Multi use powder suggestion for pistol

[cfullgraf]

I have a little bit of Accurate #2 and I am saving it for 45 ACP 185-200 grain semi-wadcuuters for use in my Gold Cup.

It would make a great target powder for other cartridges.

I just have good powders still for my target loadd in other cartridges.

 

[AJC1]

Based on what I can find and your choices hp38 is a great choice..... I find that your 9 will burn the slower powders better based on pressure. I'm going to toss out universal as my recommendation if it's available. Sometimes the option that is sitting on the shelf that is not commonly recommended is available. It's nitro free and is cleaner than unique.

 

[Charlie98]

As much as I love Unique... and, yes, I load .380, 9mm, and .45ACP with Unique, I wouldn't be heartbroken to do the same with HP38/W231... given the limited availability of Unique these days.

 

[kalielkslayer]

Guess I’ll be the only vote for Silhouette. Love it in 9.

Works in .380.

I don’t load .45, but it’s listed in the manuals.

Cheaper, less flash, but most of all, I see it available every time I do a powder search.

 

[CQB45ACP]

I too shoot government model 1911s—exclusively for 45ACP and mostly for 9mm.

I’m not at all a sophisticated loader or shooter but I know what I like and I like to keep things simple.

I use all the following powders equally & interchangeably between the calibers and various bullets within each caliber and just rotate through this lineup loading one pound at a time until that pound is gone:

W231/HP38 (3)
Bullseye (3)
Sport Pistol (4)
BE-86 (1)
Accurate 2 (1)
Accurate 5 (1)
Accurate 7 (1)

But, if I had to buy and use just one powder right now it’d be BE-86. I have just one unopened pound and that makes me sad.

Edit: And, Speer for one example, has .380 load data for each of the above powders.

 

[lordpaxman]

During the last shortage I did a lot of looking for a universal pistol powder and found….. Universal. It’s close to Unique in burn rate and there’s published data for it. I developed loads for it and have a good supply on hand.
I prefer, in order:

Sport Pistol
N320
Titegroup
231/244
AA2
WST/WSF
CFE Pistol

 

[CQB45ACP]

Guess I’ll be the only vote for Silhouette. Love it in 9.

Works in .380.

I don’t load .45, but it’s listed in the manuals.

Cheaper, less flash, but most of all, I see it available every time I do a powder search.

And availability is the greatest ability.

 

[Mr_Gun_Guy]

Since I haven’t seen but just a couple of votes for TiteGroup and True Blue, I’d stack my shelf with those when my go-to powder isn’t available. I’ve been able to find both pretty easily over the past few months.

My most favorite caliber to load it the .44 mag, but finding Blue Dot is an impossibility these days. Of course, Blue Dot isn’t a versatile powder like the others, but it’s the bee’s knees for .44!

 

[Bobaloo22]

I'm new at this but I also like Silhouette, I'm also using Bullseye and some Red Dot but I'll be out of those soon.

 

[Walkalong]

BE-86 and call it a day.

Great powder, but he’s reloading 9MM & .380, W-231 is a better choice for that.

9MM and up? You’d have a great argument.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Great powder, but he’s reloading 9MM & .380, W-231 is a better choice for that.

9MM and up? You’d have a great argument.

Why? Not being flippant, just am curious. Perhaps OP would be too.

I’m familiar with both in 45ACP & 9mm, what happens differently with .380?

 

[EMC45]

Bullseye
TiteGroup
HP-38 (WIN231)

Very versatile and can be found.

 

[Walkalong]

Why? Not being flippant, just am curious. Perhaps OP would be too.

I’m familiar with both in 45ACP & 9mm, what happens differently with .380?

A bit slow for .380, especially blowback .380s. Outstanding midrange powder for .357 Mag(probably all the mags), excellent in full power 9mm, etc.

But if .380 is in the mix, along with 9MM, I recommend W-231.

That said, I use many different powders, I don’t try to make any one powder work for multiple calibers anymore. If they do , fine, but I’m not trying for it.

 

[ParallelCode]

Just to confirm, is HP-38 the exact same powder as W231 or just extremely similar? I've seen post that left me with the impression they were identical, but nothing explicitly stating that.

 

[CQB45ACP]

A bit slow for .380, especially blowback .380s. Outstanding midrange powder for .357 Mag(probably all the mags), excellent in full power 9mm, etc.

But if .380 is in the mix, along with 9MM, I recommend W-231.

That said, I use many different powders, I don’t try to make any one powder work for multiple calibers anymore. If they do , fine, but I’m not trying for it.

Okay and yes I agree I don’t try (not too hard anyway) to force fit powder/calibers.

Fortunately, my two calibers (9mm & 45ACP) are reasonably interchangeable WRT powders when shooting big heavy 1911s (at least as far as I’m able to tell anyway).

As for .380, I don’t shoot nor load for my gorgeous Beretta 84FS not because of powder choice or anything else but because the blowback style is just too rough for my old hands to grip the slide (in part because the compact size). And looking for an equally beautiful babe to replace her is folly.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I use this for 9mm and 45 ACP. It works very well. Very close to Titegroup.

https://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!l=PDR&i=AS1

 

[SingleActionAndrew]

I was just thinking about trying N320 for 9mm. My Alliant Power Pistol supply is rapidly nearing exhaustion.

N320 should work well. I shoot bullseye and it seems the 9mm guys (vast minority) prevailing pet load uses N330 with the XTPs, for whatever thats worth. I prefer N310 for 185gr 45s but 320 is great with 200-230. N320 is spectacular for 380 auto too. Doesn't meter quite as well as N310 as the granules are larger, but I'm talking hundredths of grains here.

 

[mdi]

The last panic I could not fine any Unique but Universal was plentiful. Bought one pound, liked it, then bought another pound. After a bit of use and realizing it's versatility, I bought a 4 pound jug. I still use several handgun powders but Universal is more "universal" than all the others...

 

[markr6754]

The last panic I could not fine any Unique but Universal was plentiful. Bought one pound, liked it, then bought another pound. After a bit of use and realizing it's versatility, I bought a 4 pound jug. I still use several handgun powders but Universal is more "universal" than all the others...

I've used quite a bit of Universal since buying it...but it has caused me more financial trauma than anything. I went on a long spending spree trying to find dispensers, tricklers, even vibrating ones, before settling on the FA Intellidropper...the only tool that consistently delivers an accurate charge. I'm still recovering from the mental and financial damage it caused.
That said, yes, Universal is quite a universal handgun powder and I like it a lot...but I still hate it.

 

[Walkalong]

I have a four pounder of it, meter’s pretty well for me

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Okay and yes I agree I don’t try (not too hard anyway) to force fit powder/calibers.

Fortunately, my two calibers (9mm & 45ACP) are reasonably interchangeable WRT powders when shooting big heavy 1911s (at least as far as I’m able to tell anyway).

As for .380, I don’t shoot nor load for my gorgeous Beretta 84FS not because of powder choice or anything else but because the blowback style is just too rough for my old hands to grip the slide (in part because the compact size). And looking for an equally beautiful babe to replace her is folly.

It really depends on how flexible you are with your projectile choices. I've worked up loads for my "generic" - meaning it works in all of my guns of that caliber - .45ACP, 9mm, .38Spl & .357Mag, and .380ACP using Accurate Nitro 100, Competition, WST, Bullseye, HP-38/W231, Hi-Skor IMR 700X, Accurate No. 2, Red Dot, TiteGroup, Ramshot True Blue, Accurate No. 5, Unique, WSF and HS-6. Yes, Nitro 100 is a little too fast for the .45ACP with 200gr. bullets but with 185gr. Nosler JHP it works fairly well. Not great but it cycles and is accurate enough for pill bottles filled with glitter at 20 paces (which BTW is more fun than you can imagine ) and HS6 is WAY slow for .380ACP with 90 or 100gr bullets but stuff a 115gr. FMJ into one and you're ready to rock! Wear a padded glove. And sunglasses. You're basically loading a very deep-seated low-pressure 9mm at that point. I like the Russian steel jacket/soft core bullets that come up as pulled surplus from time-to-time for this. I am down to about 3000 so I need to start looking for more.

CAN be done and SHOULD be done are two very different things. I'm saying, it CAN be done and I know because I've done it. I am NOT saying it SHOULD be done. YMMV.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Just to confirm, is HP-38 the exact same powder as W231 or just extremely similar? I've seen post that left me with the impression they were identical, but nothing explicitly stating that.

It's the same powder, I use the two interchangeably. The only difference is between lot to lot and that hold true with all powders.
I guess when Hodgdon bought out the Winchester line of gun powders, and they renamed Win 231 to Hp-38, some people couldn't handle the change and demanded the Winchester labeled powders. There must have been quite an outcry because Hodgdon has been labeling the powder both, ever since.
Same as with H110 and W296.

 

[CQB45ACP]

It really depends on how flexible you are with your projectile choices. I've worked up loads for my "generic" - meaning it works in all of my guns of that caliber - .45ACP, 9mm, .38Spl & .357Mag, and .380ACP using Accurate Nitro 100, Competition, WST, Bullseye, HP-38/W231, Hi-Skor IMR 700X, Accurate No. 2, Red Dot, TiteGroup, Ramshot True Blue, Accurate No. 5, Unique, WSF and HS-6. Yes, Nitro 100 is a little too fast for the .45ACP with 200gr. bullets but with 185gr. Nosler JHP it works fairly well. Not great but it cycles and is accurate enough for pill bottles filled with glitter at 20 paces (which BTW is more fun than you can imagine ) and HS6 is WAY slow for .380ACP with 90 or 100gr bullets but stuff a 115gr. FMJ into one and you're ready to rock! Wear a padded glove. And sunglasses. You're basically loading a very deep-seated low-pressure 9mm at that point. I like the Russian steel jacket/soft core bullets that come up as pulled surplus from time-to-time for this. I am down to about 3000 so I need to start looking for more.

CAN be done and SHOULD be done are two very different things. I'm saying, it CAN be done and I know because I've done it. I am NOT saying it SHOULD be done. YMMV.

That’s a lot of different powders!

Not sure how I’d get the glitter down range but I can only imagine the reaction at the NRA range when it went poof!

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

That’s a lot of different powders!

Not sure how I’d get the glitter down range but I can only imagine the reaction at the NRA range when it went poof!

Well, I have to admit - and if anyone ever brings it up again, I'll deny it! - but the first time I came up with that little crowd pleaser, I forgot Jim Croce's advice - with predictable and hilarious results. I like to never got that stuff out of my beard.

I tried more than that with so-so to poor to dangerous results. Blue Dot is NOT a good powder for .380ACP for example.

 

[ParallelCode]

It's the same powder, I use the two interchangeably. The only difference is between lot to lot and that hold true with all powders.
I guess when Hodgdon bought out the Winchester line of gun powders, and they renamed Win 231 to Hp-38, some people couldn't handle the change and demanded the Winchester labeled powders. There must have been quite an outcry because Hodgdon has been labeling the powder both, ever since.
Same as with H110 and W296.

Thanks for clearing that up!