One powder for revolver loads?

[orionengnr]

Okay, I have settled on W231 for semi-auto reloading--.380, 9mm and .45acp.

Now I am going to start reloading for .357 Mag, .41 Mag and .45LC. Can I find one powder that will give good results for all?

(I have used 231 for .45LC, but I think there are better choices.)

 

[ammo.crafter]

powder

Try Blue Dot or 2400

 

[zxcvbob]

Herco.

 

[Sport45]

Unique or Universal.

For stronger magnum loadings I suggest H110/W296. Lil'gun works very well for heavier bullets.

 

[joneb]

that will give good results for all?

That depends on how you define good. For the cartridges you mentioned I would need at least two powders for good results. But if there can be only one, Sport45 gave two very good suggestions.

 

[Sam06]

+1 for Sport45. My choice would be Unique, I love that old dirty stuff

 

[recoil freak]

I would have to check the 40 but Hodgdons Tite Group will work for the others.

 

[zxcvbob]

I would have to check the 40 but Hodgdons Tite Group will work for the others.

Titegroup works in *everything*, but I haven't found anything that it's actually good at (maybe because I only shoot cast bullets.)

Red Dot is good for .45 Colt, but something in the Unique/Herco/HS-6 range should do a good job in all of them. I tried Blue Dot in .357 and didn't like it, so I burned up all my Blue Dot powder in hot .45 Colt loads (it goes pretty quickly at 16.5 to 17 grains per shot.) Alliant put out a warning bulletin last year to not use Blue Dot in .41 Magnum nor some .357 loads. (AA#7 is a good substitute for Blue Dot)

 

[dwhite]

If you're only going to shoot full magnum loads all the time I'd use 2400. If your going to shoot light magnum loads most of the time I'd use Blue-Dot. If you're going to load them down to 38 Special range occasionally I'd pick Universal.

All the Best,
Doug White

 

[James R. Burke]

In my .357mag and my friends .41mag and also .44mag I use W-296 great powder for stong loads. I call it the big boom powder.

 

[shu]

For 45 Colt normal loads, Unique is the standard answer. W231 should work OK. Both are in the midrange as to burn speed.

For roll-your-ears-back 357 mag loads, try H110 or 2400. These are slow burn rate.

Can't speak to 41mag or overloaded 45colt. I don't do them.

The SAAMI pressure limit for 357mag is over twice that of 45colt. Magnum powders like H110 and 2400 likely will give disappointing results if you try to download them to the lower pressure.

 

[AlaskaMike]

I'd have to go with Power Pistol. It does well with near-full power loads, but can be downloaded a bit for plinkers. In the .45 Colt, 9 grains under a 250 grain bullet will give the SAAMI load safe for SAA and clones, but 13 grains under the same bullet will give about 1200 fps and still have excellent accuracy. You could probably even go to 14 grains with a 250 - 260 grain bullet, but for stuff faster than 1200 fps I tend to go with slower powders like 2400 or 296. Obviously this is only in strong guns like the Ruger Redhawk or Blackhawk.

For a do-it-all powder for those three revolver cartridges, you just can't beat Power Pistol.

Mike

 

[Pathfinder45]

231 Will Make Them All Go Bang.

But if you want higher perfomance from your revolvers you need heavier charges of a slower burning powder. For that I recommend AA-9 using magnum primers. My personal experience is limited to .45 Colt; but it's pretty extensive in that caliber. I've tried a lot of different powders in it. 231 is good for target loads but not the best for magnum loads.