[benos]

I'm out of the loop on modern-day powders. This would be a good resource to have all in one place, and also, since I get this question every day on the phone -

What are your favorite Powders for 9, 40, 45, 223, & 308?
(And add additional calibers if you wish.)

Please be as specific as possible, e.g., list in order of preference, and add comments if you have them.

For example, if I were listing my favorite powders for 40 S&W, I'd say;

40 S&W
Vihtavuori 320
Extremely clean burning; Very light recoil; But a little fast burning/high pressure for maximum loads; Expensive, more difficult to locate.

Hodgdon Clays
Very clean burning; Very light recoil; But a little fast burning/high pressure for maximum loads; Reasonably priced, easy to locate.

Hodgdon Tight Group
Medium clean burning; Fairly sharp recoil; Very low pressure for all loads; Reasonably priced, easy to locate.

And please, if you list a load (rather than just a powder), include the OAL (overall length) in your post.
be

[zhunter]

Brian

Those are the 3 powders I use, and the comments are perfect.

I use the 320 and Titegroup for .40. I have just recently switched to the VV320 for the cleaner burn.

For .45, I use Clays. and as in .40, Titegroup is a backup if my primary powder supply is depleted.

ZH

[yoshidaex]

Brian,
Thinking of carrying reloading components in your store ?

[Matt P.]

38 Super Comp I use IMR 4756

[Jaxshooter]

9MM Major
True Blue
Dot tracks straight up and down never out of lens
Soft recoil, good gas pressure
Easy to find

38 SC
VV 3N38
Clean, great gas volume
Good dot tracking
very consistant, not temp sensitive
expensive and sometimes hard to find

[boz1911]

40 Cal : Vihtavuori N320, clean but more expensive
TiteGroup, inexpensive, easy to find but smokes behind lead bullets

223 : XMR 2015, exceptionally consistent, great accuraccy with light bullets

38SC : IMR4756, don't know yet, just crossed to the dark side

[bgary]

Major9: Silhouette
38SC: Vihtavuori N350

Both meter very consistently, don't have a great deal of variation across temperature ranges or across lots. Silhouette is a little dirty, but not bad.

B

[1911jerry]

Brain,

9mm = Vihtavuori N320
40 = Vihtavuori N320
45 = Clays


JS

[XD Niner]

9mm minor (147gr) and 38 Super major (125 gr)
IMR 4756
Inexpensive, consistent metering, easy to find from many Internet vendors, clean burning, low smoke and no pressure problems. It produces a good amount of gas for my open gun comps.

.45ACP and 9mm minor (125gr)
Clays
Very inexpensive (relatively speaking), consistent metering, easy to find even locally and clean burning. It does put out some smoke with FMJs but I normally use JHPs.

This combination meets all my relaoding needs so I don't need to inventory a bunch of different powders.

[Scout454]

9mm - N320
40 - N320
45 - N320 - Very consistent lot-to-lot. In twelve years I've never had to change charges.

Titegroup as a back up for all three.

.38 Super - N350

.223 - 55's BL-C(2) - meters beautifully
.223 - 69's Varget
.308 - 155's, 168, 175's - Varget - Clean, consistent, 1 click in elevation between my cabin at 1500 feet and Whittington at 7000.

[scooterj]

9mm- 7625
38spl- Trail Boss
40 S&W- N320
38super- 4756
45acp- Win Super Target
223- H335
7mm-08- H414

[el pres]

40 majo: Tightgroup

40 minor: Clays

223 H335 meters well, very accurate for all loads 52-69gr.

223 69-77gr. Varget, very accurate but meters a little more difficult..

[pbairborne]

I hope that this isn't off track, but I'd like to know from the experienced shooters out there which powders show a lot of temperature sensitivity and which way that sensitivity takes the round. That is as the temp goes up does the pf and velocity go up or down?

Bill

[Paul Burtchell]

1911jerry, on Jan 9 2008, 04:38 PM, said:

Brain,

9mm = N320
40 = N320
45 = Clays


JS

+1

[Drifter721]

.40 S&W = WW231 works great in my Glock 35 with Bear Creek's 180gn LSWC Moly coated.
.45 ACP = WW231 " " Glock 21 " " 200gn LSWC Moly coated.

IMR/Dupont 4895 for all .223, .308, and .30-06 accuracy loads, bar none.

Though 4895 is course, it doesn't seem to matter if it's ~ .2 grain, so I load benchrest loads in my Dillon 550 and have never wanted for more consistent accuracy.

[zhunter]

Titegroup is VERY temperature sensitive!!!

Hot weather = fast

Cold weather = slow

[benos]

yoshidaex, on Jan 9 2008, 01:50 PM, said:

Brian,
Thinking of carrying reloading components in your store ?

Definitely not. This thread will just be a good resource for those beginning to reload.
be

[mscott]

.40 S&W ... WST - great with lead bullets

.223 ... BL-C2

[wide45]

.40 and .45 lead WST -less smoke, fairly soft

[jmorris]

mi9mm, 3.1VV 310, 147 berry’s 147, 1.16
MA40sw, 4.5 TG, 180 berry’s 180, 1,18
MA45acp, 3.7 clays, 230 precision, 1.23
223 (ar) 25.6 748, 68 hornady #2278, 2.25
308 (ltr) 45.5 748, 168 hornady #3050, 2.80

[DMS42]

9mm -- 231 and Universal

.38 Super -- SR 4756 and SR 7625

.40 S&W -- WST and 231

.45 -- depends upon gun, bullet; IPSC, Pins, Bullseye, plinking, etc.
-- Unique with 230 RN for ball equal; Bullseye for Bullseye; WST, 231 and Clays for IPSC

5.56 -- Varget and IMR 4895

7.62 Nato -- Varget, IMR 4895 and 3031 for light loads used at 200 yards.

.30-06 -- Varget, IMR 4895, 4350 and 4320.

.38 Special/.357 Mag. -- Unique, Bullseye and a very old powder that I bought lots of many years ago--5066.

.38-40/.44-40/.45 Colt -- Trail Boss and Unique

7mm Remington Mag. -- almost any bullet weight and 4350 gives excellent accuracy.

.257 Roberts -- 120 grain bullets for hunting 4320; 120 grain Match bullets for NRA Sporting Rifle Matches IMR 4895.

[scirocco38s]

9mm minor 5,7g ww231 on 124g fmj
9mm major 9.2g SP2 on 121g fmj
38super minor 5.7g ww231 on 124g fmj
38super/sc major 10.2 g vv3n38 on 121 fmj
38super/sc major 8.4 g Longshot on 124 fmj
40 vvn320 5.1g on 180 jhp
40 vvn330 5.4g on 180 jhp

[Flexmoney]

benos, on Jan 9 2008, 03:25 PM, said:

What are your favorite Powders for 9, 40, 45...

TiteGroup.
TiteGroup.
And, TiteGroup.

[trickpony]

9mm major - SP2

38 Supercomp - IMR 7625 & Longshot

40 S&W - N320 in the US, Titegroup in Canada

.223 - Varget

[Religious Shooter]

9 Minor, .40 Major & .45 Major: Titegroup

Major 9, 9x23: AA#7

.223 55: TAC and A2230

.223 69/77: Varget

.308 147: DP85 (close range blaster loads for M1A)

.308 155: Varget (longer range loads for M1A)

.308 168: RL15 (Rem 700)

.308 175: Varget (Rem 700)