Alternative 9mm Powders: TiteWad, Nitro 100NF, MP254

[steve urquell]

Disclaimer: There is little or no data for most of these loads using these powders. Proceed at your own risk if using my data. Not responsible for you etc...

I bought a bottle of TiteWad many years ago during the first powder shortage. There is a little factory data for 124gr Berry's as well as one other bullet. I got comfortable with it's characteristics and branched out with it and really like it. I have loaded ~6,000 rds with it so far. It is fast burning and requires very little powder.

I found that Nitro 100NF has a similar burn rate and the charges cross pretty close to TiteWad so I have been using Nitro100NF data to load TiteWad in bullet weights not listed for TW. Lots of Nitro100NF Data Here: https://shootersreference.com/reloadingdata/9-mm-luger/

Because of the light charges needed and fast burn rate it is quiet thru my suppressor. I shoot an AR15 9mm 5" bbl, CZ SP01 and 2 PSA Daggers(Glock 19 Clones)

Nitro100NF 2.2 grs in case. 147gr Lee TC




TW 2.2gr in case. Lee 147gr TC




UNPUBLISHED LOAD:
Lee 358-125-rf
3.0gr Titewad
1.025" OAL
1040fps Very accurate and quiet thru the suppressor.


Lee 358-158-RF
TW
1.104 OAL
Not gonna post charge because it is probably a 9MAJOR load and will only chamber in my very deep throated Alpha Wolf bbl. Accurate 25yd group

[steve urquell]

MP molds 357-135
2.9gr TW
1.12 OAL
1000fps
25yd AR15 9mm group



Lee 356-147-TC
2.2gr TW
820fps
Can't find the OAL on these but seated right at the shoulder with only the cone showing
25yd AR15 9mm group



147Gr thick-plate Xtreme RN
1.160" OAL
2.7gr TiteWad (unpublished load)
Fiocchi SPP
842fps

[steve urquell]

I bought some Midwest Powders MP254 awhile ago. I've been playing around with it. It says it is similar IMR Blue. There is no IMR blue data so I used some found on NATO Reloading where they worked up some loads with IMR Blue. http://natoreloading.com/imrblue/

Big circular flakes that don't meter well. I tried 3 different powder drops and none would drop consistently. Varying up to .4gr. Only because I'm not loading near max I just am not going to worry about the irregular charge weights unless it becomes a problem. TBH I don't think you can overload this powder as bulky as it is. 6.0gr was within 1/8" of the top of a case. I don't like it one bit but I'm not going to have an overpressure situation at .4gr over my setting and I'm not willing to hand check/adjust each load. Accuracy will be the deciding factor on how I proceed with this powder.

It is similar but not the same as IMR Blue. ~8.8 grains fills a case completely. At 6.0gr with a 148gr JHP it was compressed and it didn't like it. I was getting 1000fps readings followed by 700fps readings so I discarded compressing it.

Loaded some 115gr plated RN with 5.9gr and got 1000fps. I noticed it was ejecting brass hard with this load so backed it down to 5.0gr and still getting ejection and 850fps. It's wild that I can get ejection with that light of a bullet at that low velocity. Accuracy looks promising. I will update on this powder as I develop loads for it.

[Barry54]

Thanks for sharing your results.

Does the Lee 358-158-RF bulge the brass, if you seat it deeper? Have you tested it in a blowback platform? (AR pattern)

[steve urquell]

Thanks for sharing your results.

Does the Lee 358-158-RF bulge the brass, if you seat it deeper? Have you tested it in a blowback platform? (AR pattern)

It will if you get it deep. I was unable to get it to chamber in any of my factory barrels. The Alpha Wolf barrel has a super deep throat and is the only one I could get it to work in. I kept seating it deeper to see how much it would take to get it in a factory chamber and gave up because there was almost no room for powder. It would have been overpressure with almost any load. I don't think I got it to chamber even when it was 1/4" from the bottom of the case and then it was bulged beyond use.

[steve urquell]

I messed around with the MP powder and gave up on it. It was horribly inaccurate at low powder charges. It may be better driven hard but it isn't a subsonic contender for me.

Below is some more TiteWad data. Very mild and quiet. Will not cycle pistols but did in my AR9. 25yd group.
115gr Xtreme plated RN
3.1gr TW
1.120 OAL

[BNE]

Thank you so much for posting. I bought a bottle of TiteWad during the first shortage also! Now I have some things to try. Thank you again!

[steve urquell]

Thank you so much for posting. I bought a bottle of TiteWad during the first shortage also! Now I have some things to try. Thank you again!

You are welcome. Check out the shootersreference link above and plug in Nitro100 as the powder for your bullet weight. I think they are really close if not identical. Let me know if I can help in any way.

[Recycled bullet]

This is very interesting thank you for sharing your results and for all the work to gather, collect, assemble the information.

[steve urquell]

This is very interesting thank you for sharing your results and for all the work to gather, collect, assemble the information.

My pleasure. I'll keep updating it as I keep developing loads.

[Kosh75287]

Thanks for the interesting data. The MP-254 propellant sounds like one I need to explore for use in .38 Super. Beyond that, I'll just stick to Unique or AA#5 for my 9mm loading.

[steve urquell]

Thanks for the interesting data. The MP-254 propellant sounds like one I need to explore for use in .38 Super. Beyond that, I'll just stick to Unique or AA#5 for my 9mm loading.

You might hold off on the MP. It was inaccurate for me and meters terribly. I have nothing good to report on it yet. I'm not done playing with it yet. May try some 147gr plated RN with it or try it in .38spl.

[Agent1187]

This is good timing as I also grabbed some of that MP254 powder. Given it "works good for shotshells" and flakes the size of dinner plates, I figured it was a non-canister STEEL variant.

I finally loaded up a few of the listed 8.5gr 45 ACP loads with a PC 230gr RNFP boolit yesterday and my 6" 1911 spat them out at 975-1000 FPs.

No kidding about terrible metering though!

[steve urquell]

This is good timing as I also grabbed some of that MP254 powder. Given it "works good for shotshells" and flakes the size of dinner plates, I figured it was a non-canister STEEL variant.

I finally loaded up a few of the listed 8.5gr 45 ACP loads with a PC 230gr RNFP boolit yesterday and my 6" 1911 spat them out at 975-1000 FPs.

No kidding about terrible metering though!

It is fantastic at cycling autos. I went back and loaded several 9mm 115gr RN and adjusted each charge to make sure they were all exactly 5.0gr. They shot all over the target. I dont know what the recipe for an accurate load is for that powder but it wasn't what I loaded lol.

I had a similar experience with a slower burning powder and it needed to be pushed harder. This one fills the case with heavier charges and I had erratic velocities when it was compressed. I don't know about this one yet.

[steve urquell]

Played around with the MP254 again today. My FIL bought a mixed lot from American reloading of pulled bullets and shared some oddds and ends out of it. I loaded some
"who knows what" 124gr HPs with 6.0gr of MP trying to push velocity a little. The group at 25yds out of the AR9 was not great so I have put that powder to the side for now and will work up .38/.357 loads at a later date with it to see if it needs a bigger case volume.



Moved on to some 147gr XTPs in the lot. I load 148gr HSTs with 6.6gr of Shooter's World Major Pistol Powder and loaded these the same. Major is a very fine powder and meters well. They shot to POI the same as the HSTs so I loaded up all 45 of them for armadillo use. The powder difference in the MP and Major is striking.


In the mix were 4 very long with extremely deep HPs which weighed 115gr but were the same length as 147s. I initially thought they may be frangibles. I loaded them up with the 5.0 MP load and fired them at my steel plates with very odd results. I think these are zinc or something.

[steve urquell]

I shot some PC boolits into water earlier to check the effect of header paint on the bases of them: It kept the PC intact.
While I was at it I shot one of the 147gr XTPs into the water as well. Nice expansion. Should be good armadillo fodder.

[Barry54]

Every xtp I’ve fired into wet phone books or whatever test media I had handy always looked picture perfect.

I took a buck with a 147 grain xtp after I was satisfied with penetration testing. It was successful, but I don’t plan on making a habit of it. <8 grains of powder for a whitetail is my current record.

Can you acid test those 115’s for zinc? I’m pretty sure I got some aluminum 45s in an auction lot.

[steve urquell]

Every xtp I’ve fired into wet phone books or whatever test media I had handy always looked picture perfect.

I took a buck with a 147 grain xtp after I was satisfied with penetration testing. It was successful, but I don’t plan on making a habit of it. <8 grains of powder for a whitetail is my current record.

Can you acid test those 115’s for zinc? I’m pretty sure I got some aluminum 45s in an auction lot.

I feel like the XTP is an excellent and overlooked bullet. Expands reliably and penetrates deep. I have shot the 90gr .309XTP designed for .30 Mauser velocities at 2500fps in my .300BLK. The cone nose explodes but the body with jacket and core continues to penetrate. Outstanding performance pushing it beyond what it was designed for.

I think the mystery 115s are total copper. There were only 4 of them so checking beyond what I did isn't a big priority. I chucked the 2 carcasses in my scrap copper bin.

[Recycled bullet]

That MP powder looks like it meters like sunflower seeds.

[steve urquell]

That MP powder looks like it meters like sunflower seeds.

Ha, ha! Yep, that's accurate. Looks like pepper flakes at Pizza Hut lol.