What powders to try for 9mm?

[TH3180]

As many of you know I have recently started reloading. I am reloading 9mm for my Glock 17. I am using Montana gold 115 grain FMJ round nose bullets and Winchester primers. The first pound of powder I got is Alliant Unique Powder. I have about half a pound left. I would like to try other powders. I am not unhappy with Unique. One thing I am having a problem with Unique, it doesn't seem to meter consistently for me. What other powders would you guys suggest I try before I take the plunge and buy an eight pound jug.

 

[Quoheleth]

AA#5 worked great for me with cast lead and meters like water.

 

[zxcvbob]

Bullseye or WSF.

Green Dot is a good powder for 9mm, but it doesn't measure any better than Unique.

 

[32dgrz]

Was WSF but found WST more to my liking now

 

[Walkalong]

WST for light loads, but WSF for full loads, along with other "medium" speed pistol powders like True Blue, AA #5, N340, Unique, etc.

 

[Exposure]

Ramshot True Blue

Winchester 231

Winchester AutoComp

Alliant Bullseye

All four of the above meter outstanding, and for me, have worked wonderfully in the 9MM underneath a 115 GR bullet.

 

[ralph2]

I have had good luck with accurate #2 for my glock 17 shooting 115 grain plated bullets. Meters
very good. I have less than 30fps spread in velocity. I keep my velocities below 1100fps.
For higher velocities I would try a slower powder. Below 1100 fps the brass falls at my feet.

 

[gilly6993]

Titegroup....I use it for just about everything...

 

[Seedtick]

For 9mm with 115 & 125 grain pills I swap back and forth between Power Pistol and HP 38. Both of these meter well. I've used others but these are the two I've used most.

ST

 

[mickeygrimreaperblueeyes]

I like alliant brand and Herco is great for 9mm. You can get great velocities with it in a barrel over 4 inches.

 

[LightningMan]

I like Accurate AA#5, Alliant PowerPistol, Ramshot TrueBlue & Ramshot Zip.

 

[ljnowell]

If going FMJ or plated in 9mm, I find it hard to beat Alliant Power Pistol. If you are going for ultimate economy for plinking ammo, AA#2 is cheap, has low charge weights and is the best metering fast powder, IMO. Also bullseye wouldnt be a bad ultra cheap powder to use for economy.

In reality though, you are usually only saving about 2 gr of powder per round. That can be looked at as a huge saving, or a small price to pay for more powerful ammo.

 

[918v]

231

 

[medalguy]

AA #5 is what I settled on after trying most other pistol powders. Easy to meter and consistent throws. And accurate too.

 

[Nushif]

HS-6 ... from what I gather not the best. But it works fine for me.

 

[chineseboxer]

For a new reloader, WIN 231 and Power Pistol both meter fantastice and both happen to be fantastic powder for 9mm. I typically use 231 but it has been short in my area lately so have picked up some power pistol to try. Don't follow my lead, but I weigh my first charge and my 50th charge before i box them up. Always consistant.

 

[TH3180]

Thanks everybody for the suggestions.

For a new reloader, WIN 231 and Power Pistol both meter fantastice and both happen to be fantastic powder for 9mm. I typically use 231 but it has been short in my area lately so have picked up some power pistol to try. Don't follow my lead, but I weigh my first charge and my 50th charge before i box them up. Always consistant.

Maybe I am being too anal about weighing my charges. I weigh every 5th to 10th charge. I get crabby if I am .1 of a grain off. How far off is acceptable when it comes to charge weights?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I reload 9mm ammo for my son. I use W231/HP-38 for practice ammo and for lead bullets. For more serious duty he just loves the ammo made with Longshot. If he has his way all his 9mm ammo would be loaded with Longshot. I load mostly 124/125gr bullets...

 

[Aussie_Ronin]

For IPSC Production in my Glock 17, I'm using AP70 from ADI with a 125gr proj. I just loaded up some 135gn rounds tonight to see if they group better at distance

 

[PO2Hammer]

Maybe I am being too anal about weighing my charges. I weigh every 5th to 10th charge. I get crabby if I am .1 of a grain off. How far off is acceptable when it comes to charge weights?

+.1 to -.1 is very good.

I've used Titegroup the most in 9mm, but lately I've been using IMR SR 7625, it meters more consistently than any other powder I've tried.
Give much better loading density too.

 

[wow6599]

AutoComp and Power Pistol here.......measures well, accurate enough and isn't very dirty.

 

[RustyFN]

I have used Titegroup, Bullseye and HS-6 in 9mm but I like WST the best.

 

[RidgwayCO]

I like the Accurate line of powders, and Accurate #2, #5, and #7 are all appropriate for the 9mm Luger. I also like Hodgdon's Universal Clays ("Universal") for this application instead of Unique, and have included it in the list.

The following data is presented for your info. It is for a 115gr jacketed bullet. Maximum load data for the Accurate powders is from Accurate Loading Guide v3.3, and for Hodgdon Universal from Speer Reloading Manual #14. Prices are from the Powder Valley web site. Since Accurate #2 is only sold in 5lb jugs, its price per 8lb is extrapolated. All four powders measure exceptionally well for me in my Lee Pro Auto Disk powder measure.

Powder ........ Max ..... Vel ... Ft-Lbs . #/Lb ..... 8 lbs ...... ¢/rnd
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AA #2 ......... 5.2gr ... 1145 ... 335 ... 1346 ... $104.80 ... 0.97¢

AA #5 ......... 7.0gr ... 1192 ... 363 ... 1000 ... $116.00 ... 1.45¢

AA #7 ......... 8.8gr ... 1196 ... 365 .... 795 ... $116.00 .... 1.82¢

Universal ..... 5.3gr ... 1172 ... 351 ... 1320 .. $114.00 .... 1.08¢

Personally, I like to load my 9mm Luger practice rounds to about 1100 fps (309 ft-lbs), and find Accurate #2 to be very efficient, clean-burning, and accurate. Also, among spherical powders, it's one of the least-expensive. YMMV.

 

[LiveLife]

Maybe I am being too anal about weighing my charges.

Not at all if you are looking to assemble accurate match grade loads. Some of us match shooters even weigh bullets to make sure they are within 1.0 gr variance bullet-to-bullet (Montana Gold FMJ bullets are very weight consistent) and select the powder/throw so the charge-to-charge variance is less than 0.1 gr.

I weigh every 5th to 10th charge.

I use Pro Auto Disk and weigh the first several drops to make sure the powder has settled in the hopper and I got the right size hole. Once the powder charge is verified, I don't need to weigh thereafter whether I am loading 500 rounds or 4000 rounds. With Pro Auto Disk, most small ball/flake powders meter well. W231/HP38 meters best with drops right on the charge and vary no more than 0.1 gr. Other small ball/flake powders like Bullseye, Green Dot, WST, Clays, WSF also meter well. Large flake powders like Promo/Red Dot will vary 0.2-0.3 gr charge-to-charge.[/QUOTE]

I get crabby if I am .1 of a grain off. How far off is acceptable when it comes to charge weights?

Many match shooters consider 0.1 gr variance to be acceptable for match grade loads. You will be surprised by how inconsistent factory ammunition powder charges are (especially the cheaper stuff).

0.2-0.3 gr variance is fine for plinking loads as shot groups won't widen that much at closer distances. Also, some powders are less sensitive to charge variance. Promo/Red Dot with charge variance of 0.2-0.3 gr will produce fairly consistent shot groups. Below are sample targets of Promo which varied 0.1-0.2 gr from my well worn 15 year old Pro Auto Disk shot from 4.5" M&P45 using Missouri Bullets 200 gr SWC.

 

[kimbernut]

9mm powder

I've used Bullseye, W231, and Titegroup. All have worked equally well and seriously can't really tell which is which unless I check my box labeling notes. They also work equally well for: .380Auto, .38Spl., .357 Mag., .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.