Tightgrope..

[AJC1]

"I hope you don't always trust GPS completely"

Pulling a travel trailer for a lot of miles I have made some GPS following errors that were epic in their absurdity and inconvenience. And embarrassing to admit I did it. I am pretty much GPS shy past the amount I probably should be.

I just loaded 49 of the .41 Mag with Bayou Bullets and the lowest suggested charge of Titegroup to try out. Going to do some .357 with Acme bullets and Titegroup next. Will shoot them later in the week. I load single stage one at the time. I think/hope my technique is good enough for light charges. My most accurate heavy loads are with Lil Gun so I have some experience with a double base powder.

I bought the Titegroup about 10 years ago at the suggestion of a friend who shoots .45 Colt. I tried it with jacketed bullets and went back to the Universal and Blue Dot I was loading at the time.

Interested in that load with lil gun. If you don't want it public I'd appreciate a pm.

 

[westernrover]

I would suspect that is based more on marketing and profitability than anything else. Yes, it's a versatile powder, but it has it's drawbacks, in much the same way Unique is versatile but has it's own drawbacks.

Titegroup is a low-margin powder. It's one of the cheapest in price and a little goes farther than most powders. Hodgdon has plenty of other powders that Chris could have named -- the Longshot that Miculek mentioned for example. With higher prices per pound and more pounds per round, they have to make more money per pound and per shot of Longshot than they do on Titegroup. Titegroup isn't the "latest and greatest" either. He could have named CFE Pistol or IMR Blue. The way the question was worded, he didn't have to name one powder to do it all either, and he didn't -- he also mentioned H110.

I would not describe Titegroup as versatile because I don't believe its primary virtue is being useful in the widest variety of handgun cartridges. Instead, I think it is useful in a wide variety of handgun cartridges because it has hard-to-beat qualities in consistency, accuracy, and cleanliness. Like I wrote, I have 13 handgun powders on-hand. I don't use Titegroup because of its versatility -- I only load for one handgun cartridge. I use Titegroup because it makes the best loads.

I am not in fact a shill for Titegroup though. I have all those other powders because I'm willing to try other things. Some that I don't have that I want to try are the fast VV powders. So far, for consistency and accuracy, nothing has proven better for me than Titegroup. It has other virtues like cleanliness and economy, but I'm always seeking perfection, not cheapness.

 

[brewer12345]

Now I am looking to replace my powder puff Trail Boss loads.

If I run out of Trail Boss before I can find more, I will be looking to Tite Group as a good prospect to substitute.

 

[Charlie98]

I load single stage one at the time. I think/hope my technique is good enough for light charges.

Just remember to double-check your case fill... one of the upside/downsides to TiteGroup is... it only takes a little, it's true, but you could easily double-charge a big case, like the .41, and not notice it on first glance.

 

[Charlie98]

The way the question was worded, he didn't have to name one powder to do it all either, and he didn't -- he also mentioned H110.

From one extreme to another... I'll actually agree with him on H110/W296... it's the best powder for what it does.

TiteGroup is versatile because it checks a lot of boxes for a lot of handloaders, and that includes a lot of very different cartridges. It DOES have drawbacks... whether or not those matter to you is something else entirely.

 

[deadeye dick]

Have you ever messed with 700X? Very fast clean powder. Meters like beach pebbles but I don’t use a meter so it’s not an issue. 800X is the magnum powder in that family. Now discontinued so you won’t get a chance to try it. Lots of good powders are gone since Hodgdon started buying out the competition: HS-7, SR 4759, H4227, 800X… sad but the fact is 00Xthey didn’t have a market big enough to save them.

Still got some 800X also SR7625. Like them both

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I use a lot of Titegroup, always have, but I don't think I would consider it for anything larger than 38 special in volume size.
I'll stick with Unique/BE-86 burn rate for my mid range loads for everything larger/and more powerful than 9mm/38 Special.
I tried it in .357 Mag years ago and didn't care for it. I like my case fill to be a higher percentage than Titegroup gives.

 

[Bill M.]

"Interested in that load with lil gun. If you don't want it public I'd appreciate a pm."

19 grains of Lil gun. Winchester LP primer. 210 grain Hornady XP bullet. Starline case.

 

[AJC1]

"Interested in that load with lil gun. If you don't want it public I'd appreciate a pm."

19 grains of Lil gun. Winchester LP primer. 210 grain Hornady XP bullet. Starline case.

That's a 41 mag load I infer based on bullet weight. Thanks.

 

[LiveLife]

Tightgrope..

Wife saw me laugh and wondered what was "tightgrope" and shooting.

I told her it's what makes tight groups for my 9mm loads.

 

[AK Hunter]

For tightgrope a little goes a long way too. LOL

 

[westernrover]

.... It DOES have drawbacks... whether or not those matter to you is something else entirely.

The one that matters to me is the danger of overcharging that's been mentioned by several. I have a great deal of concern about both double-charges and the fact that only a few tenths of a grain can make the difference between an in-spec charge and one that is dangerous.

One way I mitigate the risk of double charges is I stopped charging on a progressive. I use Sinclair loading blocks so I can inspect every charge before I place a bullet. Safety is only one reason I do this. The other reasons have to do with challenges to accurately charging on-press and avoiding case mouth damage.

To that effect, I use a Harrell's pistol powder measure. One time I was loading ~1000 cases before a 4-day class at an out-of-state school. Periodic checks showed an erratic drift of the measured charge. This resulted in a difference of as much as 8000 psi. What was happening was that the rotary adjuster on the drum of the Harrell's measure was turning with the inertia of the handle. Unlike most drum measures, the Harrell's adjuster is coaxial rather than perpendicular with the rotation of the drum itself -- a design that depends on the ball detents to secure the adjustment. The drawback of using Titegroup was that a small drift in the volume metered resulted in a relatively large variation in pressure.

Titegroup requires precise measurement. Not only can imprecise charges potentially be dangerous, they will also be inconsistent. With a bulky powder like H110, a fair amount of slop in the volume meterered will result in a variation that is only a small percentage of the whole charge. With Titegroup, just a few µL's of volume are a relatively large portion of the total charge.

 

[Smaug]

Contrary to one someone said above, if only a little Titegroup is needed, it WILL be position-sensitive in a big magnum case. Tilt the gun back to get the powder next to the primer before each shot and it'll give you more power and a more complete burn. That and/or load wadcutter bullets seated flush to fill up a lot of case volume. Using 38 Spl brass instead of 357 helps here, but you'll have to do a good job cleaning your chambers.

I'm going from my experience loading HP38/Win231 in 357 Mag, 44 Mag and 45 Colt cases.

 

[Bill M.]

I shot my Titegroup loads today. 4.5 grains under a 158 Acme in .357 and 4.5 grains under a Bayou Bullet 215 grain in .41 Mag. They worked fine. I did not do an accuracy test but I shot some groups at 25 yards and they shot as will as my other loads. No vertical stringing. The cases stay pretty clean. As does the gun. And the gun did not get hot. Barrel a little warm. So far I have tried HP 38, Clays, and Tightgroup. All three seemed about the same. The Tightgroup metered the best for me. The HP 38 load at 6.5 grains in the .41 Mag. has a little more case fill and more velocity. Hodgdon gives no cast bullet loads for HP 38 in .41 Mag and that puts me off a little.. I liked Trail Boss better than any of the above for low power loads. Both for the case fill and the fact that the loading data gives lower velocity loads. But I only have 3 oz or so left and the comments I have seen on the forums make it seem Trail Boss may never return to the market. At least in my useful time frame.

 

[Charlie98]

Hodgdon gives no cast bullet loads for HP 38 in .41 Mag and that puts me off a little..

That's another powder I've not tried in the .41... I just wonder if the low case fill wouldn't cause problems.

FWIW... I actually have some data for W231 (which is HP38) for the .41, according to the notes, it's Nosler data. If you want a copy of it, PM me with your email address and I'll shoot it over to you. It's a compilation of .41 data from several published sources I pulled off Leverguns (perhaps) many years ago, in a nice format; it is NOT my data.

 

[J-Bar]

I earned several plaques and buckles using Tightgroup for cowboy action competition. It works just dandy for what it is designed to do; light loads in big cases, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .45 Colt. Use it as intended and enjoy.

Your brass will be hot and maybe have scorch marks on the sides. Big deal.