Recommended Powders

[2rott]

I'm new to reloading & have gotten a wealth of info here already. Thanks. I feel like a sponge that needs to soak it all up. I'm looking for recommended powders for reloading mostly light loads in 38 spl.,9mm, 45 colt & 45ACP. The 45ACP will be for bullseye shooting. I'm going to load mostly lead. I'm finding out that no powder does it all well. Some meter better than others. Some are clean or dirty. Some tend to lead more than others & others are more accurate or tumble. Finding the best bullet and powder combo. for each application is challenging & rewarding. It takes a lot of experience to get these answers & that's why I'm asking here. I'm hoping to shorten the learning curve & avoid too many mistakes.
I have Clays & Trailboss. Any other recommendations for these calibers & what to expect would be very appreciated.

 

[J_McLeod]

Win 231. It's the only I've loaded with, but I like it and it gets a lot of recommendations. You can also load all those calibers with it.

 

[Walkalong]

W-231, lead, and .45 ACP are made for each other.

It also works well with the other two as well.

Clays is good with lead in .45 and .38 Spl as well, and you have it.

Trailboss loves lead and many folks rave about it in .45 Colt, and you have it.

I like AA #2 in .45 Colt, but you don't hear folks using it there much.

If you want to buy another powder, get some W-231 or some N320.

 

[2rott]

Thanks for the replies. W231 sounds good. My Lyman 49th says it's spherical or ball shaped & I quess it meters well. Is W231 clean burning? Do I get everything in one package? Ha.

 

[Walkalong]

W-231 is a "flattened " ball powder that meters well and burns pretty clean. Good stuff. It just works. It used to be Winchesters most popular pistol powder. I don't know about now, but feel it is still way up there, and for good reason.

 

[jfh]

yup. start with Win 231.

Jim H.

 

[J_McLeod]

If you have a hard time finding it, get HP-38. Exact same thing. A store near me sells Win 231 for 2 dollars more than HP-38.

 

[LiveLife]

+1 for W231/HP38 (same powder). I started out with Universal, HS6, WSF and W231. W231/HP38 has been my favorite for 45ACP, 9mm and 40S&W.

W231/HP38 is coated powder. If you use Pro Auto Disk, it does the best job of coating/lubing the wiper/disk top surface for proper "break-in" (wiper gets dark and disk top gets shiny - a very good lubricating thing) compared to other powders and does not require running graphite powder through your hopper.

It probably is the most accurately dispensing powder out of Pro Auto Disk - my drops are right on or varies less than 0.1 gr drop-to-drop. It also is closest to Lee's Auto Disk chart being right on or deviating usually at the most 0.1 gr.

You'll find plenty of load data for just about most pistol calibers and bullet weights, especially for semi-auto cartridges.

 

[cheygriz]

Bullseye is an excellent powder for all the calibers you listed.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Unique is tough to beat.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm looking for recommended powders for reloading mostly light loads in 38 spl.,9mm, 45 colt & 45ACP.

I have used and still use W231/HP-38 for all of those calibers. (although I'm not reloading for the 9mm right now)

W231 is probably one of the best if not the best powder for loading low pressure calibers like the .38 Special and .45 Auto. Like said above, W231 was made for the .45 Auto, they just go well together. I also like W231 in the .45 Colt. It produces accurate clean burning ammo in that caliber. (and most calibers too) For the 9mm I loaded a 124/125gr bullet in both lead and jacketed bullets with W231. Again, good clean accurate ammo was produced. I also like the fact W231 comes in a 4lb jug instead of only 1lb and 8lb jugs...

What's not to like??