FWIW, Powder Valley sells Promo for $115 for eight pound jug. Alliant 2400, for $143 / jug. Yes, there is a considerable savings. However, no powder is a do all powder when bullets of any type are involved.
Personally, I have never used Red Dot or Promo, in close to 50 years of reloading. Bullseye fills that slot for me. I wouldn't be without 2400, works in every caliber of handgun, I load for, except 9 mm.
I don't use 2400 or Unique for cast rifle loads, like many do. I don't have use for low velocity/plinking loads. I'm flush with 22 LR ammunition. I try to keep velocities up near jacketed, so as not to have to keep changing sight settings.
YMMV
Winelover
I use promo for 60gr cast powder coated in 223 rem.
I've never used promo, but it was on sale, and I had room in my cart as well as my powder magazine so I bought 2 8lb'ers ! What the heck? variety and selection does it get any better? (remember the dry days) Good thing I wasnt at a truck dealership who knows what I might have come home with. Looking to try it in my 45-70 and 44 mag rifle.
Promo and most of the large flake Alliant powders are not well advised in the Lee Auto Disk measures in charges below about 3.8 grains.
Didn't read whole thread, but I use Promo for Cowboy Action loads in 38 and 12ga shotgun. 2.5gr behind a 125gr lead boolit is enough to send the boolit to the steel plate, and allow quick follow-up. I think I use 12.5gr for 1oz of 7.5 shot for the side by side. Slow enough one can see the shot going downrange to the popper targets. That sport is all about speed and quickness at close range. I have also used it for mild plinking rounds in 9mm. Does the job quiet well, and economical. I also use it for fire forming, and some gallery loads in rifles (those are fun). An 8lb jug is going to take a long time to consume.
I don’t see the benefit of buying a powder like this for 9mm. Titegroup is on sale at PV for $16/lb. Easier to run in my measures.
I like promo , bought the first jug as the price was attractive , bought the second as I am using it in more and more cartridges , red dot costs a little more and primers are an expensive part of this , so cut a little cost on powder and buy a few more primers . Though I have found it loads economical , and has been pretty consistent on my powder measures , have picked up other powders like CFE pistol BE-86 and others for different calibers bullet weight and for a selection .
Read a while back Promo was the left over Red Dot parts and pieces from the cutting process. I'll dig around and see what magazine article that was but no promises it can be located. Being able to sell a a byproduct is great in manufacturing.
I was looking at 38 Special wadcutter data. 2.7 grains per round gives you way over 20,000 rounds per keg. That would last me about ten years.
Wonder if it burns clean at that pressure.
One last warning about Promo.
It varies in density not only from RD but lot to lot. If your bushing/measure throws your required charge with one lot, it will likely NOT be the same with the next lot. For light duty plinking and low velocity shotgun loads it will not cause an unsafe load, but if you are near maximum, caution is warranted. I typically purchase 2-3 cases (4-6 jugs) at a time (as it is my powder for 12 ga target loads) so I do not need to deal with changing bushings part way through a loading session.
It is a good powder and very versatile but it does not have lot to lot consistency like a canister powder. That is why it is less expensive. Alliant does not need to adjust its density to sell it.
Don Verna
I have an 8 lb jug of promo, mostly I use it in the shotgun shell reloader. I sat one day swapping powder bushings and weighing charges until I got what I wanted.
Now I can just refill as needed.
For the rest of my reloading I prefer Red Dot, yes a few dollars more. IMO worth it for consistency, and to be able to look and see those Red Dots and know what I have.
At Ballistics products a 8 lb of Promo is 132.99 Red Dot 8 lb is 157.99. 25$ difference. Devided by 8 that is 3$ a pound. Not going to break me.
But, to each his own.
Kinda sorta parts and pieces, but more QC involved than just sweeping the floor of leftovers and putting it in an 8# bottle.
Stolen from another site:
Here is what I read:
We had a marketing director several years ago that was non-technical though, and some of the stuff that used to get out was interesting. Like the statement that Promo was a 50/50 blend of Red Dot(R) and American Select(R). That was hogwash, but it worked for him, even if it was wrong, and not consistent with what we documented to the DOT.
Anyway, different batches will be made from different materials, often (but not always) American Select over-runs, Red Dot/Green Dot, fast powders we sell to OEMS, and the like. In the end it meets our energy and ballistic target of Red Dot burn speed.
You wanted cheap...
Thanks for your business.
Shoot well,
Paul
Promo is mixed to be a direct replacement for Red Dot by *weight* not volume. Basically Alliant takes left over batches of other powders, many are from runs of commercial bulk powder, and then blends it with buffers to match Red Dot's burn rate -- and then sells it to us as a "cheaper" consumer powder alternative. (Why it's only available in 8-pounders.) But anyway, as such, Alliant also warns that each lot of Promo requires you to re-measure to confirm weight of drop. Finally, many batches --but not all-- tend to burn dirtier than Red Dot for a given load. So end of day it can be a good inexpensive choice for the budget-minded if you practice safe reloading rules and can live with the lot-to-lot variability.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |