Morning...

"Do you recall the barrel lengths, calibers, and bullet weights, Jamaica? Did you chronograph any of the loads or if hollowpoint loads did you run them into ballistics gel?"

Mostly 44 Special, some 44 Mag and some 38/357. No chronograph, no ballistics gel. I used them for shooting varmints.
 
PunisH2Live, 5.3gr Universal is correct, according to one of my Speer books. Dirty, huh?
I thought it was cleaner than Unique, but, I may be thinking of something else. I wish I could get to one powder, but, I have three that are just splendid in my .38spl and .45 Auto: Unique, Universal and Clays. I know, I'm no help.
 
Rifletom said:
PunisH2Live, 5.3gr Universal is correct, according to one of my Speer books. Dirty, huh?
I thought it was cleaner than Unique, but, I may be thinking of something else. I wish I could get to one powder, but, I have three that are just splendid in my .38spl and .45 Auto: Unique, Universal and Clays. I know, I'm no help.
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Shoot, I appreciate the input, Rifletom. Don't say you weren't a help, lol. I live in SC and the humidity is insane @ times. Maybe I was getting a funky burn on the powder that day.
Again, the input is much appreciated!
 
Any specific powder you prefer, Dufus?
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For the two calibers that you call in your opening post, I have settled on VV N340.

I starting shooting and hand loading semi-auto handguns sometime around 1965.

I actually starting shooting semis in the late 50s, but didn't starting hand loading until a few years later. Over the years, I have used quite a few different powders and what works in one is a good bet to be useful in the other.

The reason that I have settled with VV N340 is that it burns very clean and as I have said before in other threads, it has no muzzle flash in the 9mm. I haven't tried shooting the 45 ACP at night using that powder.

Good velocities and good accuracy with it as well.
 
Dufus said:
For the two calibers that you call in your opening post, I have settled on VV N340.

I starting shooting and hand loading semi-auto handguns sometime around 1965.

I actually starting shooting semis in the late 50s, but didn't starting hand loading until a few years later. Over the years, I have used quite a few different powders and what works in one is a good bet to be useful in the other.

The reason that I have settled with VV N340 is that it burns very clean and as I have said before in other threads, it has no muzzle flash in the 9mm. I haven't tried shooting the 45 ACP at night using that powder.

Good velocities and good accuracy with it as well.
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Oh dang, you have a couple of years on me, Dufus. :) Appreciate the VhitaVouri info, particularly the reduced muzzle flash tip. I see better at night than in daylight, but my eyes definitely don't adjust as well as when I was younger.
 
I usually end up using Silhouette for 185, 200gr jacketed bullets out of the 45 ACP.
Also for 115, 124gr jacketed out of the 9mm.

Unique or Greendot for my LSWC.
 
Volume loading

Have not loaded for pistol in a while now.

For high volume pistol rounds I like to use a powder that fills the case or mostly fills the case. I don't shoot any .38 special.

Can't double charge a case if it does not all fit in the case.

It's just not worth it to load 9mm, maybe when I retire and have more time for it I will. Currently I place more value on my time than the small savings on 9mm target fodder.
I enjoy the time at the bench but high volume target gets monotonous.
 
Ricklin said:
Have not loaded for pistol in a while now.

For high volume pistol rounds I like to use a powder that fills the case or mostly fills the case. I don't shoot any .38 special.

Can't double charge a case if it does not all fit in the case.

It's just not worth it to load 9mm, maybe when I retire and have more time for it I will. Currently I place more value on my time than the small savings on 9mm target fodder.
I enjoy the time at the bench but high volume target gets monotonous.
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Totally agree on the 9mm range ammo. This is to load up some boxes of hollowpoint bullets (actually have quite a few) that I've accumulated over the years.
For 9mm range ammo, I tend to snag some SWC ammo from one of the online reloading houses. I do prefer to load my own .45 ACP though. Just a quirk, I guess. :)
 
For the two calibers that you call in your opening post, I have settled on VV N340.

I starting shooting and hand loading semi-auto handguns sometime around 1965.

I actually starting shooting semis in the late 50s, but didn't starting hand loading until a few years later. Over the years, I have used quite a few different powders and what works in one is a good bet to be useful in the other.

The reason that I have settled with VV N340 is that it burns very clean and as I have said before in other threads, it has no muzzle flash in the 9mm. I haven't tried shooting the 45 ACP at night using that powder.

Good velocities and good accuracy with it as well.
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I also use and suggest vvN340 in your chosen calibers. Several others as well.

And, it's totally worth it to reload 9mm. So much cheaper and, more importantly to me, so much better quality ammunition. That super cheap 9mm range ammo? You get what you pay for.
 
disseminator said:
I also use and suggest vvN340 in your chosen calibers. Several others as well.

And, it's totally worth it to reload 9mm. So much cheaper and, more importantly to me, so much better quality ammunition. That super cheap 9mm range ammo? You get what you pay for.
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After looking around online, I may have to retract my statement about reloading 9mm not being.cost effective for my situation. The last time I grabbed some 9mm lead flat point ammo was several years back and it was very economical. Now, I don't even see much loaded 9mm lead ammo other than round nose, most stuff is jacketed.
Has the environmental crowd gained that much momentum? I don't get online much but I do see cast bullets are still readily available.
Fortunately, I am.stocked on lead flat nose and SWC bullets, just surprised that the bulk reloaded isn't as available.
 
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I have used Universal Clay's for 44 mag & 45 ACP ,when powder was hard to come by I went with W231 I shoot mostly 45acp and for rifle 308 I use IMR 4064 . Can find a good load using one brand of powder just takes some tweaking . Makes life easier.
 
"Do you recall the barrel lengths, calibers, and bullet weights, Jamaica? Did you chronograph any of the loads or if hollowpoint loads did you run them into ballistics gel?
"

44 Spl shot in a Colt SAA. Many thousands of rounds. The barrel 5 inches. The bullets were cast here from mostly wheel weight or printers lead. Not hollow points. They weighed 250 grains. No chrono. No gel. These bullets did not travel fast. perhaps between 600 and 700 FPS. They did do some damage to whatever they hit.
 
"I starting shooting and hand loading semi-auto handguns sometime around 1965."

Oh my! This makes me feel like an ol timer. I bought my first reloading press and dies when I was age 15. That would have been 1955. Started loading 30-30 Win. Then 222 and 44 Spl. Over the years I have loaded many a variety of both rifle and pistol ammo. It has been a great hobby to go along with the hunting and shooting.
 
Given 9mm 115 grain to 147 grain JHP bullets and .45 ACP 185 grain to 230 grain JHP bullets and barrel lengths of anywhere from 3.3" to 5", can you rely solely on one powder to do the job?
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Sure.

Bullseye
Sport Pistol
HP-38/WIN-231

just to name a few. You won't necessarily get "optimum" performance when you make the decision to compromise on a single powder for both light bullet-high velocity loads and heavy bullet-low velocity loads, but there are many powders that will make serviceable ammunition for all those cartridge/bullet combinations.
 
If I had to choose just one powder for the 2 pistol calibers I shoot, It'd be Unique. I only shoot .45 ACP and .40 S&W autos. I'm not a bit concerned about the dirty powder reputation.....nobody worried about that before the internet forums came in existence. All powders cause you to have to clean your guns.

I got started with Unique a long time ago.....I think Jeff Cooper was to blame.

One thing I like about Unique is its recoil is smoother than some of those more modern fast powders.....causes less flinch when you get tired.

Interesting article in HandLoader Mag, several years ago, was one about...what if you had to cut down to only two powders, one for rifles and one for handguns. Don't remember the writer....but I remember the powders.....Unique and 4895. Can't say I disagreed.

Cutting down makes a lot of sense, since we all ought to be making more space for food storage....can't eat powder. :)
 
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