What powder would you recommend for 125 grain Blue Bullets? I would like to consistently make minor power factor from 5" barrel. Bonus points if double charge is obvious (close to overflowing).
Posted Jul 24, 2016, 1:48 PM UTC
Accurate #5 or #7 would be worth a try. I bought some on a whim during the powder shortage and it's all I will use for pistol loads now. The stuff meters wonderfully and it's really easy to find in stock, at least around here.
I've only tried HP-38, but I've had great luck with it. I get a very consistent throw, even from a Lee Perfect Powder measure. I never have to adjust it, and maybe 1 in 100 throws is .1 off
I load 3.9 grains under a 124 Grain RN Xtreme. My 92 absolutely loves this load. It's soft and far more accurate than I could take advantage of.
+1 for win231/hp38 used it for .45 auto and 9mm for 24 years. Loaded 10s of thousands of rounds with it.
I use it for 45 as well. Works great for me at 5.0 with a 230 gr RN. I see no reason to look for anything else for these two calibers.
I shoot USPSA Production with a Glock 34 (5" barrel) and 125gr Blue Bullets and I load with Bullseye. I like it a lot. Meters well, and I don't have to use a lot of it per round.
If you try it, don't tell your friends, or you'll hear from everyone and their brother about how awful Bullseye is. They told me it's filthy, sooty, nasty stuff, but I'm through almost 8lbs of it now, and that hasn't been my experience at all. I like the stuff, and I'll buy another keg of it soon.
I prefer Titegroup myself.
HS-6
I've loaded for my own ~130gr cast bullets, and recently have been going with Titegroup and Universal with good success.
I started reloading yesterday with titegroup. Meters well, only complaint is that it burns super hot, so you'll probably get some scorched brass. Be careful not to double charge, OP, that stuff is dense.
800x works in 9mm and the initial charge is close to overflowing. No idea about power factors but book loads are on the warm side in terms of velocity.
I went and looked it up, looks like you'd need 1000 fps. My loads of 5.3gr 800x clocked 1053 fps from a 5" 92FS with a 124gr Xtreme plated RN. Presumably lead would be a little faster. That's the lightest load I tested, up to 6.0gr that clocked 1150fps.
So perhaps this will be on the stout side for what you are looking for, and I assume lead will be going a little faster at each charge weight. I'm not sure how much further down you could go before getting into inconsistencies?
If you like the 125, try the 147. You need even less powder and the recoil is very soft! I use VV N320, but Ramshot Competition is very good too. Both are obvious when double charged. Tightgroup is another favorite. It's cheap and a little hours a very long way, but double and even triple charges are possible. Good luck!
Edit: The common convention is to use the heaviest bullet your gun can handle accurately with the faster powders. This results in the lowest possible recoil while maintaining power factor.
I've had great luck with accurate no. 5 and 7, as well as titegroup. Even though some claim beginners shouldn't use titegroup, I find it quite obvious when it's double charged and the amount of rounds you get out of one pound is awesome.
I've been running Power Pistol with 115gr out of my Glock 17 without issue. Very consistent.
Blue Dot meters well and is darn near case capacity on the first charge. Very good velocity for 124gr as well. I found my velocity SD to be very low as well.
I really like Bullseye, and don't like Unique for 9mm. On my equipment, Unique gets spun out of the case when the shell plate indexes. It makes a mess unless you slow down your lever actuation.
I use both WSF and Titegroup. Both shoot wonderfully. I can't pick a favorite.
I like Titegroup but it runs hot as some have said. AutoComp is really great, came to prefer it in 9mm.
Power pistol, Bullseye, CFE Pistol. All meter well, all will easily make Minor, all double charges are obvious, all perform well with 124 gr plated pills, so I'd presume they'd work for 125gr LRN.
Those are the three that I have experience with, but pretty much any pistol powder will work for what you're asking. 9mm is pretty friendly to beginners. Even the ones that are considered not beginner-friendly like Titegroup will show a double charge clearly if you're inspecting your cases. As long as you're not trying to make Major with 9mm, just grab what seems to be in stock locally and load away.