What are your top two handgun powders?

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Bullseye and W231 in that order.

Although I am liking Power Pistol more and more.

Now where can I get more primers? My stock is starting to run low!
 
ZIP

What exactly is ZIP? I am totally not familiar with that powder. Could you explain its characteristics?

ZIP is Ramshot ZIP. It's the fastest of the pistol powders in the Ramshot line. The Reload Bench burn rate chart lists it next to W-231. It's a ball powder (meters like water) that's very good for reduced loads as well as medium power loads. The next slowest powder in the Ramshot line is Silhouette which is the old WAP. Silhouette would give me an additional 10% velocity or so much like Universal Clays or Unique or Longshot. But I'm not interested in that speed. I've got H-110 for a full house load to reach out and touch something with Dead Right Now force in the 357.

I got introduced to Ramshot when Powder Valley was selling TAC (Ramshot's ball powder equivalent to 4895) for $8.00/lb I've got 16lbs of TAC to power an M1 and M1A. I got 4 lbs of ZIP because small amounts meter like water unlike Bullseye & Unique. I developed a liking for it.

Right now I'm shooting 3.7 grains of ZIP behind a 125gr lead bullet in 38 Special and 4.9 grains in the 357. Ramshot gives a load range of 3.4-4.9 grains in 38 Special and 4.5-6.2 grains in 357 for CAS loads. At the low end of those ranges, you can see the bullets going downrange.

And of course my Lee Pro AutoDisk drops those loads with no variation I can see all day long. :) Ball powders meter like water.:) Plus ZIP burns very cleanly in reduced loads.
 
ZIP is Ramshot ZIP. It's the fastest of the pistol powders in the Ramshot line. The Reload Bench burn rate chart lists it next to W-231. It's a ball powder (meters like water) that's very good for reduced loads as well as medium power loads. The next slowest powder in the Ramshot line is Silhouette which is the old WAP. Silhouette would give me an additional 10% velocity or so much like Universal Clays or Unique or Longshot. But I'm not interested in that speed. I've got H-110 for a full house load to reach out and touch something with Dead Right Now force in the 357.

I got introduced to Ramshot when Powder Valley was selling TAC (Ramshot's ball powder equivalent to 4895) for $8.00/lb I've got 16lbs of TAC to power an M1 and M1A. I got 4 lbs of ZIP because small amounts meter like water unlike Bullseye & Unique. I developed a liking for it.

Right now I'm shooting 3.7 grains of ZIP behind a 125gr lead bullet in 38 Special and 4.9 grains in the 357. Ramshot gives a load range of 3.4-4.9 grains in 38 Special and 4.5-6.2 grains in 357 for CAS loads. At the low end of those ranges, you can see the bullets going downrange.

And of course my Lee Pro AutoDisk drops those loads with no variation I can see all day long. Ball powders meter like water. Plus ZIP burns very cleanly in reduced loads.

Wow, I have been schooled. Sounds like a powder I would like to try.
 
VihtaVouri N340, HS-6, and Lil' Gun for the Magnums.

I realize that inventorying so few powders limits my options, but limited funds tend to limit my inventory. ;)

I can load everything I own from one of those three powders, so that's good enough for me (right now anyway).
 
Joemyxplyx, what kind of velocities are you getting out of ZIP in .38 special CAS loads? I like Trail Boss as its pretty consistant at low velocities, but kind of dirty. My loads run at about 675fps out of my Rugers, but if I can get a cleaner burning powder with similar velocities, it may be worth trying some ZIP. LM
 
I use HS6 for my 9, and I like using HS6 for my .40, but I think using my HS6 for the .45 is also good:D:D.
What else am I going to do with an 8lb can and 4 1lb cans of HS6? It was dirt cheap, (I mean nothing), so I'm using it. :D
 
Bullseye & More Bullseye...so far I've only loaded 45acp (pistol) and have only used two cans of Bullseye to do so. What can I say besides Bullseye!
 
Win231 & N320 : 9mm

Win shoots clean for medium to faster speeds/Higher PF

Vit is clean at slower speeds/Minor PF
 
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Joemyxplyx, what kind of velocities are you getting out of ZIP in .38 special CAS loads?

Alas, LM I don't know the velocities. I don't have a chrono. It's on my list of things to get, just not in the top 10.

I emailed Ramshot for a range of loads similar to the ones IMR gives for Trail Boss. They gave me the range 3.4-4.9 grains as comparable to the Trail Boss range of 3-5.3grains. Somewhere in the 700-900fps range. I know anything lighter than the 3.4gr load would probably require bouncing the bullet at any distance beyond 50yds. I can see the bullet going down range with the 3.4gr load.

Be aware ZIP is dense. Denser than Bullseye. So a double charge is going to be hard to spot. The max load Ramshot gives for a 125gr bullet in 38Special is 5.3gr. A double charge of the 3.4 load is going to be a touch stout - about a 20% overload. I shoot Vaqueros in CAS. So I'm pretty confident a double charge would be something like a Ruger Only load. When I get my LnL AP set up, I'll invest in a lock out die or warning buzzer setup.

OTOH, ZIP is noticeably cleaner than Bulleseye or Unique when using CAS loads. I've never tried Trail Boss, but I plan to.
 
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Hasn't anyone else here discovered Rex powders? I've been very happy with both Rex 1 (similar burning rate to Bullseye) and Rex 2 (a little slower, a great general-purpose pistol powder).

Not a lot of loading data, but neither powder acts hysterical, so they're relatively easy to work up loads. Sure can't beat the price. :)
 
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