Well, I'm primarily a pistol shooter and loader, and I've been loading for a quarter century now, including a few years with my manufacturer's license loading for several gunshops, so I've got some experience with various powders, plus I had the need to narrow down the range of powders I use for pistol loading. I got it down to two powders to cover everything.
At the risk of spearing many sacred animals, here is my take on a general-use powder you are asking about
:
Bullseye and Titegroup are two peas in the same pod. Titegroup was designed to compete directly with BE, and it does so quite well. Both of these powders are workable, but way too fast burning with spikey-pressures at the top end for an all-around powder. They were designed to be low-velocity, target-load powders, not all-around, general-purpose load powders, and it shows when they are pushed too far. (Sorry BE and TG fans...)
All the slow powders (slower than Unique) such as AA#5, 800x, Power Pistol, WSF, etc. are too slow to be all-around powders. They make reasonably-good medium-power loads in large-capacity cases like 44 Mag, 45 Colt, and 357 Mag, but none of them get to the top end in them... They make OK full-power loads in small cases, but generally leave a lot of unburnt powder, and they're not efficient from an internal ballistics point of view. Another important consideration is that these loads burn a lot of powder, so you get fewer loads per pound, vs. a more efficient powder. These powders really only shine (but do so very well) in the full-power loads for medium-calibers, like 40S&W, 10mm, 38 Spl., and 45ACP+P. Workable, but not ideal as all-around powders.
The ideal powders run from about Red Dot thru Unique. The powders in this range will give you reasonable velocity with reasonable pressure with reasonable charge-weights (to maximize your loads-per-pound). My traditional favorite is SMP231 (St. Marks Powder 231), which is sold by Winchester as W231 and Hodgdon as HP38. It is a medium- to large-grit ball powder, and so flows very well through powder measures. I've loaded over 150 lbs of this powder in pistol calibers from 380 through 45ACP. I have loaded it in 44 Mag, but not for full-power loads. I load 7.5 to 8.0grs max with a 240gr lead bullet, which is way below book max. At 8.3grs the bullets break the sound barrier, and simultaneously recoil and muzzle blast become sharp (as sharp as full-loads of powder that go up three more grains). I feel that something bad is going on in there, so I limit my 44 loads to 7.5-8.0grs tops. If I need more velocity, I go to a slower powder. My biggest criticism of W231 is that it is a little dirty (more so with lead bullets). Now, it's not as dirty as some powders, but I'd say it's as dirty as Unique, when Unique is fired in a balanced load, which is to say, it will leave a few unburnt granules or particles of powder behind. It's also VERY smokey with soft-lubed boolits and still somewhat smokey with hard-lubed boolits. Jacketed still smokes some, but not as much. Shooting a match in a humid environment may make the range look a little like a civil war battlefield...
Fredj didn't say anything about his favorite powder at this load level...
Kind of curious! WST is a ball powder that flows well, bulks well, shoots clean, and gives reasonable (but not top-end) velocities. It's not as spikey as BE/TG, but it can get there. Don't push it, and use it for target loads, and it has a wide application in these calibers. As soon as I go through my last 30 lbs of 231, I'll try some...
Unique is a great powder choice for what you're doing as well. It's not quite as efficient in terms of loads-per-pound as the others mentioned above, but it is very safe, with a broad range of load levels in every caliber. The only downsides to it are: It is a flake powder so doesn't flow quite as nice as the ball powders, and in an unbalanced load (where you're not loading it hot enough to get to good-combustion chamber pressures) it can be dirty.
There's a few others in there that are really good, but peruse any good burn-rate chart and you'll figure out the good ones. A couple especially nice (but too expensive for my tastes for burning this much ammo) are VV N325 and VVN330. When I was a commercial loader, their importer sent me samples, and this was the most amazingly clean powder I ever shot. My guns were actually cleaner after I shot a hundred rounds of these loads than before... (Which isn't saying much for my gun cleaning ethics.
)
As far as a good warm-load powder for the 44 in the Ruger carbine - mine likes AA#9, but someone just mentioned H/IMR-4227, and that brought back memories of my loads with that powder. It is a fantastic 44 Mag powder - super accurate, top velocities (or nearly so), and low pressures. It can't be beat. I'd recommend you try some. One warning: I never shoot lead in my Ruger Carbine. It's gas system will get plugged up with lube and lead, and it's not something you want to get good at cleaning...