That’s mostly why my powder list to try is towards the slower scale of 9mm powders. By reading they tend to be a trifle more forgiving than the faster ones. I know there are several faster powders I may find later in my learning curve that may do what I want, but I’m saving them for a more experienced day.
Don't fall into Jedi mind tricks of others.
My reloading mentor was a bullseye match shooter who was OCD about details and consistency. He said while it's good to look at what others are doing but until you know WHY they are doing it, you cannot just assume what they are doing is correct or for the right reason. He endorsed conducting my own load development and range testing as there are differences in pistols/barrels and one load that shoots well in one pistol/barrel may not shoot well in a different pistol/barrel that prefer a different bullet/powder/charge/OAL.
I suggest the same for you and conduct your own load development/range testing using our "guidelines/suggestions/recommendations" as we have myth busted many COMMON INTERNET RELOADING NOTIONS many of us took for granted -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-and-discussions.778197/page-10#post-10966692
You are making an assumption that simply using a slower burning powder will provide you a margin of pressure safety which is not necessarily true. I think what should be "gleaned" from that notion is using a powder that will be evident when double charged. Since most slower burning powders use larger charges, they tend to overflow the case when double charged BUT this notion is also not true when using denser powders. You see what I mean about "assumptions"?
Powders like Red Dot/Promo are very fast burning yet when double charged (Due to them being large flake fluffy powders), will often overflow the case (depending on caliber and bullet weight).
If you are concerned about chamber pressures, consider this. Slower burning powders tend to burn more efficiently at near max/max load data to produce optimal accuracy hence must be pushed hard. Faster burning powders can produce efficient enough powder burn even at lower start charges to produce acceptable accuracy hence most lighter recoil (LOWER CHAMBER PRESSURE) target loads are developed with faster burning than W231/HP-38/Sport Pistol burn rate powders.
And also keep in mind, published load data were developed using BRAND NEW brass but us reloaders often use MIXED RANGE BRASS with unknown reload history and condition of brass. In recent years, advent of wet tumbling and 9mm Major USPSA load brought on potentially "thinned" case wall brass from overly expanded applications but due to absolute cleaning from wet tumbling with stainless steel pins, they look like any other brass to unsuspecting reloaders (There's a reason why 9mm Major shooters only use brass once and leave them on the ground
).
So for these reasons, when mixed range brass is used, I endorse using lower pressure mid-to-high range load data loads instead of near max/max load data loads. WSF and BE-86 are two flexible powders I recommend as they can produce accurate loads even at mid-range load data but can produce higher velocity/full power loads also (But I reserve known/verified once-fired brass I saw go from factory box to pistol for max load data applications). Since I use mixed range brass, I often use lighter target loads with W231/HP-38/Sport Pistol and faster burning powders loaded to around 130 power factor (124/125 gr bullets pushed to around 1050 fps).
Whichever powder “feels” the most like a factory Federal 124 gr. HST loading will be the one I stock up on. The others I’ll keep load information for the inevitable rainy day.
This is another Jedi mind trick you don't want to fall into.
There is "factory" like muzzle velocity vs "factory" like FELT RECOIL and two are not the same. If you want to shoot loads that have similar "felt recoil" as factory ammunition, you can readily accomplish this by using faster burning powders loaded to mid-to-high range load data to provide plenty of "snappy felt recoil" of factory ammunition BUT muzzle velocity may not be as high as listed on the box.
Often factory ammunition are loaded with cheapest available bulk lot of powder used to load rounds to certain velocities without much regards to felt recoil. These powders ammunition manufacturers use are not available to us reloaders in "canister" form with specific burn rates (Only exception to this verified by Alliant is the use of BE-86 for decades to load factory ammunition). Nice thing about reloading is that we can use slower burn rate powders (Slower than Unique/Universal/BE-86/WSF) and MATCH OR EXCEED factory velocities BUT END UP WITH LESS FELT RECOIL that feels less snappy and more of a "push".
As to factory vs target load point of aim (POA) vs point of impact (POI), when I compared various premium factory JHP like Remington Golden Saber, Winchester Black Talon/SXT/Ranger-T, Speer Gold Dot and Winchester PDX1 with 130 PF target loads using W231/HP-38/Sport Pistol, POA to POI deviation was less than one inch at defensive shooting distance of 7-10 yards. So another notion of "I like to practice with loads close to factory ammunition" is, well ... less than true.
"These are not the droids you are looking for ... Move along ... Move along"
