Alternative powder recommendations?

T

TruthTellers

New member
I was wise enough to order a few thousand primers before they all disappeared, that and a pound of powders I'd been wanting to try.

Unfortunately, Unique and Bullseye are Unobtanium right now, I didn't think to stock up on powders because a pound lasted me long enough, so now I'm looking at alternative powders that I've never used before and didn't plan to ever use.

I guess this is how a lot of people discover new to them powders that they liked more due to shortages. Guess my time for new discovery had to come eventually.

Anyway, what I see available that I have load data for in my manuals is stuff like 700x, True Blue, Titegroup and a lot of other Hodgdon powders, Winchester 231, and Lil' Gun.

What can you guys tell me about these powders? I look in the books and 700x seems pretty anemic, tho it is cheap under $20/lb. Lil Gun I've intended to buy to use in .32 revolvers, True Blue looks to be very versatile and looks quite energetic.

FTR, I reload .327, .38/.357, .40/10, and .45 for revolvers.
 
If W231 (or HP-38) is available, you're golden. It's just slightly slower than Bullseye. Great stuff.

Honorable mention goes to TiteGroup - especially if you're loading plated semi-auto ammo.
 
700x is a great powder for .38 and .45. Not really anemic in those low pressure calibers. Quite anemic for the rest of your calibers, and very much so for 10mm and .357.

HS-6 is a decent enough powder for mid level magnum loads in .357, suitable for decent velocities in 10mm, and should get you full house loads in everything else. Long shot is also a similar powder that gets good velocities in most calibers until you want full magnum loads. 800x is also in this group. This powders will not do very well in 38 or 45, as they usually need about 25k pressure for (mostly) complete powder burn. Even then they behave better with magnum primers unless you’re running 30k psi or better.

I learned reloading in 2009 during the first Obama craze. I didn’t start really reloading exclusively until the following panic (sandy hook maybe?). I’ve used some less than popular powders out of necessity, and found most of them can give you satisfactory results.
 
The 700X for $20??? Uh those aren’t 1lb containers! I forget....maybe 14 oz??

My impression is Hodgdon, IMR, Winchester are becoming available first....so I would start there.
 
some of the guys at the range the other day were talking about the Shooter World stuff. Seems like they like it pretty well. Most of the VV powders are still available also. Most of the Norma line as well. I am going the VihtaVuori route myself for rifle, not that more expensive than the Hogdon powders and shoots just as well if not better
 
First, what powders do you have load data for? Those are the ones to look for.
I like powders from Bullseye or Red Dot to 231/HP38 for low pressure pistol rounds.
I like Power Pistol, Silhouette, and AA7 for higher pressure pistol rounds.
I like 2400 for magnum pistol rounds.
Find a powder burn rate chart and see how many powders are between Bullseye and 231/HP38. 231/HP38 is the most accurate powder I have found since 452AA went away for .45 Auto, with Bullseye being in second place. Green Dot is great choice. N320 is a great choice. So many choices.
 
The 700X for $20??? Uh those aren’t 1lb containers! I forget....maybe 14 oz??
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That is a 14 ounce container price. It would still only be 12.5% more for a 1 lb container, which would come out to $22.50. Add in the fact that charges are so small (about 5 gn max for a 230 gn pill in .45 acp), it’s still quite the economical powder. That’s really the main reason why I use it. It does pretty well in low pressure rounds, when you get to higher pressure rounds you just can’t get standard velocity with it.
 
noylj said:
First, what powders do you have load data for? Those are the ones to look for.
I like powders from Bullseye or Red Dot to 231/HP38 for low pressure pistol rounds.
I like Power Pistol, Silhouette, and AA7 for higher pressure pistol rounds.
I like 2400 for magnum pistol rounds.
Find a powder burn rate chart and see how many powders are between Bullseye and 231/HP38. 231/HP38 is the most accurate powder I have found since 452AA went away for .45 Auto, with Bullseye being in second place. Green Dot is great choice. N320 is a great choice. So many choices.
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Good question. When I buy a powder I like to be able to use it in more than one caliber. I have load data for all the powders I listed.
 
If you can find Promo powder, it can be used in anything for generally low-velocity target ammo. Use Red Dot load data. It especially works well in .38 and .45 revolver cartridges.
 
Lil Gun works as a 357 magnum powder, and produces excellent velocity, but burns at a hotter temp and may cause more forcing cone erosion than other powders.
 
bedlamite said:
Lil Gun works as a 357 magnum powder, and produces excellent velocity, but burns at a hotter temp and may cause more forcing cone erosion than other powders.
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I'm looking to use that strictly in .32 and .327 Mag and, for my Redhawk only, .45 Colt.

I've been using AA#9 for .327 and it's considerably higher pressure than Lil' Gun, yet doesn't give much higher velocity. After about a dozen handloads of 12.5gr of #9 with a 100gr XTP, I noticed my SP101 had started some flame cutting on the top strap. I was thinking why that would be when people have shot hot .357 handloads in their SP's without issue and my summation is due to .327 having a max PSI of 45k, while .357 is a max of 35k PSI.

So, I'm figuring that Lil' Gun will reduce flame cutting of the top strap and if the forcing cone gets eroded that quickly, I'm sure Ruger will have no issues fixing that.
 
So, I'm figuring that Lil' Gun will reduce flame cutting of the top strap and if the forcing cone gets eroded that quickly, I'm sure Ruger will have no issues fixing that.
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You've got that backwards, Lil Gun will have more erosion and cutting than other powders like AA9 or 2400 at the same pressure, because of the hotter temp.
 
TruthTellers said:
I'm looking to use that strictly in .32 and .327 Mag and, for my Redhawk only, .45 Colt.

I've been using AA#9 for .327 and it's considerably higher pressure than Lil' Gun, yet doesn't give much higher velocity. After about a dozen handloads of 12.5gr of #9 with a 100gr XTP, I noticed my SP101 had started some flame cutting on the top strap. I was thinking why that would be when people have shot hot .357 handloads in their SP's without issue and my summation is due to .327 having a max PSI of 45k, while .357 is a max of 35k PSI.

So, I'm figuring that Lil' Gun will reduce flame cutting of the top strap and if the forcing cone gets eroded that quickly, I'm sure Ruger will have no issues fixing that.
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Not too sure if Ruger will cover anything when using handloads, would be curious if anyone had any experience with this. I know pretty much all gun manufacturers void any warranty if using handloads.
 
You've got that backwards, Lil Gun will have more erosion and cutting than other powders like AA9 or 2400 at the same pressure, because of the hotter temp.
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Have to laugh, I have an old magazine that says powder X gives 8X to your barrel life!
 
bedlamite said:
You've got that backwards, Lil Gun will have more erosion and cutting than other powders like AA9 or 2400 at the same pressure, because of the hotter temp.
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Care to explain how a certain powder can be lower in pressure yet have the same velocity as other powders that have data that shows them at a higher pressure, yet that lower pressure powder increases more wear on a gun?
 
If you change the powder, you need to work up the load again.
I'd be inclined to use whatever powder is easiest to come by and usable in as many cartridges as possible.
Bullet weight and cast or jacketed matter.
"...those aren’t 1lb containers..." Lotta that going on these days. Reducing the size/amount lets 'em increase prices without an obvious price increase. SOB's at Black Diamond Cheese did it with cheese slices too. 22 slices instead of 24 for the same money. Grrrrr.
 
As True Blue is yet to be mentioned ... I like True Blue in all the cartridges I use. It seems to come into it's own if you work at the higher end of its power range. Ie. Likes to work under pressure :) . Currently it is my goto medium powder with .357. under a 158g SWC. I like to keep my .357 loads under 1100fps. Meters very well too. Thing is though I have a bunch of Green Dot and Unique which work well in my .44s and .45s. So burning through those powders now...
 
I've read good things about True Blue but will stay with what I have. If other powders are options to you, I'd suggest AA2. It meters very well. GI Surplus or Bartlett sells it in bulk. Find your pet load with that and you'll have many years of powder available to shoot with.
 
but will stay with what I have
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Yeah... Know exactly what you mean. I've tested a lot of powders and found a lot of good loads and powders I could use and like... But I have XX pounds of powder y and xx pounds of z.... Not going to throw it away just because there is a new wiz-bang powder super-z on the block!
 
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