Silhouette loads flash less than factory defense rounds

[Dannix]

I got to the national forest a bit late the other day to try out some 9mm Miha 125gn HP loads with Silhouette powder in the HiPower and (since I forgot to bring my still unfired Jarvis barrel) Precision Delta 115gn JRN Silhouette powder loads in a Glock. I shot well into civil twilight (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight#Civil_twilight), to the point where I could no longer see my front sight, but I could still make out the light colored target.

I realized I was starting to notice some muzzel flash, so for yucks, I decided to fire of a couple of the factory defense rounds I had on hand through the Glock: Critical Defense (not recommended) and Golden Saber 147grn.

I was surprised to find my boolit and JRN Silhouette loads actually had a lower flash signature than both factory defense rounds. The HiPower is a boolit-only gun anyway, but I'm now considering just picking up a bunch of bulk XTP, GoldenSaber, or GoldDots to load with Silhouette (or some N330 and N340 I got in but have yet to try).

Anyone with insight concerning just how low flash other factory defense loads are e.g. Federal Bonded, HST, GoldDot, DPX, et al? The factory Golden Saber wasn't quite as bad as the Critical Defense, and it wasn't really awful either, but it simply wasn't as good as the silhouette powder reloads.

[I'll Make Mine]

Generally, faster powders will have less flash, because the powder is more completely burned when the bullet exits the muzzle. Beyond that, double base powders are generally brighter than single base, because the powder gas produced will reignite in the air (this is much less pronounced with single base). Finally, lighter loads will flash less, simply because there's less powder, less gas, and lower pressure. So, for minimum flash, look for a fast burning single base powder that will do the job with a small charge. Sorry, I'm not up to date on what's single and what's double base these days, and I haven't used a bunch of different powders -- Bullseye, Unique, and H-110 are pretty much where my experience lies, and H-110 is not one to choose if low flash is your objective.

[Dannix]

Ramshot Silhouette is actually a double base, albeit with a flash suppressant if I'm not mistaken. It's essentially the same as WAP from what I've been told, and the reloading manuals seem to confirm a very close similarity at the very least. It's slow enough to more than match fps, actually exceed, factory Golden Saber fps. The 9mm Major guys use it as well i.e. it's not spiky, which I like.

The reloads are higher-end loads, which are what I like to shoot, and I've found the higher-end is there Silhouette gives the best accuracy (which, what I'm told, similar to Unique in that respect).