9mm / .45acp Powder Recommendations

[fotog54]

Lately it has come down to "use what you can find"!

Unique is good for both... hard to find.
Titegroup I hear is good for both.... have not seen it anywhere.
Universal... same as above.

Any of the medium to fast powders such as these would work for both 9mm and .45 ACP.

700-X
800-X
Bullseye
Red Dot
Green Dot
Clays
Clay Dot
Titewad
WST
WSF
W231/HP38 (Same powder)
e3
BE-86
CFE-Pistol
Power Pistol
Maxam CSB-1 (Sold in bulk under a couple of different names-do a search)

I've been doing a lot of powder research lately, and all I load is .45 and 9mm!

 

[ironhead7544]

Unique, AA#2, HP-38/231, H110/296 and IMR4227 are my favorites for a wide range of power. 2400 for top end 44 Special loads. Skeeter loads for general 44 Special use.

AA#2 goes through my RCBS measure very accurately. Good for subsonic along with Trail Boss.

 

[FredAlert]

For 9mm I use hodgedon titegroup and for 45acp I use reloader power pistol. I tend to use powders that at their maximum or close to maximum charge for a given round they pretty much fill up the case and are occasionally ever so slightly compressed (I've been doing this for nearly 20 years stories about compressed loads exponentially increasing pressure beyond increased pressure from additional powder volume is complete BS)

You didn't ask but I'll continue.

As above anything magnum I default to Hodgedon H110 or it's Winchester twin brother 296 .....

556/308, etc I use hodgedon Varget fairly consistently unless I absolutely can't get it for some reason and then I go to something like ramshot tac but the varget is usually easy to get ahold of (I buy it in 8lbs bottles)

For bigger cartridges like 300 Remington ultra mag, etc I use Retumbo.

I play around with other powders tinkering with different loads but those powders are my staples unless I can't get them for some reason.

 

[1006]

W231, and its identical twin HP-38 will be as good a powder as you can easily find on a regular basis.

It meters well and is very accurate for light to medium loads in the 9 and 45, and it burns fairly clean.

TiteGroup is also very good, but does not fill the 45 cases enough for my liking, and is not as accurate in light loads. It's nickname among some shooters is "SlightGroup".

 

[EMC45]

Bullseye or Titegroup.

 

[Petro_58]

Well Halleluiah !! We went to the Gun Show in Jacksonville Saturday and found UNIQUE !!! They had 6lbs we grabbed some, they also had some Universal, and looked like a pretty good overall selection. Anyway beside the Unique we grabbed some HP-38 (didn't have the W231 I was hoping for). I loaded up 50 assorted loads (different gr. and oal) of 9mm and .40s&w using the HP-38. I Like it, everything cycled well through and most were POA at 25ft. shooting 6" Round Steel with my Cougar 9mm, the Cougar .40 and the Sig .40. Now I need to adjust a couple of the Loads and go back to the Range.

 

[jglenn]

HP38 and 231 are the exact same powder.... just like H110 and 296. H414 and 760.

 

[EMC45]

HP38 and 231 are the exact same powder.... just like H110 and 296. H414 and 760.

Beat me to it!

 

[RamRoddoc]

Lately it has come down to "use what you can find"!

Unique is good for both... hard to find.
Titegroup I hear is good for both.... have not seen it anywhere.
Universal... same as above.

Any of the medium to fast powders such as these would work for both 9mm and .45 ACP.

700-X
800-X
Bullseye
Red Dot
Green Dot
Clays
Clay Dot
Titewad
WST
WSF
W231/HP38 (Same powder)
e3
BE-86
CFE-Pistol
Power Pistol
Maxam CSB-1 (Sold in bulk under a couple of different names-do a search)

I've been doing a lot of powder research lately, and all I load is .45 and 9mm!

This seems to be the case for about the past two years. Find a medium to fast spherical/ball type powder and they meter well. For the heavy 9mm 147 grain I tend to use a bit slower powder like AA#5 as it stresses the brass less when shooting suppressed. But then it's a popular powder so finding it will be a challenge.

AA#2, 5 and 7 are good ones to consider as well. Jglenn points out that "HP38 and 231 are the exact same powder.... just like H110 and 296. H414 and 760." This may save some money too or at least help locate a useable powder.

 

[Sgt. Lewis]

HP-38 is the cat's meow for 9mm. Even for subsonic rounds

YES all I use for 9mm