44 Weekend

[Keith D]

A nice weekend for 44 loading. Lyman bullets for the Special and Saeco bullets for the Magnum. It seems all of my favorite Alliant powders are no longer available. Luckily I still have some in stock. Went to Cabela's yesterday and got Win 231 for the very first time. Looking forward to trying new powder, but used Unique for 20 years now.

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[Scott Tschirhart]

I look forward to hearing about your experience with 231.

[Walt]

Keith, I'm sure you'll be happy with 231. It's almost as versatile as Unique but a little more economical and certainly cleaner burning. Good luck!

[1894cfan]

+1 on 231! Been using it for over 40 years!

[Rimfire McNutjob]

My understanding is that 231 is being phased out. Not tomorrow, but it will be harder to get in the future. Something about the process not being as clean and efficient as the more modern process for newer ball powders.

[JBowen]

My understanding is that 231 is being phased out. Not tomorrow, but it will be harder to get in the future. Something about the process not being as clean and efficient as the more modern process for newer ball powders.

I hope not. My 1872 Open Tops in .38 Special likes 4.3 gr. under a 158 gr. lrnfp best. I have no complaints using it in 45 Colt either.

JBowen

[rock-steady]

Well, I guess I need to get out more. The scarcity of some Alliant powders is news to me.

Blue Dot and Unique are my most used powders. Everything from revolver loads to shotgun loads.

W231 is my favorite for .38 SPL & 45ACP.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

This is the blurb I was referring to ...

"Winchester 231 certainly has been hard to get. The plant that makes Winchester powders does not want to make 231 as well as a few other powders. These older technology powders have different chemistry than the new powders and this older chemistry makes it much slower to make powder: basically, you can make about 2.5 times as many pounds of new chemistry powder in the time it takes to make 1 pound of old chemistry powder. During the process of making the old powders, the waste stream created is huge compared to the waste stream of the new chemistry powders. Chemical waste is very expensive to get rid of. So, the plant wants to phase out the old chemistry powders and replace them with new chemistry powders. While they are still making 231, the amount is being reduced and the amount of new powder such as Titegroup and Longshot is being increased. Now, we are kind of stuck in the middle. The market is demanding 231 but the maker is not wanting to produce the powder. The result is, over time, 231 is going to go away. Shooters should begin using other powders as they can."

Mike Daly
Hodgdon Family of Fine Propellants
Hodgdon Smokeless Powder
IMR Powder Company
Winchester Smokeless Propellants
GOEX Blackpowder

[Scott Tschirhart]

Dang! I may need to expand my search!!!

[Walt]

Take a look at AA-5, HS-6, Longshot, Enforcer and Power Pistol, all good midrange powders.

[GunnyMack]

Oh sure, I just FOUND 231... always my luck!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I have 5 pounds of Unique left. It’s only to be used in my.44 Special Skeeter loads.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Very consistent results this weekend but I won’t win any matches. From this morning at 25 yards.

[samsi]

W231 = HP38. I remember reading that blurb about 231 going away some years ago, and while 231 labeled product does seem scarce, the same doesn't seem to be true of HP38. I've been grabbing a pound every couple months so far this year just in case it pulls a disappearing act - and we are in an election year, so the run on ammo and components is bound to happen again.

Speaking of .44's, I had my old 44 mag Vaquero out on Friday for it's first run with a new (Take-off) 5.5" barrel replacing the bobbed 4" it's worn for the past 20+ years. I had the short gun regulated for 10gr Unique and a 240 SWC. Before heading out I filed the front to not quite the same height on the 5 1/2". The Unique load shot low, as I expected, but the surprise was that it was dead on at 25 yards with the 250 Keith over 8.5 Power Pistol and a 240SWC over 5.5 W231/HP38. Both loads are deep seated to 44 Special OAL. I'm going to leave the sights alone for now and just use these two loads in it - until I run out of one or the other of those powders...

[Scott Tschirhart]

Sounds like a good plan!