What are your favorite powders for 9mm, 45 Acp,.308, .223?

[Typetwelve]

I've used W231, HP-38, Bullseye, Sport Pistol, Acc No7, Tightgroup for 9mm...all have their +/-. For bulk loading, I use Tightgroup. It's cheap and effective.

For 223, I only use Varget for match ammo.

 

[tactikel]

Unique
varget

 

[Wildbillz]

45Acp Win231/HP38, Bullseye, Unique.
9mm Win231/HP38, Unique.

308Win BLC(2)/WC846, Win748 or IMR4895
223Rem AA#2230, Win748 and I have done some with the WC846.

I recently (six months ago) got a pound of Power Pistol to try and some AA#2 AA#5 but I have not used them on anything yet. Different powders I used for different bullets.

WB

 

[jebova2301]

9x19: Unique
45: Don't own one or load for one
308: Again, don't own one or load for one
.223/5.56: WC-844(for anything 62 grains or less), then IMR-3031 for anything 62 grains or less, then IMR 8208XBR. I will use the 8208XBR in 55gr, but only if I have run out of WC-844 or 3031. I primarily use 8208XBR for 69 grain matchkings

 

[The Bushmaster]

9mmx19 W231
.38 Special W231
.45 Colt 5" W231
.45 Kimber 3" WSF
.30-30 Winchester W748
.30-06 Browning A-bolt H4831SC
.308 Browning BLR H380

 

[shamfrod]

In no particular order and of those that I reload for:
9mm:
Winchester 231/ HP 38
CFE Pistol
Tightgroup

.223:
H335
CFE 223
Varget

 

[LiveLife]

What are your favorite powders for 9mm, 45 Acp,.308, .223?

Looking at getting into reloading these calibers and looking for suggestions on powders.

These are my favorite 9mm powders from faster burning to slower burning (If I had to choose one, it would be either Sport Pistol/W231/HP-38 due to flexibility and best metering) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/powder-shape-and-burn-rate.852012/#post-11144115

• Red Dot/Promo - For my general purpose range blasting ammo that are good for practice/shooting drills as they produce decent, better than factory accuracy at lowest cost. Promo has been "reblended" in recent years to contain all round flakes now and meter much better than Red Dot with around .1-.2 gr variance for me consistently with same as W231/HP-38 variance of .12 gr from my C-H 502 micrometer powder measure. Due to bulkiness from less dense flakes, Promo can readily produce 100% case fill loads that are particularly more accurate in blowback carbines and produce less soot on case than slower burning powders. BTW, Promo is reverse temperature sensitive like WST/WSF - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...temperature-sensitivity.817116/#post-10473222

• IMR Target/WST - Capable of producing very small groups comparable to Titegroup powder burn rate. While Target is larger flake powder, metering variance doesn't seem to affect accuracy much. If you are looking for smallest groups, try these powders along with other fast burning powders listed in this bullseye match powder comparison - https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/loads-for-the-bullseye-shooter/99418#:~:text=The powders used by Bullseye,45 ACP

• Bullseye - Powder that can be "downloaded" from published start charges the best. Many bullseye match shooters even run lighter recoil spring rates to reliably cycle the slide yet keeps on producing accuracy. Due to small granule size (like BE-86, Power Pistol), meters very well. To me, Bullseye produces more snappy, "thump" felt recoil so if you want factory-like recoil for practice, try Bullseye. For me, Bullseye produced more accurate groups than W231/HP-38, my perennial reference powder at the juncture of faster/slower pistol powders.

• Titegroup - Yeah, the love hate powder that burns hot and violent. I like it for 9mm because it produces greater accuracy than W231/HP-38. If you are new to reloading, try other powders first so you don't get the wrath of concern from other reloaders.

• Sport Pistol - Alliant's answer to N320 and W231/HP-38, particularly for match shooters that burns cleaner than N320 and more temperature stable than W231/HP-38 to more consistently meet power factor requirements regardless of ambient temperature. While W231/HP-38 meters with around .1 gr variance for me, Sport Pistol meters better with around .05 gr variance due to smaller, more consistent granule size (Think N320 cut smaller).

• W231/HP-38 - My perennial reference powder that meters well and produces good accuracy. But if you want higher velocity, look at slower burning powders.

• BE-86/WSF - BE-86 is OEM powder Alliant and other ammunition manufacturers used for decades to produce premium JHP ammunition that became available to reloaders in canister form. WSF is powder I used to produce USPSA major power factor loads in 40S&W due to higher velocities it can produce compare to other powders. I used WSF to produce duplicate JHP rounds using same Gold Dot/Golden Saber bullets for practice but in recent years, replaced with BE-86 due to greater accuracy produced.

45ACP - Red Dot/Promo and W231/HP-38.

.308 - Varget and H4895

.223 - H335

 

[Chuck R.]

Lot's of good choices, you may want to see what is available to you nearby and ask about those.

^

Sound advice in these troubling times of want..........

9mm I primarliy use HP38, but I'm loading coated bullets for matches & practice
.45ACP again HP38 for the same reasons

For faster loads in the above I use Blue Dot and CFE Pistol with jacketed bullets

.223:
3Gun and plinking practice loads CFE223 and TAC
Precision loads and hunting; Varget

.308: H4350 for hunting and accuracy, AA2230 & AA 2460 in my FAL plinking ammo

 

[Crosshair]

Titegroup
Titegroup
IMR4895
IMR4895

 

[Skeptic13]

I use Universal for 9mm.
Varget, TAC for .223
Varget, H4895 for .308
Don't load 45 right now. Maybe in the future.

 

[Bob Meyer]

9mm- SR7625
45 auto- Unique
223- W748
308-IMR4064

 

[Walkalong]

For 9MM it's hard to beat N320 for 124 Gr plinkers, or N330/N340, or 3N37 for faster stuff, but I also really like Silhouette for "full power' 124 Gr 9MM. True Blue, AA #5, WSF also work well.

For .45 ACP W-231 has been getting the job done for a very long time, but N310 & N320 make great target rounds, as does WST. N340 is great for full power, as are others.

I am still shooting old surplus SRP-118 for plinker ammo in .223, but have TAC, H335, H322, N133, etc, etc that work well. If TAC, H335, or H322 won't shoot well for you, you need a better bullet or a better barrel.

 

[Jason Forbes]

I'm just getting into reloading 9mm. I read everywhere that H-38 was good for 9mm, so I bought 2lbs of it. I was gifted a lot of 147gr bullets.... The two don't do that well together.... so I bought some BE-86. Before buying anyone one component, I'd get some ideas of what you want to reload and then research some different load data for those workups and see what others are using that load the same type of comparible rounds.

 

[jmorris]

I don’t have any that work for all of them, I could likely get away with two different ones and cover 9mm-308 win.

Right now, you might be better off telling us what powder you can get your hands on and see if it’s usable for any of the rounds you intend to load.