New to me powder

[bigted]

Been using Unique for most of my load's but kinda tired of all the powder residue all in and out of my handguns.

What I am looking for is a powder that is as economical as Unique, less dirt after shooting and available consistently.

I know there is powder that fits these criteria but no experience with them.

Power pistol
Universal
A no 2
A no 5
Bullseye
Red dot
Green dot
Clays
Tightgroup
W 231

Of these I know nothing and would like to hear from you folks about your favorites, and consistent accuracy and cleanliness.

My loading is for;
38 spcl
357 mag
40 S&W
45 auto
45 Colt

May include 9 mm at some time but not rite away.

Thank you in advance for your advice and experience

Ted

[Thumbcocker]

Power pistol is my go to for 9mm .44 special and .45 colt. Also less than full snort .44 magnum.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[daloper]

I am a fan of Red Dot in my 45 ACP. 4.5 gr under a 200 gr SWC.

[Conditor22]

What I use:
9 x 18 MAK BE
9 mm BE
7.62 x 25 Tokarev BE
300 AAC BO H110, 700X,TB
38 Spcl RedDot
45 ACP RedDot
45 ACP Autocomp
45 ACP BE
45 long colt red dot
45 long colt HS-6
50 AE H110

[RED BEAR]

I like the red dot and bills eye may be a little cleaner but I wouldn't count on dramatic results.

[colt38sp]

I would say that Universal would be the closest to Unique in most applications. I find it is cleaner than Unique as well. Also Clays is very clean burning but isn't as close to Unique as Universal is. However you should be able to use Clays in any of the calibers you reload for but they will be lower velocity recipes.

[osteodoc08]

Out of that list, in my experience, power Pistol and titegroup will be the cleanest

[scattershot]

I’m a big fan of Red Dot, and it’s twin, Promo. Same powder without the dots, and a lot cheaper. I use 4.0 grains with a 200 grain swc in the .45 ACP. In fact, I find that that charge and powder works well in 9mm and .40, too.

[onelight]

Alliant BE-86 works well in all those cartridges I use it where I used Unique

[goryshaw]

I have Power Pistol, AA 5, Universal, WW 231, 800X and probably several others that I've forgotten. But my first choice for versatility after Unique would be Red Dot. Been burning it for close to 30 years in .45 Colt, a lot cleaner than Unique and if you want to pleasant shooting low/medium load it will work in just about anything.

[35remington]

Universal is a ballistically inconsistent mistake in any large cases low pressure round like 38 Special, 45 Colt, and modest pressure 357.

For standard velocity loads I lean toward Bullseye W231 and Titegroup. Red dot is poor due to metering issues in small 38 charges but just fine in 40 and the 45s as is Clays. Green Dot is just slightly slow Red Dot and while it also works I see no need for duplication.

[BNE]

I love 4.0 grains of Clays in a 230 grain 45 ACP.

[hylander]

Power Pistol works great for me in every caliber you listed

[NWPilgrim]

Power Pistol works great for me in every caliber you listed

Yes. If you had not listed .40s&w then I would have suggested W231. But for .40 and faster loads in .45. Colt then Power Pistol would better serve all those cartridges. Second choice would be AA5.

[str8wal]

I use Titegroup in 9mm, 45 ACP and 38 Special. It burns clean and pours nicely from a Lyman 55. A little goes a long way. With handgun cartridges I need a powder that will drop consistantly and therefore have never used Unique. Another you might try is HP-38.

[Markopolo]

Red dot also works good in all of the cal’s you listed, and it is economical as all get out.. I use a Lyman Gen 6 electronic measure, and it meters great for even the smallest loads as it trickles instead of volume measuring. Bullseye also works in most.

[Idaho45guy]

I load for 9mm, .40 S&W, 10mm, and .45 Colt.

W231 was my go to, as well as Titegroup. Tried Power Pistol and it is very accurate, and very clean, but it produced a lot of flash and recoil.

Now I use mostly Ramshot Silhouette for my target and defensive loads in 9mm, 10mm, and .40 S&W. Very accurate and soft shooting! But, it is a bit more costly and I can only find it at one store within 50 miles of me.

[ShooterAZ]

During the last powder shortage Titegroup was always available locally, unlike Unique. I stocked up on a bit of it, and like it quite a bit. I use it in most of the cartridges on the OP's list and find it to be clean burning and it meters very well. It's faster than Unique for sure, but it covers those calibers pretty well IMHO.

[FergusonTO35]

For all those cartridges, I have used Bullseye, Titegroup, and HP-38 (same thing as W-W 231) with good results. For low pressure rounds like .32 and .38 revolver and .380 Auto, Bullseye has always given the most consistent velocity. For higher pressure such as .357 Magnum and 9x19, HP-38 is just excellent.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I stumbled onto a large quantity of Red Dot about the same time I started casting...So I've been using it in every application that fits, I have also stumbled on obsolete powders (Alcan, Herters, and such) and have been using them a lot for handgun cartridges.
BUT...
If I wasn't using old powders, and I needed to buy something NEW for handguns and CB loads in Rifle, it'd be Titegroup. I've read good reports about Titegroup. It Meters extremely well and it is not position sensitive which is great for CB loads, but it doesn't like any compression, So it's good for light loads or moderate loads in large cases. It should be excellent for 38 spcl, 45 auto, and 45 Colt. Here is an interesting discussion.
https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/titegroup.1198/

[Outpost75]

Cleanest burning powder of choice for .38 Special, .45 Colt standard pressure and .45 ACP up to full hardball, but not +P is WST.

This was Olin's replacement for 452AA, which we used in competition for many years. Meters like water in the Star.

TiteGroup also very good in any application where you would use Bullseye, including rifle "cat sneeze" loads, but burns much cleaner.

For applications where you would normally use Unique in full-charge loads, such as .38 Special +P, .45 ACP and 9mm hardball level, 7.62x25 Tok, .30 M1 Carbine Olin AutoComp works very well.

[Lance Boyle]

Shhh. Outpost. That’s my sleeper powder. Clays is nice too, don’t run to max though. I stumbled onto clays with .45 ACP in match loads. I happened to have a big jug from 28 ga.


Sport Pistol and BE 86 are also in testing.

[bigted]

Thanks fellers. Gives me some food for thought. Will have to get a couple and begin experiments. Lots of variants but a couple shine thru.

[GhostHawk]

I have been shooting Red Dot in everything for over 5 years now.
New calibers keep getting added and it keeps working in all of them.

The exception is in cycling Semi auto rifles. It simply does not cycle my Yugo SKS.
Of course I always have the option of turning the gas off and treating it like a straight pull bolt.

It does cycle all my pistol caliber carbines, Hipoint's in 9mm, 40sw, and .45acp show no problems at all.

If you go too low, you will find sooty cases. Just go up a half a grain until it quits.
Found this is both .40sw and .45acp.

Recently found a 4 lb jug at a decent price, local store, so no hazmat or shipping. So I am back up on the plus side of 30 lbs of Red Dot/Promo.

I stock a few others but 99% of my shooting is with Red Dot.

I find it very economical, reasonably clean, reasonably decent to meter.

YMMV

[slughammer]

Depends on how light or heavy you want to load those cartridges. And how many powders you want to keep on hand

1 powder, W231
2 powders, Clays and Power Pistol
3 powders, Clays W231 and Power Pistol

[megasupermagnum]

There are some good powders in your list, but the only ones that compare to Unique for versatility are Universal and Green dot.

It really depends how heavy you want to load those cartridges. Most of the powders you listed are fast target powders. If that's what you want, I'll add American Select as a very clean, affordable, and available powder.

[Wheelgun]

I’ve used RedDot, Bullseye and TiteGroup for all the calibers you listed except 40s&w which I have no experience at all. Of those I use Bullseye the most, fallowed by TiteGroup.

I use Bullseye with great results in 32auto, 32S&W Long, 32H&R mag, 327FM, 32/20, 38LC, 38spl, 357mag, 44/40, 44 Russian, 44spl, 45 Auto Rim, 45acp, 45 Schofield, 45 Colt and reduced loads in 30wcf.

I like Bullseye because it and Unique are the first powders I ever bought, also I have a ton of it, but TiteGroup works well and meters like water.

[Pete44mag]

I load 9mm, .38 special, .45acp and .44 special with Titegroup. I also load light .357 and light .44 magnums with Titegroup. Burns clean, is very consistent and a little goes a long way. Meters very well in a Dillion 550. My go to powder for most of my reloading.

[slughammer]

Universal is a ballistically inconsistent mistake in any large cases low pressure round like 38 Special, 45 Colt, and modest pressure 357.

I agree, I found Universal to be terrible with 125gr bullets in 38spl when i bought a pound of it 25 years ago.
About 15 years ago i revisited Universal and tried it in 45 acp. (This time i had a chrono) Worked up to 850fps and had 100fps extreme spread. No thanks, other powders light off and burn consistently at lower pressures.

[Bmi48219]

Don’t know about 357 mag & 45 colt but TiteGroup works well for me in the others you listed. I switched to TG from Unique 3 years ago when TG was $4.00 less per pound. It does run cleaner and meters well. Down sides: clings to plastic powder measure hopper & it is a dense, low volume powder so it doesn’t come close to half-filling large cases. If you’re neurotic like me about visually inspecting charged cases you’ll understand.

[bigted]

Well did it. Bought three powders today ... bullseye, red dot and titegroup. Will begin my load experimentation shortly. Thanks to everybody for your experience and recommendations.

[sandog]

I agree, I found Universal to be terrible with 125gr bullets in 38spl when i bought a pound of it 25 years ago.
About 15 years ago i revisited Universal and tried it in 45 acp. (This time i had a chrono) Worked up to 850fps and had 100fps extreme spread. No thanks, other powders light off and burn consistently at lower pressures.

Universal works great for me at 850 to 1050 fps. Clean burning, 40 fps. spread and plenty accurate with 125 grain plated bullets in .357 brass.
https://i.imgur.com/uazFQm5h.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jOsO0N1h.jpg

[km101]

I have used a lot of Titegroup in the calibers you have listed, with good results.

But I have started using Alliant BE-86 in those calibers and I like it even better! Meters accurately, burns clean, low flash and same velocities. What’s not to like. YMMV

[vinny1892]

Universal for 45 acp and 45 colt. 6.2gr for 45 acp 230gr jhp.(my hunting round) and for the colt 11.0 gr for a 230 gr jhp. Those are for ruger only loads.

[35remington]

Shift Universal near bullet deliberately just before firing, chronograph five shots. Shift near primer deliberately, fire five shots over chronograph. Brace for disappointment.

[gpidaho]

I'm a big fan of TiteGroup. Like Unique in that you can make something fly out of about anything using it. It's faster and cleaner burning than Unique but just as versatile. Be careful when working up loads with TG it goes from just right to too much very quickly. 32 S&W through 454 Casull and everything in between, my go to powder. Gp

[Idaho45guy]

I'm a big fan of TiteGroup. Like Unique in that you can make something fly out of about anything using it. It's faster and cleaner burning than Unique but just as versatile. Be careful when working up loads with TG it goes from just right to too much very quickly. 32 S&W through 454 Casull and everything in between, my go to powder. Gp

And they sell it at the WalMart in Moscow, ID...

[oldsalt444]

If you're looking for a cleaner burn, then WST is a good choice with the same burn rate as Green Dot and 700X. VV N310 is very clean with the same burn rate as Bullseye, but it's pricey. Titegroup is a good choice; clean and lives up to its name. The flake powders like Red & Green Dot tend to be dirty.

[cwlongshot]

ALL POWDERS you have listed will work and have there merits!

My choice is Power Pistol and Clays.

I just started using PP last year and I am really liking it!!

Been using Clays for years its clean burning is its bet asset to me.

CW

[9.3X62AL]

Goex 3F in a Navy Colt will prompt an appreciation of dirty old nasty Unique.

[TNsailorman]

I loaded some WSL for the .45 ACP/AR and it was the most accurate and clean burning powder I have yet loaded for that caliber, BUT, try to find some of it around here. I only bought 1 lb. of it to try and then the dealer sold out and I can't find anymore of it. One of my powder loading pamphlets says it can be loaded using WST data, so they must be very close in burn rate. james

[Tracy]

I'm surprised there is no love in this thread for Accurate numbers 2 and 5.

[bigted]

Goex 3F in a Navy Colt will prompt an appreciation of dirty old nasty Unique.

Aint it the truth tho.