Just one powder

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4t5
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Just one powder

Post by 4t5 »

I have been reloading pistols for a while (although not a handloader per se, more of a pastime), I've accumulated a number of powders, inc. unique , blue dot, acc #5, titegroup, h110, 231. I wish to use these up , and want to use just one powder for my pistolas, which include 32 h&r, 327 fed, 38 spl, 357 mag, 44spl, 44mag (although not hot loads),9 mm, and 45 acp. I'm thinking I could get by with unique or blue dot. If you were to choose one powder to do all of the above what would you pick (doesn't have to be the ones I have on hand) ? As I get older I want to simplify things.
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Blaine
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Blaine »

I've had outstanding results from Blue Dot in .357 and .44 mag.....I decided a long time ago that keeping both below 1200fps is more than sufficient.
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stretch
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Re: Just one powder

Post by stretch »

Just one?!

I could happily - I AM happily getting by with 231 and 2400.

I haven't tried enough Blue Dot to give an opinion, although it seems to work well in 9mm for me.

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Re: Just one powder

Post by wvfarrier »

Unique is probably my favorite (do it all) powder and a little goes a long way BUT H110 is my "go to" for magnum cartridges. Its simply just better
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Ray Newman »

WVFarrier: yup, hard to beat the ol' tried and true Unique.
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4t5
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Re: Just one powder

Post by 4t5 »

I double charged with titegroup once or twice, and caught it on inspection before bullet seating :shock: . Since then I like powders that fill the case more, to make it easier to spot.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by FLINT »

I went through the same thing a few years ago to see if I could get by with one powder for 32 H&R, 327, 357, 41, and 45colt. It seemed like 2400 or AA#9 were the top contenders, but I could only find AA#9 locally at the time so that's the one I settled on.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Griff »

Unique... although I find it to be "dirty" and less than optimal in a number of cartridges.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Rockrat »

Unique or Universal Clays
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Scott Tschirhart
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

I use more Unique than anything.

People keep telling me to get some Universal Clays, but so far, I am still using Unique.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Walt »

Unique would be my top choice in a do-it-all powder despite being rather dirty and not metering well in some powder measures. In the cartridges you listed, it will do them all well.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by 44shooter »

Unique is extremely versatile and there is so much data from mouse guns to twelve gauge. Power Pistol is pretty good too at least from 9mm/38 to 45s.

I found Unique to meter much more precisely with a dedicated pistol powder drum.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Catshooter »

Unique. Universal Clays is flash-suppressed but is also position sensitive. Gave wild results in .38-55 for me.

So, probably Unique.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Bronco »

+1 for 2400
Probably could develop a load for most of my firearms, including rifles, with that one powder if I had to
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Re: Just one powder

Post by AJMD429 »

4t5 wrote: Thu Dec 22, 2022 2:54 pm I double charged with titegroup once or twice, and caught it on inspection before bullet seating :shock: . Since then I like powders that fill the case more, to make it easier to spot.
Me too.

AmmoGuide.com has some interesting 'what-if' search features that allow you to search for cartridges that have powders in common. It's not the same as getting the voice of experience from reloaders you know personally or at least on a forum like this, but it does allow you to search for different cartridges and powder combinations. If nothing else it's kind of a fun tool for speculating.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by 4t5 »

Thanks for the liink!
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marlinman93
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Re: Just one powder

Post by marlinman93 »

If I was restricted to just one powder it would be Unique. And not just for pistols, but for a number of rifles too. There's a reason it's called "Unique". An old shooting friend long gone now once told me he figured Moses used Unique too! It's the oldest smokeless powder still on the market, and almost every loading manual lists more loads for Unique than any other powder.
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4t5
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Re: Just one powder

Post by 4t5 »

It appears UNIQUE is the overall favorite, just wish it wasn’t so dirty.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by samsi »

My pick would be Power Pistol. I've loaded everything on the OP's list except.327 and gotten more than satisfactory results.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by samsi »

Scott Tschirhart wrote: Thu Dec 22, 2022 5:27 pm I use more Unique than anything.

People keep telling me to get some Universal Clays, but so far, I am still using Unique.
Unique meters like grimy cotton balls, of course I didn't realize this until I tried Universal. It doesn't smell as good as Unique for sure.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by BigSky56 »

AA 5744 works in all my pistols and most of my rifles, in 45 colt you can run from 750 to 1400 with a 255 gr bullet and 2200 in a 30-30 with a 173 bullet. Data is online at western powders. danny.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by earlmck »

If some catastrophe resulted in my being limited to just one pistol powder -- well I'd just go ahead and eat my gun because life wouldn't hardly be worth living anymore.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Griff »

earlmck wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 7:00 pmIf some catastrophe resulted in my being limited to just one pistol powder -- well I'd just go ahead and eat my gun because life wouldn't hardly be worth living anymore.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Gobblerforge »

Most of my reloading has been with IMR4227. My book calls for this powder for most all cast bullet loads. 22 Hornet, 38WCF and 3855 Winchester. Also for 410 shot gun. I don't know of a powder that would work to replace it.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by marlinman93 »

samsi wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 12:53 pm
Scott Tschirhart wrote: Thu Dec 22, 2022 5:27 pm I use more Unique than anything.

People keep telling me to get some Universal Clays, but so far, I am still using Unique.
Unique meters like grimy cotton balls, of course I didn't realize this until I tried Universal. It doesn't smell as good as Unique for sure.
Not sure what powder measure you're using to have metering issues with Unique? In my Harrell's Precision measure, or my Lyman 55 I've never had any issues with Unique metering perfectly.
Just loaded up a few hundred .45ACP's the last couple days using Unique, and it runs so smooth that I only drop one on the scale maybe every 10th charge to see if all is still good, and never see an issue.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by samsi »

RCBS Uniflow. Not the worlds best measure I know, but works well enough for the most part. Back in the 20th Century I loaded thousands of rounds of 45acp with Unique on a Dillon 550 and had no issues with the slide-bar measure, the Uniflow is another story. I've been trying to talk myself into a Redding 10X.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by JB »

Although it would rob me of some magnum performance, if I could only have one powder it would probably be Unique.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by 44shooter »

I bought a drum specifically for pistol charges for my Hornady measure and it cured the metering problems I was having with Unique. Around six grains of it will work in quite of few cartridges I have
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Re: Just one powder

Post by CowboyTutt »

Blue Dot here, for both pistola and rifle, but tend to agree with my spiritual Brother Earl on the "rather eat my gun thing". :P -Tutt
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Re: Just one powder

Post by RIHMFIRE »

wvfarrier wrote: Thu Dec 22, 2022 2:36 pm Unique is probably my favorite (do it all) powder and a little goes a long way BUT H110 is my "go to" for magnum cartridges. Its simply just better
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Re: Just one powder

Post by samsi »

44shooter wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 1:10 am I bought a drum specifically for pistol charges for my Hornady measure and it cured the metering problems I was having with Unique. Around six grains of it will work in quite of few cartridges I have
Yes, a new drum might cure my issue. This one has crunched its way through a lot of stick powder.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Walt »

Most of my reloading has been with IMR4227. My book calls for this powder for most all cast bullet loads. 22 Hornet, 38WCF and 3855 Winchester. Also for 410 shot gun. I don't know of a powder that would work to replace it


I like and use 4227 (Hodgdon says IMR and H- are the same) in .45 Colt and .41 and .44 mags but it's not an economical powder, requiring way more charge weight to achieve velocities that powders like Titegroup, AA5 and Power Pistol need for a given velocity. Obviously, the loading density is an advantage with 4227 but in this day and age of reduced availability, I don't know whether it's such a good choice, at least for me.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Griff »

I've probably loaded more 45 Colt with RedDot than any other powder. In smaller cases I prefer any number of other powders. Both Clays & Titegroup are good in the 45 Auto or Cowboy45Special. I'm not much on reduced loads in rifles, so I tend to stick to RE7, XMR5744, 3031, 4320 & 4350 for my rifle cartridges. A couple of new ones I've come to rely on with the .223 is CFE223 and for jacketed rounds in the 45 Auto I like CFE Pistol...
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Gobblerforge »

Walt wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 12:48 pm Most of my reloading has been with IMR4227. My book calls for this powder for most all cast bullet loads. 22 Hornet, 38WCF and 3855 Winchester. Also for 410 shot gun. I don't know of a powder that would work to replace it


I like and use 4227 (Hodgdon says IMR and H- are the same) in .45 Colt and .41 and .44 mags but it's not an economical powder, requiring way more charge weight to achieve velocities that powders like Titegroup, AA5 and Power Pistol need for a given velocity. Obviously, the loading density is an advantage with 4227 but in this day and age of reduced availability, I don't know whether it's such a good choice, at least for me.
Unfortunately I am not well versed on powders and don't know what powder is a good replacement for 4227 for all my needs.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by TomF »

Unique. 380 to 45. 30-30 to 45-70.
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Meters well in Lyman 55 or RCBS Uniflo
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

4t5 wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 12:17 pm It appears UNIQUE is the overall favorite, just wish it wasn’t so dirty.
I have never found Unique to be dirty. Moreover, I have never had a problem with it feeding through the powder measure on my Dillon or an old RCBS measure that I have used. Of course, I shot a lot of black powder over the years and maybe I am thinking about it in comparision to that.
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Re: Just one powder

Post by samsi »

Bringing this back up to retract my statement on the metering character of Unique ("meters like grimy cotton balls"). Lousy weather today so spent some time reloading, and while I was at it I disassembled and cleaned the powder measure. Huge difference, guess a guy should clean his tools every now and then...
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Re: Just one powder

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Yet another vote for Unique. In my experience, I have found it does indeed burn dirty and can leave enough flakes behind to get under the extractor star in a DA revolver and cause some mischief. But it is just so darned versatile. Did not realize Universal Clays was position-sensitive, but have used it mostly in handgun loads.
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