Power Pistol Properties and Experiences

[GunAdmirer]

What are your experiences with Power Pistol? What are its properties?

I've heard:
1. It is loud.
2. It has lots of flash.

My intial 9mm handloads with this powder seemed to have less perceived recoil than my loads with faster burning powders. The extreme spreads were low.

Can I make lighter loads with this powder or should I stick to medium and higher velocity loads?

What is its accuracy potential?

 

[Lennyjoe]

I use it for 200gr +P loads in my .45's and though it does have a bit of a flash it still shoots spot on. Don't notice the sound since I'm plugged up most of the time.

I did shoot a jackrabbit at 10 yards with the load out of my 4" Kimber and though loud on the bare ear, it wasn't defining.

 

[Ol` Joe]

I have used it with 185 gr HPs in my 45 acp. Although there is some flash, the powder gave good velocity and was consistant.

 

[Dave P]

I find that it is too easy to make an overly hot load. Meaning I have flattened a few primers in my 357sig when using it. Seems to generate very high pressures faster than others (like aa#7).

Dave

 

[HSMITH]

My experience with it has it as one of the most forgiving powders out there. Light loads to hot loads with no surprises, all accurate and reasonably clean.

I really like that it seems to be more linear in pressure increases as you increase charge weight or decrease OAL than anything else I have tried, most of my high pressure experimenting has been done with 9mm and 40.

In some loads it flashes mightily, in others it doesn't. Hot 9 and 40 flash a lot, 45 doesn't flash much.

Accuracy potential with the powder is as good as anything else I have used.

 

[GunAdmirer]

I shot some test loads during lunch.

Accuracy was very good in my G19.

I shot the PP loads against my old loads to try to compare recoil and noise. I couldn't tell any appreciable difference in recoil, flash or noise from the loads I have been using. Might be different closer to dark or in an indoor range.

Is there a big difference in felt recoil between different loads and powders of the same bullet type and weight? I just can't seem to tell much difference in felt recoil from one loading to another.

 

[caz223]

I PERSONALLY, don't believe there's that much difference in recoil between powders.
Too slow=poopy burn, too fast=excessive pressure spike.
Right in the middle in 9mm, there's power pistol.

 

[RugerOldArmy]

It's good stuff, especially for mid to warmer loads. I've used it for .45 ACP and 9mm Luger/Para. Very low SD and ES overy the Chrony. I wouldn't use it for IDPA/IPSC loads though, where I tend to lean toward mild loads with fast powders and bigger bullets (45 ACP).

For 9mm though, I prefer Unique, which for some reason shoots very very well in my BHP and CZ-75. (See Steven Camp's web site. He noted almost the exact Unique load (.1gr over what I'm using), and specified it as working very well in almost every 9mm BHP. The CZ 75 and BHP have similar barrel lengths and the same rate of twist.)

It seems to be a good powder w/lead bullets in light loads. And I side with HSMITH, I think it is a forgiving powder. If you look at Alliant's website, Speer, Hodgdon, etc, you'll see it listed for the 'beefier' loads.

 

[Clark]

Great in:
32acp
380
9mm
9x23mm
7.62x25mm
45 acp

Don't leave it in the RCBS Uniflow powder measure, or it will chemically etch the green hopper.

 

[Steve C]

I really like PP in the 9mm. 6.3grs behind a 115gr JHP over a Winchester primer chrono's at 1,222 fps from my Glock 19. I've found that the standard deviation increased significantly for lighter loads.

I've tried it in the .45 and the .38 spl. It didn't impress me at all in either of these 2 cartridges, I'm much happier with Unique for mid to high velocity loads in the .45 and .38 spl.

 

[GunAdmirer]

Anybody else? Information about Power Pistol seems hard to come by.

What velocity would be considered a medium 9mm load? 1140?

 

[Z-Michigan]

OK, I realize I'm restarting an old thread here, but it seems most on point. I've done a search on my question too and haven't found the answer.

Here goes: does Power Pistol burn hotter and/or cleaner than other powders, especially compared to the powders used in WWB and UMC type inexpensive ammo?

I have been using Power Pistol in reloading .38 Spl +P and mild to mid-range .357 magnum loads. I just shot some .38 Spl +P loads using a 125gr coated lead (Masterblasters) bullet. The cartridges fired normally, but I noticed two things:

1) Fairly loud for this pressure level. I know this is a standard comment about Power Pistol. (Note: primers - CCI small pistol - were not flattened in any way, and there were no pressure signs. The load I used is in the Lee book as a .38 Spl +P load.)

2) I was using a 6" GP100 that had not been cleaned in a bit and had quite a bit of soot on the cylinder face and forcing cone surround (i.e. rear end of the barrel). After shooting just 6 rds I noticed that instead of soot rings around each cylinder, there were clean rings, with soot remaining outside the ring area. And the rear of the forcing cone surround was now cleaner than before, almost white (barrel is stainless steel). I've never heard of a powder that cleans soot off of your barrel, but that's what seems to have happend.

I am thinking it must be burning both clean and fairly hot to leave the cylinder cleaner than it was. Comments? Experiences?

 

[JDGray]

My fave 9mm load is 5.5gr PP with 115gr fmj. Chronos at 1160 out of my CZ75, which is right there with WWB ammo. Reduced loads are safe, accurate, clean burning

 

[lgbloader]

For 9mm, I load 6.0 Power pistol with 115 fmj when I run out of VV320.

Cheers...

 

[amlevin]

I load 6.5gr P-P under a 124gr Montana Gold JHP for both my Sig P-229 and my CZ75 SP_01 Tac. In the Sig I get some flash and a rather pronounced "Bark" from the muzzle and with the CZ (4.9" bbl vs 3.5" bbl) both flash and "bark" are reduced. I find this powder to not only be versatile in my 9mm loads but also very economical. Local prices are about $50 for a 4# jug.

In short, I like it.

 

[strat81]

Here goes: does Power Pistol burn hotter and/or cleaner than other powders, especially compared to the powders used in WWB and UMC type inexpensive ammo?

WWB and UMC are pretty dirty in most (all??) calibers. Power Pistol, seems to be cleaner than those but dirtier than Titegroup for me.

I've given up on finding "clean" loads. I've never had anything so filthy it stopped my gun from functioning and I clean my guns after the range trips anyway.

 

[Galil5.56]

Some lead data for 45 auto and 9mm copied directly from an email I got from Alliant... Use at your own risk:

45 auto
200 gr lead bullet #452460
Power Pistol start 6.3 grs @ 816 fps max 7 grs @ 919 fps

225 gr lead bullet #452374
Power Pistol start 6.3 grs @ 764 fps max 7 grs @ 865 fps

Data for your 230 gr lead bullet should be similar. I would back down only a little, starting at about 6 grs and going up to around 6.7 grs.

As for the 9mm with a 125 gr lead bullet, start with about 4.8 grs of Power Pistol and the max will be around 5.2 grs. The velocity range should be from 1130 fps up to about 1200 fps.

 

[CatsEye]

I use it loading .40s behind either 165s or 170s in loads normal to light. It is my favorite. It can be a little flashy but I don't even notice unless shooting in the dark. I have had others comment on it though.

 

[Clark]

I think Power Pistol is listed at faster than AA#5, and that may be true at some pressure, but 35,000 to 50,000 psi, I think Power Pistol just makes a big fire ball and AA#5 wants to be peaky and blow the primer.

 

[Luggernut]

I've used 6.0 and 5.8 PP with Berrys 124gr bullets. 6.0gr is about 133PF and I'm pretty sure 5.8 is over 125 too I haven't checked.

I like the loads although the flash seems more pronounced like you mentioned. I like it in .40 S&W as well but don't remember my loads.

 

[RyanM]

I've used it in .40. Seems to be good stuff. I don't have a chronograph, but I've gotten ammo that kicks a lot harder than factory ammo of the same bullet weight, with far less primer flattening and flow. I also tried a 10% overcharge a couple times just to see if that would make the primers flatten any, and they still looked normal. Very forgiving stuff.

 

[strat81]

Some lead data for 45 auto and 9mm copied directly from an email I got from Alliant... Use at your own risk:

45 auto
200 gr lead bullet #452460
Power Pistol start 6.3 grs @ 816 fps max 7 grs @ 919 fps

I'm loading 6.7gr of Power Pistol behind a plated Berry's 200gr RN and really like it. Winchester primers, Winchester and R-P cases and OAL between 1.235 and 1.25.

I started at 6.3 too and got slightly better groups at 6.7 with a negligible increase in felt recoil. I'm not experiencing any pressure signs. The gun is an STI Spartan 1911.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I use it in 9mm and have had good results with it. It is one of my standard powders that I always have on stock.

 

[ForneyRider]

I use Power Pistol for .45ACP +P loads.

I have load data for .45+P, .45 Super, and 460 Rowland for use with PP.

Flash is more than W231, but less than H110.

Some Remington UMC I bought had a dead primer, so I pulled the bullet. Powder looked like W231. But I am far from being expert. I have better luck with the WWB.

Power Pistol is easy to measure in my Lee stuff.

 

[Atlasx]

I use Power Pistol as my primary powder for 40S&W, 10MM, and 45 acp, I guess since I started with it I feel very comfortable with it and like the results. I find it meters well in my Dillon 550 press, I may try it in 38 special and 9MM. I use Win 296 for magnum rounds.

Atlasx