Was reading a thread about Red Dot in .38spl and saw posts where it's being used in more than I imagined. What are you loading with it and share the recipe if your comfortable doing that.
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Was reading a thread about Red Dot in .38spl and saw posts where it's being used in more than I imagined. What are you loading with it and share the recipe if your comfortable doing that.
4.2 grains under a 200 grain rf or h&g 68 works great in my 45's for a cheap general purpose. Also works well in 380, but that small charge is inconsistent in Lee auto disc.
Everything
12 gauge
.357
9mm
.30-30
.308
Here is a 30-30 load I like
5.5 grains 170 RNFP around 1050 fps and accurate
What a fun load to shoot
How about 24.1 gr with the lee 7/8 key slug in 12g? Works awesome for me...
Attachment 198917Jmort nailed it, I use it in everything BUT SKS 7.62x39 And it works in that as well, but it turns it from a semi auto rifle into a straight pull bolt gun.
My best loads
4.6 grains of Red Dot and any cast bullet. Any caliber from .223 rem up to .357 mag.
Beyond .357 mag you may want a little more oomph for the bigger bullets.
10 grains and 13 grains below 185 gr GC cast at .314 sized at .314 in my Mosin.
6 grains to 13 grains below any cast boolit in .444 marlin. Your choice, from light .44 mag loads up to 13 grains below a 310 gr gc Lee boolit suitable for buff or moose. Mild to wild. My first 3 shots with this at 13 grains gave me a perfect cloverleaf at 25 yards while sighting in my scope. Would have done it at 100 y also but I pulled one half an inch. Operator error.
4.6 grains in .360DW brass with a 158 gr Lee round nose put 3 in one hole at 50 yards in my .357mag.
4.6 grains of Red Dot in .30-30 with the little Lee 90 grain TC .314 sized down to .311 or .312 makes a sweet little small game load for my Win 94. With that distinctive bullet it would be easy to keep seperated. At 25 yards it hit right where it was supposed to to kill a critter.
6 or 7 grains works fine with a 150-180 grain bullet for bigger critters.
Red Dot works.
But, accept that Red Dot loads may not always be the fastest.
If you don't find accuracy walk the ladder BOTH ways, up and down.
Red Dot will often in a rifle not function a semi auto.
Red Dot in my Pistols works great. If cases are sooty go UP half a grain. More pressure, seals the brass to the cylinder wall better.
One powder to load means buy in bulk. Buy 2-4 8 lb jugs at one crack.
In theory this could have your costs down below 23$ a pound.
At 4.6 grains per shot and 7000 grains in a pound your powder lasts a LONG time. Stock up on primers.
Marko I loaded mine with 21 and have not tested yet. But I suspect they will work just fine.
Red Dot WORKS. Ask Mike Rowe!
If you're using a lot of Red Dot switch to Promo.
i'm currently loading 10,000 .25 acp's with 1.3 grains red dot under a itty bitty bullet.
Promo is good as well. I use both. Same thing, different volume.
Late 60s I was shooting a lot of trap. Bought Red RedDotDot by the keg. Don't remember the weight but it was significantly larger than today's 8 pound bottles. The burning rate was just a tad slower than Bulls Eye. There was no data available at the time so my buddies and I decided to try it with Bulls Eye data. Worked like a charm. I could load several thousand 9s and 38s and not even notice any was missing. It was like free Bulls Eye. Eventually after I quit shooting trap, I went back to Bullseye.
Red Dot is a great pistol powder.
I use Promo as it is less expensive but uses Red Dot data....it appears to be off-spec Red Dot. By that I mean density will vary lot to lot, but it performs the same by weight.
Most is used in 12 ga Trap loads for singles and doubles. I load for .38, 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 and can be used in those calibers if I run out of powders that are optimum in those applications.
I run jacketed bullets in .223, 30/30, and .308 because they give best accuracy with the least amount of work. But RD/Promo will work well in the .30/30 and .308 if the SHTF and powder became scarce. I have molds for the CF rifles just in case.
My minimum stock level for Promo is 6 jugs. I can use it in everything I load except 20 and 28 ga
I use published load data and run under maximum.
Is that 6 x 8 ???
That is where I would like to be
I like the versatility & economics of Red Dot. Loading .380/9mm/38/45 pistols & 12 ga currently ( & 20 ga. later if I can), since I had a can of older stuff I wanted to use up. I have not yet tried it in 357/44mag, because I have some older 2400 & H110 to use up of the same vintage or older, so I have been using those powders first, but eventually will record the ladder tests of those 2 with Red Dot also.
when I started casting, I stumbled on a large lot of vintage (Herc) Red Dot, bought from a widow of a trap shooter/reloader. So I've tried it in many 'plinker' loads in many calibers...including:
9mm
40S&W
45acp
38spl
41mag
44mag
45colt
22hornet (for 22LR equiv)
30-06 (for lightweight for caliber boolits)
I've considered it for many other sub-30 calibers, but generally decided it didn't fit my goals with those guns.
With all that said, I don't really like it when measuring small charges in a powder drop, so for the most part, I just use it in 41 mag now. (7.5gr with 195 WC as well as 210gr SWC)
6.2 ish grains (whatever the Lee auto disk drops with the lot of powder) with anything from 200 gr SWC to 285 gr SWC in .45 Colt. Been using it since the early 90s since Mike Venturino mentioned using it in handloader. Picked up an 8 lb keg last year to use with cast bullets in milsurp rifles, trying 10.0 gr of it in 7.65x53 with NOE 314299 first.
Kegs were 12#.Attachment 198928
30-06
30-30
7.62x54r
7x57
308w
Oops - double tap
I acquired 2 jugs of Promo, but don't load for shotgun. I was told 13 grs in a 30-06, but don't remember the bullet weight - guessing 150gr.
I look forward to using this powder.
I know Kestrel4k has done a lot of work with RD - hopefully he will chime in.
Convinced yet?
Yes I have some promo, using it in the shotgun reloader at the moment.
I do have my RCBS powder measure setup with Red Dot. Normally it is dialed in for 4.6 grains. But if I am loaded 50 or more I will run it up to wherever is needed.
The other thing I do is I have a growing collection of dippers I have made.
For smaller quantity's I use a dipper and weigh. One full dipper gets me close, then a few grains lets me bring it up to exact. Does not take that long to run 20.
I really like being able to stock quantity's of one powder that covers most jobs. Then I also keep a few old favorites on hand. Like 3-4 pounds of both IMR 4895 and 3031. Plus some other odds and ends. But mostly it is the Red Dot I use.
Promo (cheaper bulk Red Dot equivalent ) has become one of my favorites for 40 S&W, 38 special and for suppressed heavy 300 Blackout in a bolt gun.
I went through 32 pounds of it in the late 70's in 38 specials and 45 acp. I use it today in my .348 winchester, where I size 358-429's to .351 and load over 13.0 grains of Red Dot. Two cartridges that are particularly well suited to Red Dot are the 44 Special, 5.5 grains under a 250 grain RCBS 44-245kt and 4.5 grains under a 230 grain NOE WC, and the 45 Colt, where just about any boollit can be made to shoot well, Somewhere between 5.5 and 6.5 grains of Red Dot depending on the boolit weight and you'll be pleased.
The only fly in the ointment is in small charges and Powder measures. Red Dot does not meter well. When you get down below 3 grains, you start to have sufficient variance to mess up your groups.
I use it in...
300blk
.38spl
.45acp
.308
I use it with my 12 ga slugs and buckshot
I have never tried Red Dot with a jacketed bullet in 30-30 (or anything now that I think of it).
I load the Lee 309-150 and 170 bullets as well as the NOE 311041.
If I am not mistaken the max listed load for Red Dot in 30-30 is 8 gr. I use 7 gr with a lot of success.
I don't know why you couldn't load jacketed over the same powder charge.
Steve in N CA
I once spent some time with the Lyman 47 and found Red Dot to have the most loads listed per caliber. The challenge would be to find something it didn't work in.
7.62X25 Tokarev.
Richard
I use it for a little of everything,mostly when I need reduced loads for the grandkids,it used to be available in one pound cardboard can but I picked up a couple of kegs back in the 80's.still using them, I do like my bullseye and unique powders Too. As long as I can get them:neutral:
In almost 4 years of looking I have not found a caliber that it won't work in.
Thanks to RG1911 for reminding me about the 7.62x25, yep loaded that one too, 3 grains under the Lee .314 90 gr TC sized down to .310. Good as factory accuracy and function. Bit less noise, and muzzle blast.
If I could find a cheap source for bowling balls I would have built a bowling ball cannon that shoots small charges of Red Dot. But the dang balls were too expensive.
Still tempting.
38 special, 9mmP, .40 S&W, .45Acp, .45 Colt, and cast boolit loads in several rifles.
I hear you can even use it in shotgun shells.
I use it is most of my pistol applications, depending on what purpose the rounds are loaded to do. One of my newest ventures is shooting it out of my REM. 788 chambered in .222 . Pushing a powder coated 225055 sp no gas check,over 5.5 gr. Of Red dot. Testing is in its infancy , however it shows great promise.
Just remembered: .30 Luger, usually with a 93-gr cast and a magnum primer (necessary to get the action to cycle on this particular model 1923 Luger).
Richard
It's only the last year that you could even buy Red Dot; most the last 8 years it was nowhere to be found. It would show up and get sold out in no time at all.
C.E. Harris had an article about 13 grains of RD as a reduced charge in almost any bolt action rifle. No recoil and less noise. If you had to use only one powder, RD would be it.
3.8gr under a 124gr in my 9mm just awesome