

It is supposed to be a high pressure powder for small capacity high pressure calibers.

I doubt it will burn worth a darn at reduced load .45 ACP pressure.

rc

 

[geo57]

Thanks, RC . I sort of suspected it myself . I sent you a pm. I'm going to do some more research on UNIVERSAL for an alternative to Unique for .45 acp, mid .357 mag & light .44 mag . I did note in my Hodgdon data that in .45acp, they use a 230 gr. flat point and seat in pretty short ( 1.20 " ). If anyone has any 1st hand favorites with moderate Universal loads ( .45acp, 230 fmj, .44 mag 200 gr. cast RNFP, & .357 mag 158 jhp ), it's always fun to read about and compare with published manual loads .

 

[Ridgerunner665]

I use Power Pistol for ALL my 45acp loads...from my wife's 6.5 grain practice loads (230's @ 750 fps from a 4" barrel) up to my mild 45 Super hunting loads (230's @ 1,000 fps from a 5" barrel)

It does burn cleaner the hotter you load it...but it works just fine at anything over 6 grains.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Another thing...at 7 grains, which should be your "moderate" loads, it works great.

My CCW load is 7 grains under a 230 XTP...that load is very accurate and plenty powerful.

 

[geo57]

Thank you as well, RR...you also have a pm. Basically, I'm seeking one powder to duplicate Unique, to do everything I need a load to do in the 3 loads I mentioned above , and do it as effortlessly, pressure wise.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

You stated 900 fps for the 200 gr. cast RNFP...I can't find any data for loads that slow (Power Pistol is a high performance powder).

There is 44 Mag load data...but its all for jacketed bullets and every load starts at over 1400 fps with 200 grain bullets.

Now...the online data from Alliant's website is Speer data (it matches the Speer #14 manual word for word) so you can see the 357 data there.

In summary...Power Pistol may be a bit too much for lead bullets out of the 44 Mag, but it will work for what you want in the 45acp and 357 Mag.

 

[zxcvbob]

You might try Green Dot. Nobody thinks of using GD as a pistol powder, so the stores might not run out of it (just like they don't run out of 'C' cells when there's a power outage.) Herco is another possibility; it's better for heavy loads, but it probably loads-down better than Power Pistol.