Gentlemen,
We have discussed Alliants Promo powder here, mostly in chat, so I decided to give it a try. I bought an 8lb jug locally for $79.50 tax included out the door, and used Red Dot data as a starting point to work up loads.
Here are my first results;
38 Special (6" bbl Colt Officers Model Target revolver)
Primer: Win small pistol
Case: Winchester
Charge: 3.1grs Promo
Boolit: 148gr WC
Ave velocity: 753 f.p.s.
High: 781 f.p.s.
Low: 705 f.p.s.
380 ACP (Bersa)
Primer: Magtech 1 1/2 small pistol
Case: Mixed headstamps
Charge: 2.5grs Promo
Boolit: 105gr LRN
Ave velocity: 865 f.p.s.
Notes: I think I have found my new target load for the 38, pending further accuracy testing.
Be aware, when loading extremely small charges of Promo, such as the 2.5gr/380 load, that Promo doesn't meter very well. At least in my Lee powder measure (disk type). My first batch with this load had a few near squibs, with extremely low velocities. At first I thought it was the primers (first try with Magtech primers), then as I loaded another batch, I CLOSELY inspected the powder level inside the charged cases. A few looked a little low, so I dumped them on the electronic scale. They weighed between 0.7 and 1.2grs. Too low obviously. May not be a problem with other powder measures, just something to be aware of. I'll probably switch to my Hornady measure for loading the 380s, since the Hornady did fine with the 3.1gr load in the 38 Special. The proper 2.5gr charges worked perfectly, no squibs.
So far I'm liking Promo, especially for the price. 8lbs will load a LOT of ammo with these charge weights.
I have also loaded some 45 Long Colt rounds with Promo, I'll post those results as soon as I run them over the chronograph.
SSB