Is there one Perfect powder for me?

Slash0311

I am getting back into reloading after a 5 year break. I have a Lee Challenger press and will be loading for .357 mag, 9mm,and 45 acp. Since I have been away from this for a while, I've noticed some new powders on the market. For what ever reason, I have always been partial to Hercules powders and was wondering if there was ONE powder that could make good loads for each of these three rounds? I know this is a wide range and after looking in the load charts, there are a couple that have loads for each. One that I was considering was "Power Pistol" by Hercules. Does anyone have any experice with this one? Is there a better powder for all three? At this point, I would like to keep things simple and then later, I'll start experimenting with other powders. This is why I'm looking for one powder for all three.



When in doubt, unload the clip, Semper Fi

richbug

unique or bullseye are fine choices as long as you don't want full house magnum 357's.

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bpost

If you want more than +P .38 Spl. load levels from your .357 mag then Unique would possibly be a better choice. You can load it light for plinker loads and up to book max in the .357 to give a performance level far above that obtainable with Busllseye.

Its a hard choice but Unique gets my vote.

Slash0311

I had used Unique before and I always liked the results. That may be the way I go. Thanks for the input.



When in doubt, unload the clip, Semper Fi

haroldchrismeyer

Winchester 231 seems to flow better than Unique, and that is why I use it in my progressive press. I like Unique, but I always had charges that weren't as uniform as I like. With the 231 I pulled a hundred charges in a row, and my RCBS scale said they were all identical.

cletus85

I second the W 231, for the reasons mentioned above. Unique is great for cast loads though...

Pearyw

It depends on how hot you want to go. On the low end and target loads, I agree that 231 is hard to beat. For full power loads, I recommend Accurate AA5 as an all around powder for 45, 9mm, and 357 mag.

GaBob

I would use Unique because it will give good loads in the calibers listed.
Bob

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Nwcid

I have not used the W 231 yet but might have to give it a try. I have gone thought several pounds of Unique reloading thousands of rounds. I use it for most of my pistol loads and does a great job for general plinking.

Just remember there are no stupid questions, just stupid people asking questions.

John

HKman

Hello Slash,
some may disagree, and I don't know about .45 but I have gotten great accuracy from IMR Hiskor-800X in 9mm and .357 with Hornady XTP heads.
Good luck!