Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

[gunsnjeeps]

I'm trying to figure out which one powder is well suited for loading .45 ACP, .38 Special, 9 mm and 9mm Makarov. I've used Unique, which I found to be dirty, for .45 and a small batch of .38 Special. I shoot mostly cast bullets but some Rainier Copper Clad. I know there are a lot of good choices available but I don't want to buy a pound of each to try them all. If Unique was a cleaner powder I'd buy a large quantity of it.

 

[HotIce]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

If you aim for "clean", you may want to give N320 a try.

 

[purdue_para151]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

I've been using Alliant PowerPistol for my 9mm and .38+P loads. It's supposed to work well in .45 too, though I'm not sure about the 9mm Makarov. I only shoot jacketed bullets, but it might be worth looking into.

 

[kombayotch]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Titegroup; cheap, clean and a little goes a loooooong way.

 

[polter71]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Give Hodgdon Clays a try.Very clean burning.

 

[bohem]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Clays and Titegroup work well. I've had decent results with Bullseye as well.

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kombayotch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Titegroup; cheap, clean and a little goes a loooooong way. </div></div>

Big +1!

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Stay with Unique. Very versatile. Try letting the solvent soak overnight (I refer to the more gentle solvents, like Hoppe's).

Greg

 

[Kinsman]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

I agree with Greg. I found that Kroil works wonders in cleaning up the carbon.
Just another thing I learned on the Hide...

 

[buffybuster]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

For the cartridges you mentioned, W231, Titegroup, Clays, RedDot would work very well.

Overall, Unique is in my experience the most versatile of pistol powders. Unique can be used from .380acp to mid-range .44magnum with good results all around. It can also be used for cast bullet rifle loads. If I could only have one pistol powder, it would be Unique. It's not the best but it works reasonably well in a lot of different applications.

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Love me some unique...its a little more forgiving than Red Dot too! Look at your min/max charges for red-dot, there's not much of a spread. Someone told me the dirtier powders like unique and bullseye shoot the best. Consolidating powders is nice too, I can run my .45, 9mm, 10mm, and .44 mag with unique although I have to admit I prefer using Blue Dot on the 10mm and IMR-4227 on the .44 mag.

 

[crod1972]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

WC 231 is great

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

I have found that pistol rounds are kind of like rifle rounds. One powder can do a mediocre of loading several different calibers. But so far I haven't found one powder that does a perfect job in multiple calibers so far. But you can usually find a powder that will load them all equally bad.

 

[noahmercy]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Ramshot powders are quite good...nearly as good as the VhitaVuory powders in my experience. Their True Blue meters great (if you're using a progressive press) and Silhouette has very little muzzle flash and burns even cleaner.

Winchester 231/ HP38 is also a good choice, but I've found it can be dirty if not loaded near the upper end of its range.

Just my $.02

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Thanks for the input. As much as I was trying to avoid buying 1 pound cans I may have to try one or two other powders. I've used Unique, great powder, I think it's dirty. It's been sugested that it may be my load, so I'm going to play with it. I also have some Universal Clays I've used for 12 gauge and a batch of Makarov.

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

The cleanest powders I have ever used are:

N-340 for 45 acp
Win 452AA for 45 is ALMOST as clean
IMR 700X for 9mm

 

[former naval person]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

New Unique is better for clean than the old. Does load a huge number of cartridges well. Killed a lot of deer with 12 grains of Unique and a 110 grain Carbine bullet in the .308. One neck shot does it all. About 1250 fps. I have had no problems with positioning of the powder in the case. For midrange loads with the usual suspects from .32 through .45, 231 shines. JMHO

 

[Mech45]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Titegroup works well in .45 and 9mm with the Rainer or jacketed bullets but because it's a hotter powder it gets smokey with lead bullets. Solo 1000 works well with the cast or moly coated bullets. Both are very economical as a little goes a long way. I make major with a 230gr rainer and 4.3grs of Titegroup or 230gr Precision moly coated with Solo 1000. 147gr 9mm PM with Solo 1000 is very accurate in my Sig X5.

Chris

 

[hexades1]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

I use VV N340 for both 9X19 and .45 Auto. No problems. Can be used to load other calibers too.

 

[Leaddog]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Another vote for N320. I've been using this same powder for many years... 45ACP, 45 Colt, and 40 S&W. It's about as perfect a powder you can use. I shoot regular competition with the 45 ACP and 40 S&W. Alot of shooters have switched to N310, but in my opinion, the powder is too fast.

 

[trobertson5-0]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

I got 6 pounds of Win 231 in a trade years ago. I have or have access to just about any pistol powder you can name and I still use it for everything.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

While Unique is often used for fractional rifle loads to achieve perhaps several lower performance goals, I've found that most 'dirty' powders tend to clean up quite a bit as loads get fair to near max. It could be that bullets which obturate and expand more fully under full pressures may tend to 'wipe' the bore more efficiently.

Again, it is important to allow the solvent to take its time about working its magic.

One other thing I've concluded is that aside from thoroughly spreading solvent into deep crevices, like the bottoms of grooves, brushes are kinda overrated. For my intents and purposes, nylon brushes are probably completely adequate for the matters where I consider brushes to have benefit.

I think the concept of 'scrubbing' glazed fouling out with a brush is not especially effective, and may be harmful if cleaning rod/bore/throat contact is occurring sumultaneously.

Bronze brushes my have some value if used after some solvent soaking as a means of dislodging softened fouling, then patching the bore and following up with more solvent soaking.

Greg

 

[josephberry]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

Unique is accurate and versatile.

 

[Cigarcop]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

I only use Unique for pistols, 45,40,9mm,38,357 keeps it simple for me.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: Looking for one well suited pistol powder.

I have a pound of Unique and a little less than a pound of Universal Clays left, I also found out I have a pound of Red Dot and a pound of Bullseye I forgot I had. Bought in 2000 and put in the back of my cabinet still sealed. I'll use them and make a decission. Probably end up with Unique after all this. Thanks for the opinions.