??? Did I do the WRONG thing ??? Blue dot powder.

[gray wolf]

I took Julie and the Dogs out for a ride for some fresh air yesterday, I took a wrong turn and wound up at the local gun store, (only gun store ) I had a few bucks saved up and since I am out of powder
Julie gave me permission to get a can of powder. The only thing on the shelf was Blue dot.
I scanned there loading books and it was listed for the 40S&W, 357 Mag, 44 Mag,
and I think the 45 ACP. I know or at least I think it's not a first choice and Alliant has a warning about light bullets in a 357, My question is can I expect any decent results in the 357 Mag
with 150 to 170 grain bullets and the 44 Mag with 240-to 265 grain bullets. they had NO 2400, BE, tite group or Unique.
Fact is Blue dot was it for powder. I paid $22 dollars for it. Did I spend our 22 bux on lawn fertilizer. What say you all ? Now I feel guilty that I spent all that Money and maybe it's no good.

[jmort]

Blue Dot is versatile like Unique and it is never a mistake. I just voluntarily ordered 5 pounds, even had to wait two weeks. Big fan of Blue Dot here. Works well in .357 and .44 for that matter. Have some load data if you need specific load.

[Finster101]

Lyman cast bullet handbook list

.357 150gr bullet Blue Dot start 8.2 Max 10.8

.357 170gr bullet Blue Dot start 8.3 Max 10.0


.44 240gr bullet Blue Dot start 14.0 Max 15.5

.44 265gr bullet Blue Dot start 14.5 Max 16.0



GW these specs are right out of the Lyman book. I have not tried them, only trying to help out with some published data. Maybe someone will come along with some favorite recipes. At least hopefully you have a starting point. So no, don't use it on the tomatoes!

[gray wolf]

Thank you,

[offshore44]

Blue Dot works in a lot of stuff. There is a guy that goes by "Seafire" on another forum, and hangs out here once in awhile, that has done a lot of work with Blue Dot. Good information to have on hand. I have used it in .44 mag, .45ACP, .308, and 8x57. Works just fine as a lower velocity propellent, it is NOT a low pressure propellent though. Usable with jacketed and cast.

I think you did just fine getting it.

[Andrew Mason]

i love blue dot powder.
i use it for my HOT jacketed loads.

before aliant released their warning about over pressure in light .357mag light bullet weights,
i was loading 18 grains of blue dot under a sierra 110 grain JHP.
velocities were more than impressive.
out of my 2" snubbie velocities were about 1,500 fps
out of my 6" colt velocities were about 1,850

the absolutle kicker was out of my 20" rossi leveraction.
the velocity was hovering around 2,500fps.

blue dot is some serious powder, and i would never consider it fertilizer.
if you dont want it any more, ill buy it.

[454PB]

If I was restricted to only one powder, it would be BlueDot.

[gray wolf]

Wow, good info, It didn't show high pressure when I looked it up at the store in the Lyman book.
I don't load to Max anyway and try very hare to be careful.
It seems I never see to much of it when powders are talked about. But it sure seems I will be using it.
They had 4 more 1 pound bottles but I only had money for 1

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Before I started casting, I was swaging 44 Mag bullets using old brass cases from 40 S&W and a 175gr. pure lead core...ending up with a 252gr. Brass jacketed hollow point. Blue Dot was my favorite powder for those. I tend to use faster powders for cast boolits that are lighter than 250gr in 44 Mag....But Blue dot should be excellent for heavier cast boolits...like the Lee C430-310RF or the Ranchdog 265gr.


edited: I should clarify, I like blue Dot for "standard" 44 Mag loads. I use H110 for Max loads and unique for plinking Lightweight loads.

[another gunslinger]

Blue Dot is one of the best powders going for the best semi auto pistol cartridge ever devised, the 10mm. So long as you don't mind the muzzle flash.

[fryboy]

any smokeless powder makes great fertilizer !! however ... that's a secondary or last resort use
i tend to prefer the slower powders for cast ( when i can that is ) usually these offer a lower pressure with comparable velocity compared to the faster powders albeit usually with a heavier charge weight ,while perhaps not as versatile as unique it's still a viable option

[cbrick]

I took a wrong turn and wound up at the local gun store, (only gun store )

Did Julie buy that? Wrong turn, what ever works huh. . .

Rick

[osteodoc08]

Blue dot is good stuff in big bore magnums (although they recanted with the 41 Mag for some reason) as well as bigger auto like 10mm. Matter of fact, I enjoy using BD in my 10mm. I'm trying Longshot now or my 200gr XTP loads and is showing promise.

[gray wolf]

Did Julie buy that? Wrong turn, what ever works huh. . .

Can't fool Julie, Sometimes she makes me think that I do.

[winelover]

Use to use it exclusively in 9mm (125 JSP) and 357 (158 JSP) until I had to re-barrel my Python due to forcing cone erosion.
Made the switch to cast boolets and 2400 in the Python, and no more issues. Unique for the nine. I won't buy Bluedot again!

Winelover

[gray wolf]

Use to use it exclusively in 9mm (125 JSP) and 357 (158 JSP)
******until I had to re-barrel my Python due to forcing cone erosion.****

I don't like that at all, so is the Blue dot to hot of a powder ? I don't want to destroy any top straps or forcing cones. This is the first I am hearing this about blue dot. Can someone explain what this flame cutting and forcing cone cracking is all about ? plwase.

[RobS]

You won't have any issues in the middle or middle upper ground of the revolvers nor in the 45 auto. Not to mention you only have one pound of it. BD had more of an issue with upper end loads and lighter for caliber bullets. It will throw some unburnt powder on your arms in the 45 Auto though.

[Harter66]

I loaded some in 12ga .......
I tried some in a 357 mag w/158s the load was about a 1/10 about starting,stuck the cases tight. That 66 was quirky anyway. Looking back w/ it long gone, I think it probably had 355 throats w/357 bbl. I guess that validates the light bullet pressure spike.

[jonp]

Blue dot is not as versitile as Unique but is a great powder in Mags and will work in all the rounds you asked for including the 45acp.
I don't use it anymore for mag loads having moved to others but it works fine. I've read many places about how hot it is and how it will burn topstraps but I never noticed anything

[cwheel]

The warning they put out was, in part, for 125 gr. loads in .357. Several over pressure results. I used it on a small run before the warning. Think those were the highest pressure loads I ever ran, even starting in the middle of the recommended loads. Made my little model 66 with a 2 1/2" barrel into something that recoiled like a 44 mag. Shooting at dusk, turned it into a flame thrower, quite the flash. Same loads in a rifle with a 18 1/2" barrel went through the chronograph at almost 1900 fps. Had to pull the remaining rounds, reloaded them in Unique.
Chris