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

[steve urquell]

Come on. Are you in or are you out?

Maybe put it in a coffee grinder and then remotely turn it on with an extension cord

Remember to first put out your lit cigarettes when you grind your gunpowder

I'll stand back with my phone running video while you guys lead here

[Recycled bullet]

Please forgive my humor. I am curious if that MP powder would produce better results on target than Bullseye does with my 308 Winchester barely supersonic loads. I had good results with Winchester Auto comp and unique at 10 grain I wonder if this MP powder would be safe for that same type of load or would it need an increase in powder charge.

[steve urquell]

Please forgive my humor. I am curious if that MP powder would produce better results on target than Bullseye does with my 308 Winchester barely supersonic loads. I had good results with Winchester Auto comp and unique at 10 grain I wonder if this MP powder would be safe for that same type of load or would it need an increase in powder charge.

I'm not worried about this powder in that role because of it's burn rate. Fast enough to not be an issue and fairly/very bulky.
GMDR has many Blue Dot loads for bigger cases and I'm treating the MP like it.

I loaded the 4.7gr load under some Lee 160gr boolits in .300blk and fired them Wed night. Velocity was 950fps. Cases were sooty. I will increase charge and see if it'll clean up. I still haven't found a role for it although the 1300fps load with 110gr plated RN is a good one and cases clean.

[Tracy]

I haven't tried MP-254, but I do have some MP-248 and also have some MP-249 on the way. Both say similar to IMR Blue. The 248 is listed as 915 fps for a 230 grain TMJ over 8 grains in a 5" 1911 .45. The 249 is slightly slower; 900 fps with all other factors being equal.

As I said, the 249 has not arrived yet but I have fired a few rounds of 248 in .44 Mag and .454 Casull. I started with 1cc (8.8 grains) under a 240 grain cast swc. That seemed like a nice midrange load and there was no unburned powder left behind. From there I went to 10 grains. Those shot well too, but were more powerful than what I really wanted. No noticeable pressure signs and certainly not a hot .44 Mag load; just a bit hotter than what I was looking for. I didn't chronograph them but the the 8.8 grain load felt and sounded about like the ~1000 fps load I was looking for. Increasing the charge to 10 grains made a very noticeable difference in power.

I tried 1.3cc (11.4 grains) in .454 Casull under a 250 grain cast swc and didn't like that one. Certainly nowhere near full power, but still not what I would consider a pleasant shooting load. I also had one blooper. CCI 400 primers.
I think I need to forget this powder in .454, and instead load 8.8 grains under the same bullet in .45 Colt cases.

This powder metered well using both Lee dippers and my RCBS Uniflow.

[steve urquell]

I haven't tried MP-254, but I do have some MP-248 and also have some MP-249 on the way. Both say similar to IMR Blue. The 248 is listed as 915 fps for a 230 grain TMJ over 8 grains in a 5" 1911 .45. The 249 is slightly slower; 900 fps with all other factors being equal.

As I said, the 249 has not arrived yet but I have fired a few rounds of 248 in .44 Mag and .454 Casull. I started with 1cc (8.8 grains) under a 240 grain cast swc. That seemed like a nice midrange load and there was no unburned powder left behind. From there I went to 10 grains. Those shot well too, but were more powerful than what I really wanted. No noticeable pressure signs and certainly not a hot .44 Mag load; just a bit hotter than what I was looking for. I didn't chronograph them but the the 8.8 grain load felt and sounded about like the ~1000 fps load I was looking for. Increasing the charge to 10 grains made a very noticeable difference in power.

I tried 1.3cc (11.4 grains) in .454 Casull under a 250 grain cast swc and didn't like that one. Certainly nowhere near full power, but still not what I would consider a pleasant shooting load. I also had one blooper. CCI 400 primers.
I think I need to forget this powder in .454, and instead load 8.8 grains under the same bullet in .45 Colt cases.

This powder metered well using both Lee dippers and my RCBS Uniflow.

Thanks for the detailed post. The impression I'm getting from MP254 is that it has to be pushed a little bit to burn cleanly. Maybe more so in smaller calibers. I'm hoping to find a subsonic load in 9mm or .300blk that will burn clean for me.

[steve urquell]

OK, MP254 round 2 on .300BLK:

5.0gr
160gr Lee .309"
case neck expanded with Lee .311" (.32S&W L)PTE die
1.95" OAL


Subsonic


25yds, 4 shots


Less sooty than before. Gonna load some more and push the target back

[steve urquell]

OK, I feel like I've got a good MP254 load especially considering how this stuff meters and mixed brass.
9 shots(all I had left with bases painted).
ES: 65
SD: 19


Brass looks cleaner than my old Unique loads


5/8" 35yd group with flyer opening it to 1"

[steve urquell]

I played around with Lee 102gr cast PC, also with ceramic paint on the bases. MP-254 needs more backpressure than this little boolit has so I used TiteWad powder here:

2.7gr TiteWad
1.70 OAL


Velocities fairly consistent. Throw out #1 as it did not belong in this group--different load


35yd 10 shot group decent at ~ 1". Satisfactory with subsonic short bullets

[kenton]

I bought some MP 247 with the intention of using it in 38 special. After reading this thread I decided to try it in my 300 blk Ruger American. I loaded up some extreme 110 gr plated bullets with 8 to 11 grains of MP 247 powder. I got 2" to 2.5" five shot groups at 70 yards with 8 -10 grains, with 10 grains being only a few inches under my 100 yard hunting load zero. At 11 grains it turned into a shotgun pattern.

[steve urquell]

I bought some MP 247 with the intention of using it in 38 special. After reading this thread I decided to try it in my 300 blk Ruger American. I loaded up some extreme 110 gr plated bullets with 8 to 11 grains of MP 247 powder. I got 2" to 2.5" five shot groups at 70 yards with 8 -10 grains, with 10 grains being only a few inches under my 100 yard hunting load zero. At 11 grains it turned into a shotgun pattern.

I got 1300fps with 6 grains of MP-254 with the 110gr Xtreme bullet. Xtreme recommends keeping velocity under 1500fps with a light taper crimp. You were probably way over 1500fps on that load.

[Agent1187]

Tested MP-254 with shotgun slugs yesterday.
30 grains under a 620gr full-bore 525 yielded 1125 fps.
35 gr under a 1oz Lee Slug in a 12S0 wad was 1235 fps. There was one that didn't fully burn and only got to 750 fps.

Overall:
Big booms
Big flash
Big grins

[kenton]

I got 1300fps with 6 grains of MP-254 with the 110gr Xtreme bullet. Xtreme recommends keeping velocity under 1500fps with a light taper crimp. You were probably way over 1500fps on that load.

I saw that on their website. I thought it was a bit strange since you don't see many starting loads for 30 carbine under 1700fps. I wonder if they don't coat the 110gr bullets thicker and that is just a boiler plate text they put on everything. I have been talking myself out of picking up a chronograph for a number of years now. Maybe I will finally buy one for myself this year.

[steve urquell]

I saw that on their website. I thought it was a bit strange since you don't see many starting loads for 30 carbine under 1700fps. I wonder if the don't coat the 110gr bullets thicker and that is just a boiler plate text they put on everything. I have been talking myself out of picking up a chronograph for a number of years now. Maybe I will finally buy one for myself this year.

I know. I was really trying to find if they had higher velocity allowed on that bullet. Berry's says 2000fps on their .30carb plated bullet.

[steve urquell]

Tested MP-254 with shotgun slugs yesterday.
30 grains under a 620gr full-bore 525 yielded 1125 fps.
35 gr under a 1oz Lee Slug in a 12S0 wad was 1235 fps. There was one that didn't fully burn and only got to 750 fps.

Overall:
Big booms
Big flash
Big grins

Very cool. I'm sure Barry will be thrilled to see someone loading shotgun with it.

@kenton: I emailed Xtreme about the .30 Carbine max velocity. Couldn't help but throw in that tidbit about Berry's rating theirs to 2000fps lol. Maybe shames them into plating them thicker.

[kenton]

I weighed some larger charges just to see how consistent MP247 was through my RCBS UniFlow.

9.3
9.5
9.4
9.2
9.1
9.3
9.2
9.4
9.2
9.1

I guess .4 grain variation isn't the end of the world for plinking ammo.

[Barry54]

Very cool. I'm sure Barry will be thrilled to see someone loading shotgun with it.

@kenton: I emailed Xtreme about the .30 Carbine max velocity. Couldn't help but throw in that tidbit about Berry's rating theirs to 2000fps lol. Maybe shames them into plating them thicker.

It’s tempting but the price isn’t quite enticing enough. And I’m working on a freshly opened 8 lb jug of Longshot and got a 4 lb jug of Blue Dot a couple of months back.

An 8 lb jug of Accurate 2700 for $225 is sitting in my cart at midway currently. Never tried it, but it’s cheap for canister powder today...
Tough decisions

[steve urquell]

It’s tempting but the price isn’t quite enticing enough. And I’m working on a freshly opened 8 lb jug of Longshot and got a 4 lb jug of Blue Dot a couple of months back.

An 8 lb jug of Accurate 2700 for $225 is sitting in my cart at midway currently. Never tried it, but it’s cheap for canister powder today...
Tough decisions

This powder is nothing special, just something to play around with at $20/lb.

I weighed some larger charges just to see how consistent MP247 was through my RCBS UniFlow.

9.3
9.5
9.4
9.2
9.1
9.3
9.2
9.4
9.2
9.1

I guess .4 grain variation isn't the end of the world for plinking ammo.

Pretty close to what I was getting. Rapping the powder drop up and down tightens it up to .1-.2gr.