9mm powders
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Please remember, reloading can be very dangerous if done improperly. All advice found here is from peer members, not official reloading manuals. Reload at your own risk.
Please remember, reloading can be very dangerous if done improperly. All advice found here is from peer members, not official reloading manuals. Reload at your own risk.
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9mm powders
What is everyone's favorite powder to load 9mm with? We tried Hodgden HP38 and didn't like it ( to smokey).
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Re: 9mm powders
i use bullseye for 115 grain, power pistol and unique for the heavier 124+ grain. I have also tried blue dot, but it is really smokey.
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Re: 9mm powders
I've heard that of blue dot. Thank you.
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Re: 9mm powders
I use CFE Pistol powder, mostly because I'm pretty new to reloading and that is what was available when I started. I don't have enough experience to say that I like it better or worse than anything else, but it works fine for me.
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Re: 9mm powders
Power Pistol, meters great and has good application for several pistol calibers.
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Re: 9mm powders
I used Accurate #2. It is good for .380 also.
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Re: 9mm powders
I've used Bullseye, Unique, AA#2, and Power Pistol.
All work great.
I want to try HP38 for loading some 38/357 mags.
If you have an unopened pound of HP38 you want to trade for Unique or AA#2 let me know.
All work great.
I want to try HP38 for loading some 38/357 mags.
If you have an unopened pound of HP38 you want to trade for Unique or AA#2 let me know.
Always looking for a deal on more ammo and reloading components.
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I've tried to see things from the liberal point of view - but I'm just not flexible enough to get my head up my ...
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Re: 9mm powders
I've been using Hodgdon TiteGroup for 9mm, 38spl, 40, 44 mag, and 45 acp. So far I like it.
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Re: 9mm powders
xxx
Last edited by ron on Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: 9mm powders
I think it's important to understand not WHAT powers work good in the 9mm, but WHY. What I've learned in 48 years of reloading (1968-2016) is the importance of burn rate. Basically burn rate determines what powder is most efficient in a specific case capacity relative to it's bore diameter and it's projectile weight.
The larger the case is relative to the bore diameter, the slower burning the powder needs to be. a 25 auto has a case capacity similar to a 22 long rifle but fires a larger diameter bullet. It requires a fast burning powder.
A 30-06 works well with medium to slow-burning rifle powders such as IMR 4064 and 4350 and the slowest powders in this burn rate range (4350) will give the greatest efficiency, giving the highest velocities with the lowest pressures. (But will bend the op-rods of Garands) But if you reduce the bore diameter and the bullets weight of the 30-06 from 30 to 27 caliber, you end up with a larger case capacity relative to the bore diameter and then you need even slower burning powders for optimum efficiency, and IMR 4831 works best and is also a good powder in the 7mm Rem mag which has a large case relative to it's bore diameter.
Getting back to pistol cartridges, 357, 41, and 44 Magnums all work at their optimum efficiency with slow burning pistol powders like Alliant 2400, AA9, and WW296/H-110 which are the same powder. some medium-to-slow burning powders like Blue dot, AA7, and Longshot work good in the magnums if velocities under 1200 fps are considered acceptable and will use less powder to achieve these medium velocities. These medium-to-slow burning powders work very well in the 10mm auto and are slow burning relative to that case capacity.
And in pistol cartridges with large cases, including the 38 special, fast-burning powders are sometimes used for low pressure target loads.
This brings us to the 9mm. it has a medium sized case capacity relative to it's bore capacity and uses a relatively lightweight projectile. Consequently fast burning powders like Bullseye Titegroup, and AA-2 work well but velocities will not be optimum, though AA2 is slower burning than Bullseye.
The next step up in burn rate is HP-38/ WW231 which are the same powder. But the powders that work best in the 9mm are the medium burning powders like Unique, Hodgdon's Universal and Power Pistol which is slightly slower burning than Unique as is AA-5. Power pistol is an excellent powdere for the 9mm althoiugh I've never used it. So how do I know? It's burn rate tells me that this is so. The next slower burn rate is CFE Pistol which is very close in burn rate to HS-6 which also works well in the 9. And the next slowest powder that are used in the 9mm are Blue dot an AA7 which is similar in burn rate to HS-7. these powders are really too slow for the case capacity of the 9mm except with the heavier 147 grain bullets, but they work fairly well with 124 grain loads.
Medium burn rate powders like Unique and power pistol and even Winchester auto comp which is slower than HS6 but faster than Blue dot are the best "All-around" pistol powders for use in the widest variety of calibers, but there are two common "Myths" that surround certain powders, notably Unique an blue dot, that Unique is "dirty" and Blue dot is "Smokey". anyone who focuses on these nit-picky little details has never fired a black powder cap and ball pistol.
All the years I've used Blue Dot I would have never noticed that Blue dot produced any more smoke than any other powder if someone hadn't brought it to my attention and then the difference is so slight that it isn't even worth mentioning. Same thing with Unique being "dirty". I never noticed Unique making my guns dirty after firing them, probably because I EXPECT to clean my guns after I fire them and there wouldn't be much point in doing that if they DIDN'T get dirty!
One note on burn rate charts. Unfortunately there is no universal burn rate chart, because each manufacturer of powder rates it's powders differently relative to other powders. Hodgdon rates Alliant Bullseye as being slower burning than Alliant Red dot and that's just flat out wrong. Bullseye is a very fast burning powder. It's actually a similar chemical composition to Unique but in a finer granulation. Just like the difference between FFG Black Powder and FFFFG black powder. FFFFG is much finer and much faster burning and easier to ignite and is used to prime the pans of flintlocks.
Here is the Hodgdon burn rate chart that includes the newer powders. It's a PDF so I can't give a link to the page and I can't copy an paste the info without a bunch of re-formatting BS. Follow the ink from the google page to the one that says, "Burn Rate Color.xlsx - Hodgdon" at the top of the page.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=bu ... rt+hodgdon
The larger the case is relative to the bore diameter, the slower burning the powder needs to be. a 25 auto has a case capacity similar to a 22 long rifle but fires a larger diameter bullet. It requires a fast burning powder.
A 30-06 works well with medium to slow-burning rifle powders such as IMR 4064 and 4350 and the slowest powders in this burn rate range (4350) will give the greatest efficiency, giving the highest velocities with the lowest pressures. (But will bend the op-rods of Garands) But if you reduce the bore diameter and the bullets weight of the 30-06 from 30 to 27 caliber, you end up with a larger case capacity relative to the bore diameter and then you need even slower burning powders for optimum efficiency, and IMR 4831 works best and is also a good powder in the 7mm Rem mag which has a large case relative to it's bore diameter.
Getting back to pistol cartridges, 357, 41, and 44 Magnums all work at their optimum efficiency with slow burning pistol powders like Alliant 2400, AA9, and WW296/H-110 which are the same powder. some medium-to-slow burning powders like Blue dot, AA7, and Longshot work good in the magnums if velocities under 1200 fps are considered acceptable and will use less powder to achieve these medium velocities. These medium-to-slow burning powders work very well in the 10mm auto and are slow burning relative to that case capacity.
And in pistol cartridges with large cases, including the 38 special, fast-burning powders are sometimes used for low pressure target loads.
This brings us to the 9mm. it has a medium sized case capacity relative to it's bore capacity and uses a relatively lightweight projectile. Consequently fast burning powders like Bullseye Titegroup, and AA-2 work well but velocities will not be optimum, though AA2 is slower burning than Bullseye.
The next step up in burn rate is HP-38/ WW231 which are the same powder. But the powders that work best in the 9mm are the medium burning powders like Unique, Hodgdon's Universal and Power Pistol which is slightly slower burning than Unique as is AA-5. Power pistol is an excellent powdere for the 9mm althoiugh I've never used it. So how do I know? It's burn rate tells me that this is so. The next slower burn rate is CFE Pistol which is very close in burn rate to HS-6 which also works well in the 9. And the next slowest powder that are used in the 9mm are Blue dot an AA7 which is similar in burn rate to HS-7. these powders are really too slow for the case capacity of the 9mm except with the heavier 147 grain bullets, but they work fairly well with 124 grain loads.
Medium burn rate powders like Unique and power pistol and even Winchester auto comp which is slower than HS6 but faster than Blue dot are the best "All-around" pistol powders for use in the widest variety of calibers, but there are two common "Myths" that surround certain powders, notably Unique an blue dot, that Unique is "dirty" and Blue dot is "Smokey". anyone who focuses on these nit-picky little details has never fired a black powder cap and ball pistol.
All the years I've used Blue Dot I would have never noticed that Blue dot produced any more smoke than any other powder if someone hadn't brought it to my attention and then the difference is so slight that it isn't even worth mentioning. Same thing with Unique being "dirty". I never noticed Unique making my guns dirty after firing them, probably because I EXPECT to clean my guns after I fire them and there wouldn't be much point in doing that if they DIDN'T get dirty!
One note on burn rate charts. Unfortunately there is no universal burn rate chart, because each manufacturer of powder rates it's powders differently relative to other powders. Hodgdon rates Alliant Bullseye as being slower burning than Alliant Red dot and that's just flat out wrong. Bullseye is a very fast burning powder. It's actually a similar chemical composition to Unique but in a finer granulation. Just like the difference between FFG Black Powder and FFFFG black powder. FFFFG is much finer and much faster burning and easier to ignite and is used to prime the pans of flintlocks.
Here is the Hodgdon burn rate chart that includes the newer powders. It's a PDF so I can't give a link to the page and I can't copy an paste the info without a bunch of re-formatting BS. Follow the ink from the google page to the one that says, "Burn Rate Color.xlsx - Hodgdon" at the top of the page.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=bu ... rt+hodgdon
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Re: 9mm powders
Thank you all so much. I think I'm going to try Power pistol.
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Re: 9mm powders
it really depends on bullet weight & intended application. I've used CFE Pistol, Power Pistol, AA #2, & AA #7. for target shooting, the power pistol was just fine, but it has a lot of flash. firing that in low light is an experience. the AA powders have significantly lower flash, and meter very well. I now use #2 for 115 gr target ammo, and #7 with 124gr XTP's for SD. if you are just plinking, smoke, flash, and cleanliness are fairly irrelevant points.
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Re: 9mm powders
TiteGroup for 115gn bullets has been a winner for me.