I will soon be loading for a few pistol loads. I have only loaded for rifle so far and have not tried pistol caliber loading.

I would ultimately like to keep one universal powder on hand for all pistol calibers that I will be loading. I will be loading the following

9mm
45acp
375/38
and most importantly 45 Colt. My main conern is that it works the best for 45 Colt. As long as it works ok for the rest I would be happy.

what ONE powder would you choose to load for all the above calibers?
I have heard Unique or even Tightgroup for ado all powder. What are all of your opinions?

Unique will work very well.... unless you are going to try and load plus P 45 Colt loads in a super strong revolver like a Ruger or Freedom Arms.

I would have say Win-231. It Works very well in my 9mm.45acp,38 and 357 mag, and 44 mag.

HS-6

I would have to say W-231. I think Unique would do fine also but 231 gets the nod since it burns a little cleaner and meters well. IMHO

Any of the powders in this general burn rate range will do for most pistol loads. WW231 burns clean, meters well, and is usually cheaper than the others at local gun shows.

14. Vihtavuori N320
15. Winchester WST
16. Accurate Arms No. 2
17. IMR, Co SR 7625
18. Hodgdon HP-38
19. Winchester 231
20. Alliant Unique
21. Hodgdon Universal
22. Alliant Power Pistol
23. Vihtavuori N330
24. Alliant Herco
25. Winchester WSF
26. Vihtavuori N340
27. IMR, Co "HI-Skor" 800-X

unique

Unique!
My standard load for S&W mod 25s is 9 grs behind 255 gr cast bullets. Using this load I and my shooting buds have recycled thousands of pounds of wheel weights. Works well in Rugers, and Colt Anacondas.
I clean the revolvers every 1,000 or so rounds even if they don't need it.
Make a gallon of Ed's Red, carry it to the range in a one gal. paint can. When the revolver gets hot or you are thru shooting, drop the revolver into the bucket muzzle first, go exchange lies with your buddies for 10 to 20 minutes. Wipe off, swamp out the barrel with a few patches, put handgun away and go home. You are done.
Jim

Try Accurate Arms #5. Nearly the same burning rate as Unique but flows through a powder measure MUCH smoother. I have forsaken all other pistol powders for this one.

The guys who vote Unique put their vote in the right place! I will too!

I`ve burnt #s of unique in the 45LC and it`s the only powder I used in 44 spcl for lite practice loads for my M29.

Unique for sure. 231 & other sim. speed powders are only going to give you plinking loads in the .357 & 45colt. It is a bit bulky for the 9mm, but will do. I don't use it much but as I get older I like things simpler so I may just switch.

Like NE 450 no 2 said, as long as you aren't expecting the highest velocity then Unique is the way to go. A very close second especially if you are wanting slightly more velocity is Bluedot.

Steve,

Any reason for HS-6? I've used it in numerous test loads along with many other powders and I've experienced clumping coming out of the measure.

Unique doesn't meter well although you get a lot of shots out of one pound.

AA-5 has been good to me too and WW231 comes to mind as well.

If I get the time I'll share some test load data comparing group size to %RSD. It's graphed and where the two are lowest is what I'm after. The results vary a bit for caliber but I'll see if there's any commonality to determine but one powder.

Good luck.

Reed

Gotta go with Unique--not only because of its utility in the calibers you mention, but it does fine work in cast bullet rifle loads as well. If I were to have only one pistol powder available, it would be Unique. Not the absolute best for the calibers you give, but certainly very good for all.

Unique, it is has a versatility not matched by other powders. I burn as much of it out of rifles with cast bullets as I do handguns.

I'll be the odd man out here, and vote for Hodgdon's Titegroup. I have used in in .45 ACP, 9mm, .357, .41 and .44 mags. It is cleaner burning than Unique, a little lasts a long time, and it's versatile. You won't get top velocity loads in the magnums with it, but we're talking about a compromise, "one powder for varied rounds" powder. I really like it with lead bullet loads in the above calibers.

Oh, and cowboy action shooters like it because it is "position insensitive" in large cases like .45 Colt, .44 Special, .44-40, etc. (Meaning that it does not matter if the powder charge is forward, against the bullet or back against the primer.)

[ 06-05-2003, 02:19: Message edited by: Calif Hunter ]