Anybody using Auto Comp or Longshot for 9mm or 45 acp

M

Metal god

New member
After almost 2 years of loading and thousands of bottle neck rifle rounds loaded . I finally found some pistol powder locally . I've had everything I needed to load for pistol going on 18 months now . I just never could get powder .

Went to the gun show , got there early and waited in line for 2.5 hours and bought the two powders in the title . I'll add i did find some unique a couple weeks ago but I know I'll be GTG with that so I'm saving it for now .

I just loaded some 45 acp using the Longshot and 230gr Barry's plated RN

and

9mm using Auto comp and 124gr Barry's plated RN

Any likes or dislikes about these powders for my calibers ? I do plan to flip the powders next time around and see how they do in the other caliber .

Any tips will help since these are my first hand gun loads ever . I was nervous at first . Although I've loaded many rifle rounds , It was like I was new to reloading again :o .

Because I've never loaded for hand guns I did quite a bit of case prep even though I've read many times It's not needed as much as rifle cases . I sorted by head stamp , sized and trimmed all to a mid spec length size . I almost uniformed the flash holes but did not .

My 45s have a very light crimp . If you pull a bullet , you can barely see a mark on the bullet where the crimp was . The 9mm has a tad more where you can see a little dent in the plating but not much ( or at least not much to my noob eyes )

Oh two other things

1) I have a Redding beam scale that works pretty good . How ever I need to make charges in .1gr increments . My check weights are in 1gr increments and I made a .5gr weight for the set awhile back . It's still very hard to know for sure I'm really weighing the correct amount when I change to the next charge weight thats in between the check weights . Any tricks or methods you guys use to be accurate ???

2) Loading pistol rounds on a single stage press SUCKS . I almost bought a turret press before I started . I then thought back to when I started reloading and being told I should start on a single stage first . I thought I do the same here for pistol to pay my dew's . Well I think there paid :rolleyes: I have not shot these rounds yet . I will in the next couple weeks . I'll wait on a new press till I know I'm loading good reliable rounds but a Turret press is on the very short list . :)
 
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No Longshot in the house, but have tinkered with AutoComp with two different bullets:

140 grain lead round nose, locally cast - total loaded 687 rounds
125 grain semi wad cutter, HiTek powder coated MO Bullet Company - total loaded 635 rounds

Have shot both in local IDPA matches with no problem.

I'd skip trimming pistol brass, but I do sort by headstamp. I don't apply a "crimp" to lead or plated pistol bullets in a tapered cartridge. Just remove the case mouth expansion.

If your scale is accurate with the 1 grain and 0.5 grain check weights, then it's probably good to go at in between weights. Are you weighting each charge for pistol rounds? I hope you have a powder measure to avoid this slow process.
 
Are you weighting each charge for pistol rounds? I hope you have a powder measure to avoid this slow process.
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Yes & Yes

I throw the charge close then trickle the rest . the Auto comp is a ball powder and throws pretty consistent but not to with in .1gr every time , close though . The Longshot is flake and is off .3 & .4 often but trickles ok

I have the standard Hornady L-n-L powder measure that comes in the classic kit . I've seen inserts for pistol powder for them . Maybe that would throw charges better . The way it is now . If the load thats works out best is near max . I don't think I'd trust my powder measure to throw that consistently . The longshot would not be one I'd feel OK throwing no mater what . This is where I'm confused a little . People using progressive presses don't weigh there charge . Are they really throwing to with in .1gr every time . I've only loaded up 90rds so far 75% were not with in .1gr of intended charge or with in .1gr of the last throw . Some of that I here may be me and the consistency in which I operate the powder measure . I'm sure that's just a learning curve thing and will work it's self out .
 
I load pistol ammo on a progressive press--a Square Deal. I adjust my powder bar to my target charge grains, and tweak it until I get an average that is equal to my desired charge. I may dump 4 or 10 drops into the scale pan to calculate an average. My powder drops may vary by fractions of a grain, depending on the type of powder, ball or flake. I don't worry too much as long as the average is on the mark. I don't think small variances in powder matter for most pistol ammo, but I'm not shooting bullseye, either.

When you shoot the ammo, if you chronograph, you will be checking the average velocity anyway, and, depending on the variance in powder drops, you will get smaller or larger velocity spreads for that load. Does this matter? Depends. It might if you are shooting from a bench rest for maximum accuracy. Shooting offhand, or plinking, it shouldn't matter.
 
I use tons of Longshot in 9mm for my subguns. Runs really well. Back about 2 years ago, for some reason Longshot was very easy to find. I bought 96 pounds (8lbs x 12), used it all, and now I'm on my second 98 pounds.

I can't attest to its accuracy, but it cycles well. I load my 9mm on the hot side, using 5.5 grains on a 115 grain Berrys bullet.

The downside to Longshot, from my experience is that it is much dirtier than other powders. Here is a picture of 9mm casings shot from my MP5K. The Longshot powdered brass shows much darker chamber fluting marks than the casing shot using AA5.

 
If I were you I'd get the pistol insert for your powder measure, it's worth it. I load on a hornady ap progressive and it works great. As far as .1 or so of variance in weight I haven't found that to be of great concern, I don't load at max charges so there is some fudge factor right there. Shooting threw a Chrony, + or - .1 may or may not increase fps. Different brass with different wall thickness will have an effect on fps cause of tighter or looser crimp, if once fired or 20th fired will make a differance in neck tension, so once again higher or lower fps. As has been said by others it's about averages, do your best at trying to keep things the same as you can to get the same results time and again. By the way both powders work really well in 9mm and 45acp, they both like to be loaded on the high side of the suggested ranges that the manuals or websites say they perform better and are cleaner, I've used 115, 125, 130, and 147 in my 9's and 200 rfn and 230 rn in my 45s with good results.
 
Machinegun : Thanks for the info , I heard the same thing about it being dirty .

If I were you I'd get the pistol insert for your powder measure
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I did in fact order the insert and drum for pistol today from Midway . After looking at the pic of the two. You can clearly see the pistol insert is different from the standard rifle insert . I almost went with the micrometer insert but thought that may be over kill . I'll keep in mind that the powders like it hot . Thanks
 
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Longshot for 9mm, I second that. Machineguntony turned me on to the concept of a shotgun powder in a pistol last year. I had used Titegroup and Silhouette prior to that. I find better control with Longshot and it is now the only powder I buy and use for 9mm.

In terms of whether or not it's a "dirty" powder compared to others, I can't tell the difference between any of the powders. Each trip to the range means the gun gets stripped and cleaned when I get home. So one way or the other you're cleaning what you used. Why should it matter? Just my thoughts on the process.

Enjoy, you're going to like working with Longshot.
 
I have a little Longshot left from the 2012 shortage. I thinks its good for 9mm. However it doesn't meter well at all. So its nowhere near my first choice. But when that's all that is available, we make do.
 
Imo,

AutoComp >>>>>>>>>>>>> Longshot

I don't particularly care for either powder, but I haven't found a single useful pet load for long shot over four pistol calibers. It just doesn't play nice or perform well. Others love it, I wonder if they have limited experience? I have 12 powders in my collection and Longshot continues to gather dust.
 
I have used Autocomp in a 9mm, but only with 115 gr bullets so far. I have a couple thousand Xtremes en route and I'm planning to do a workup on them with both Autocomp and HS-6.

I was curiously surprised at the range the other day when my "match" ammo, with matching headstamps and hand trickled autocomp, was outperformed by my "plinking" ammo, with mixed headstamps and charges of HS-6 dropped via an autodisk... either my pistol simply likes HS6 better, or I need to work more with the autocomp load to find a charge the pistol actually likes.
 
I realize this is a little old but here's my two cents.
I'm getting to like Auto Comp, Accurate #5 is still my favorite for 9mm but haven't seen it for a couple of years. Bullseye and 231 are nice but AC feels a little better. Seems 5.6 grns works for me. Other suggestion is forget the powder measure and get some Lee dippers. They are plenty accurate for pistol loads, especially if it's just range ammo. In fact I use them for everything I load (pistol and rifle) and have for over 25 years. Don't be a reloading snob, not every round has to be accurate within a tenth of a grain.
 
Other suggestion is forget the powder measure and get some Lee dippers.
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One good reason for using the powder measure is the speed of charging cases.

Metal God - I added the micrometer to my pistol insert and really like it. If you are working with several different calibers and powders, it certainly can speed up the changeover process (provided you write down the mic settings for your favorite loads :D ).
 
Hey guys Just saw there were some new post here . Well it pains me to say this but I have not shot those loads yet . The range is so far away ( 45min each way ) and if your not there when it opens you may not get a lane . That means getting up at 5:30am to go shoot . I'm just not that dedicated to handgun shooting . Maybe once I start shooting my hand loads that will change . All that being said . My buddy is a RSO and next Monday afternoon we plan to shoot after hours at the range . I'll be bringing those hand loads with me so I should have some info soon after .

I'll likely get a micrometer dial for my powder measure at some point . I do and or will load many different bullets and calibers . I already do for rifle and my micrometer seating dies are great for that reason .

I'm really hopping I like and or Auto comp works well enough for 9mm for a cheap plinking round . It meters great compared to Long shot or any other flake powder I'd assume . I'm in the process of changing from IMR 4895 & 4064 to H335 and IMR 4320 for that same reason . I'd like to find a good metering powder for my AR plinking ammo . With these the need to weigh each charge should be less . 4895 & 4064 meter like crap . I need to cut down on the time it takes to load each round .

On my very short list is also a Lee classic turret press . This single stage handgun loading is for the birds
 
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I went and shot those loads I worked up . WOW both those powders are dirty !!! The 9mm using Auto comp shot really well . I shot both Berry's 124gr RN and 124gr Hornady HAP . Firearm used was an XD9 at 25 feet . I did use a chrono but wont give all the stats .

What I did notice was my ES/SD got better as my charge weight went up .

Berry's best load was 4.8gr Auto comp 5 shot avg of 1052fps ES-27/SD-14 , 1.5" @ 25'

Hornady HAP best load was 4.9gr Auto comp 5 shot avg of 1095fps ES-12/SD-6 , 1.2" @ 25'

I also shot 45acp using Longshot

Firearm used Springfield 1911 / Bullet 230gr RN berry's platted

Best load was 6.7gr Longshot 5 shot avg of 825fps ES-16/SD-8 , 1.2" @ 25'

The XD9 shot all the loads well and felt pretty controllable . The 1911 shot well to but got a little snappy . I stopped shooting the higher charges when I noticed my brass was being ejected almost 30' away . That was 6.9gr
 
Speed in loading powder charges is easily won by the dippers versus a powder thrower. Scoop, use a tooth pick or business card to level. Dump. It's that quick and it's accurate. Way to much emphasis put on a exact powder charges. Unless your brass is EXACTLY the same in capacity, tension, length, etc... Measuring exact is a waste of time. Volume load with the dippers and enjoy the same accuracy. It's lots quicker. God Bless
 
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