Blue Dot warning

[jim 44-40]

Alliant Blue Dot safety notice
Do not use in 357 mag and 125 gr bullets , ok with other weight bullets
41 mag do not use with any weight bullet

[atfsux]

Alliant issued this? That's very strange, because I've been loading BlueDot under 125 grain JHPs in .357 for 40 years. Other than producing a bright white fireball strobe light effect at night, and occasional unburnt flakes getting under the cylinder star and potentially jamming things up,...never had any problems.

[uscra112]

Got a link? Was it emailed? Magazine ad?

Blue Dot has been maligned forever for being temperature sensitive., Is this something new?

[Lloyd Smale]

Alliant issued this? That's very strange, because I've been loading BlueDot under 125 grain JHPs in .357 for 40 years. Other than producing a bright white fireball strobe light effect at night, and occasional unburnt flakes getting under the cylinder star and potentially jamming things up,...never had any problems.

i dont use blue dot any more. its one of those powders that goes from mild to wild pressures with just a 1/2 grian difference. also my extreme spreads showed more of a swing then i like. now if someone gave me a keg and i couldnt find someone that wanted it id burn it up but id never buy it or lil gun again

[Recycled bullet]

The blue dot warning with 357 Magnum is nothing new it's been mentioned for 10 or 15 years. To my endless curiosity Blue Dot load data continues to be printed into current load manuals in 357 Magnum. My suspicion as to the reason why they even bother to print this warning is unreasonable powder charges with 110 grain bullets something like 15 grains of Blue Dot!!! I'm glad I did not blow my gun up when I was starting to learn how to reload and did not know enough that I could spot potential issues like that before they started.

[SSGOldfart]

Humm

[TNsailorman]

I mailed Alliant a message with the load data I was using in my .41 magnum and they sent me a reply that the load I was using was perfectly safe in my .41. That was several years ago. I haven't seen any warning lately. I believe that warning was aimed at near max loads in cold weather. james

[15meter]

I think this was beat to death here:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-with-Blue-Dot

[jim 44-40]

The blue dot warning with 357 Magnum is nothing new it's been mentioned for 10 or 15 years. To my endless curiosity Blue Dot load data continues to be printed into current load manuals in 357 Magnum. My suspicion as to the reason why they even bother to print this warning is unreasonable powder charges with 110 grain bullets something like 15 grains of Blue Dot!!! I'm glad I did not blow my gun up when I was starting to learn how to reload and did not know enough that I could spot potential issues like that before they started.

I didn't know it was a old warning,the reason I looked it up was that loading 110 gr jhp in my 357 mag.
Found out cases were hard to extract from Ruger SA.Was far from Max load

[M-Tecs]

https://www.alliantpowder.com/gettin...y_notices.aspx
Blue Dot® should NOT be used in the 357 Magnum load using the 125 grain projectile (Blue Dot® recipes with heavier bullet weights as specified in Alliant Powders Reloading Guide are acceptable for use).
Blue Dot® should NOT be used in the 41 Magnum cartridge (all bullet weights).

[Recycled bullet]

I didn't know it was a old warning,the reason I looked it up was that loading 110 gr jhp in my 357 mag.
Found out cases were hard to extract from Ruger SA.Was far from Max load

I was testing recipes from Lyman book listing blue dot with 110 grain speer gold dots and I had to pound to get the brass out my Smith & Wesson model 60 357 Magnum snub nose revolver.

I am very glad that that gun is significantly overbuilt for what most people will actually shoot through it.

I was afraid of bending the ejector rod or having the tip of it gets stuck or stabbed into my palm and I did not have a mallet with me.

[TNsailorman]

I did get an OK from Alliant several years ago about their first warning. I just wrote them about this latest warning and ask them about the several hundred loaded rounds I have already loaded for my .41 magnum and what do with the powder. The bullet in question was a lead 215 gr. SWC. I will await their response and make it known. That is, if I get an answer. james

[Larry Gibson]

I use Blue Dot in 357, 41, 44 magnums and 45 ACP +P loads. I have extensively chronographed all my loads and have pressure tested in 357, 44 and 45 ACP Blue Dot loads also. I never found any evidence of the reported pressure spikes. Btw, when this "warning was first issued I discussed it with an Alliant tech and they had never seen any of the reported pressure spikes either. Their recommendation was based on "reports" of pressure spikes by "others" as reported om another "reloading forum". Seems Alliant is simply covering the bases......

[TNsailorman]

Lrarry, Sounds like Lawyers got involved on in something they had little or no knowledge and as you said "just covered the bases". james

[Lloyd Smale]

if they need to put warnings on it why bother unless its the last powder in the store you can go a tad faster with hs6, a tad slower burning with 2400 and both meter better are cleaner burning and are more stable and give great accuracy and in the case of hs6 your getting more loads per pound. the dot powders were made for shotgun loading and are some of the best for that purpose

[Larry Gibson]

I've found no problem with metering Blue Dot using a Lyman 55. I don't load magnum level cartridges on my SDB so I don't know about through Dillon or other automatic powder throwers. I've found BD to burn as clean as 2400 and gives better ballistics in the 357, 41 and 44 Magnum cartridges in my revolvers using less powder. For example, the last time I chronographed and pressure tested comparative loads in the 44 Magnum I got the following results;

Cases were W-W, Primers were Fed 150s and bullets were RCBS 44-250-KT. Pressure was tested in a Contender test barrel and velocity is out of my Ruger FTBH [50th Anniversary] with a 6 1/2" barrel. test strings were 10 shots.

17.3 gr of Blue Dot ran 1413 fps at 33,900 psi.

22 gr of 2400 ran 1331 fps at 33,800 psi.

Accuracy for both is as good as I can hold....about 2" at 25 yards for both loads.

Since I've got a jug of Blue Dot I'll continue to use it and will probably buy more if it ever becomes available again.....

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Hey, we've talked about this before, a few times before. Some of us have experienced some pressure spikes with max or near max loads in cold weather (below freezing), loads that were worked up in warm weather.
...then there are those people here that disagree with us.
Good Times !

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

here is a couple threads:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...cules-blue-dot

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-with-Blue-Dot

[TNsailorman]

If I remember correctly the warning came about because of "problems" in low temperatures. I never stated that I shot any loads in low temperatures in my question to Alliant and that may be the reason that I got the reply that my load was safe. It was a lower mid level load (11.0 to 12.8) grains with a 215 grain LSWC bullet and shot in summer time. I never put it on a chronograph and don't have the ability to pressure test. I still have a little over 160 rounds left. I have never nor will I ever question anyone else's experience with Blue Dot. Life's too short to argue about a revolver load that someone has used successfully. james

[rbuck351]

I have been using BD in a RBH 41 mag for about 40 years now. I use 16.5 grs and a 225gr cast for 1480 fps. I don't have access to pressure testing but 17grs causes sticky extraction. I backed down to the 16.5 gr load and have used it as my go to load since I bought the gun. I lived in Nome when I bought the Ruger and shot it at around 30 below without issues.

I read about the warning of BD use in the 41 several years ago but still use it as I have had no issues with it. Got a whitetail with it yesterday.