need some direction here.

[shaper]

I'm almost ready to load my first cartridge. Waiting for my new to me Lee bottom pour. I want to cast and load for my 380 auto. I have the mold for the 90 gr. bullet and I have the primers. Problem is I don't have a clue what kind of powder to use. The Lyman reloading handbook gives me a choice of about 7 different kinds of power, all of which I have no knowledge about. I do have some IMR4895, H4895, and another Hodgden with no number but said it was for pistol.
So, I'm looking for some direction from some of you more experienced loaders.

[Love Life]

I don't believe the IMR4895 or H4895 will be suitable. What is your other powder? What is the name of it, or what does the label say?

[WILCO]

The Lyman reloading handbook gives me a choice of about 7 different kinds of power, all of which I have no knowledge about.

I would simply start with the powder listed as the best performer. The Lyman book will denote this.

[beezapilot]

I just started loading .380- Use a 90 Gr RN- used 2.6 gr of BullsEye and that went very well.

I tried a second lot using Promo- it is a shotgun powder closely related to RedDot so used RedDot data- 2.4 gr- and that was every bit as good- that is not a recommendation, but a statement- subsituting powder is one of those personal responsibility / risk deals.

Promo is available locally at $94 for an 8 pounder- I paid about $140 for an 8 pounder of BullsEye two years ago. Using Promo dropped the cost of shooting a bunch.

[ShooterAZ]

You are going to need to find some fast burning pistol powders such as Bullseye, 231, or 700X. Slowest I would try is Unique. As mentioned, any 4895 powder is useless in the 380.

[jmort]

Unique or Blue Dot

[shaper]

I have a Hodgdon Varget, and a Hodgden tite group, there are no numbers on this container.

[leadman]

I haven't had much luck with Blue Dot as it always smugged the cases and had high velocity swings. It does go Bang though.
Another good powder is accurate Arms #2. very clean and a little goes a long ways.
Take a picture of the Hodgdon pistol powder container and post it here.

[petroid]

Tote group should work well. Varget is a rifle powder so not good for your application. Look on hodgdons web site they have a lot of data.

[crowbuster]

Another vote for bullseye. It has worked well for me in the 380 and a pound lasts forever.

[shaper]

Looks like I'll be going shopping tomorrow, I need a road trip anyway.

[Pb Burner]

Hodgdon Titegroup would be an excellent choice for the 380, in my opinion. It is my favorite for the 9mm Makarov which is similar in case capacity and boolit weight.

[nvbirdman]

Varget and Titegroup are names of those powders. Exactly the same as H4895 and IMR4985 are names for powders. Dupont (IMR) started naming powders with the number of the formula which produced the desired results. 3031, 4064, 4320, 4350, 4895 to name a few. Other manufacturers used names such as Bullseye, Unique, Herco.

[Sweetpea]

Don't cross Clay's off your list...

At this point, you will probably be looking for something suitable, not necessarily the best performer...

[wv109323]

Go to Hodgdon.com and work your way to the load data you want. Double check me but it looks like Tite Group was listed at 2.7 gn. to 3.2gn. with a 90 grain bullet. The velocity was from 826 to 970 FPS with the loads listed.

[wv109323]

Make that hodgdonreloading.com

[jsizemore]

Since you have a choice of 3-4 appropriate powders take a list of them with you on the road trip. You may only find 1 or 2. Keep your options open. Load manuals are nice to have too.

[shaper]

Took my list of powders to the local (30 miles) reloading store today. No powder for loading the 380. In fact they had no pistol powder at all. There were two shelves full of rifle and shotgun powders though. Must have over a hundred 1 pounders. Also there was all of the primers one could want, I bought one each of the small and large pistol primers for $37.95 each.
Still looking for a good load for the 380. More road trips ahead.