Looking for powder recomendation

View · by **kthnkl** on Sat May 18, 2013 4:37 pm

Greetings all

I am about to get started in my reloading adventures, so far I have accumulated 7000 small pistol primers and 2000 bullets and am currently trying to locate some powder to start with. I have been looking for Winchester 231 specifically but given the current availability of components I doubt I will ever find it... what other viable alternatives are there? I figure looking for several different powders I may have better luck finding something to work with... Initially I will be loading 124gr 9mm and .40S&W after I get the hang of it and can afford another tool head. I still haven't purchased the press but it will be a Dillon 650...

View · by **LS3Miata** on Sat May 18, 2013 5:42 pm

I've been enjoying AA5 with 9mm and gunstop has had it in stock every time I've been there the last few months.

View · by **smurfman** on Sat May 18, 2013 6:18 pm

I use an awful lot of shotgun powder for pistol cartridges and the good part is one can usually find it when the others are out. The Alliant powders are my go to powders as I find them the cheapest locally. Unique is a good all around choice but I have had good luck with American Select, Red Dot, Green Dot, Herco, and Blue Dot in that order. I've used a lot of Winchester WSF in 40 S&W with good results and I believe it can also be used for 9mm. I used to use Winchester 540 for pistol rounds but stopped when it was discontinued. Hodgdon HS-6 is the same stuff but it is more expensive for me so I save what I have left for shotgun.

If you can find Hodgdon HP-38 use that instead of 231. They are the same thing with a different name. HP-38 is usually a little cheaper and I seem to see it more often than 231, at least in 1# jars. The larger containers in 231 seem to be found more often, at least for me.
I lucked into a good quantity of Ramshot True Blue for a good price but have not used it yet. It seems to be pretty versatile but I can't recommend it yet. Based on experiences with other Ramshot powders I suspect it will be fine.

View · by **Scratch** on Sat May 18, 2013 6:24 pm

I like Power Pistol for my 9mm, but ive also tried TiteGroup and Unique, with Unique being my least favorite. I don't like them as much but I still use them sometimes.

View · by **TH3180** on Sat May 18, 2013 6:50 pm

TiteGroup

View · by **OldmanFCSA** on Sat May 18, 2013 7:14 pm

If your small pistol primers are Federal brand,
I will trade 1 pound of WIN231 for 1K of Federal SP Primers.

What else do you need?

View · by **kthnkl** on Sat May 18, 2013 7:55 pm

OldmanFCSA wrote:If your small pistol primers are Federal brand,
I will trade 1 pound of WIN231 for 1K of Federal SP Primers.

What else do you need?

The primers are CCI #500.. So far I only have the primers, brass, and bullets. I still need the press and literally every other piece of related equipment luckily that's the easy stuff to find...

Thanks for the list of powders I will look or any/all of them for now. What is the local availability like? Is there anywhere besides Gunstop I should look?

View · by **kthnkl** on Sat May 18, 2013 8:00 pm

LS3Miata wrote:I've been enjoying AA5 with 9mm and gunstop has had it in stock every time I've been there the last few months.

Great I was going to make a trip there on Monday hopefully I will be able to say the same.

View · by **wrench** on Sun May 19, 2013 7:22 am

I use lots of WSF in 9mm, HS6 is another good one. Try Wolf's Den in Hugo as well...

View · by **Lights** on Sun May 19, 2013 7:38 am

wrench wrote:I use lots of WSF in 9mm, HS6 is another good one. Try Wolf's Den in Hugo as well...

Yes I found what I needed at the Wolf's Den for powder. I think your chances are good if you just stop in.

View · by **SIGP240** on Sun May 19, 2013 11:09 am

Bullseye and Uniqud are good choices for outside. Indoor with average ventilation requires a less sooty choice. 231 is only a little better. 700x is greasy. You may want to scan for International hodgdpn's as is so affordable

View · by **smurfman** on Sun May 19, 2013 12:08 pm

As has also been mentioned, Titegroup is pretty good as are the other Hodgdon shotgun powders such as Clays, International Clays, and Universal Clays. I've used them all in handguns though not lately as, again, they are more expensive than the Alliant powders for me. I am not all that concerned about smoke as I shoot mostly outside but they seem a bit less sooty.
IMR 700X has been used a bit but not all that much. I get it in dribs and drabs so tend to blow it on some shotshells just to get it off the shelf. One goes through it much faster in 17 gr increments rather than 5-6grs.

View · by **rtwills** on Sun May 19, 2013 8:10 pm

I have had very good luck with Bullseye in my 9mm and .45's

View · by **Kosh** on Sun May 19, 2013 9:33 pm

One nice thing about power pistol is it nearly fills the case for 9mm. Almost impossible to double charge.

View · by **BigDog58** on Mon May 20, 2013 10:57 pm

I use Bullseye or, Power Pistol in my 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 acp with good results so far. Right now, I tend to stick to Bullseye because I found and 8lb jug for $114.99. I also already had a 4lb that I git from a guy getting out of reloading for only $25

I have never noticed it being smokey, but 99% of my shooting is outdoors too.