Powder and primer preferences?

[FLHTC]

Hello I have some reloading questions and wondered if you people would be so kind to help as you have in the past. I haven’t reloaded since the early 90’s and now I’m staring new with new equipment. I don’t expect to do a lot of experimentation with different loads however I plan on loading .38 /357 .45ACP and 44Mag.
Is there a powder that works well in all these calibers?
Do I need to lube the cases?
Do I need to trim cases?
Do I need to tumble the cases?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[EC1]

Hello I have some reloading questions and wondered if you people would be so kind to help as you have in the past. I haven’t reloaded since the early 90’s and now I’m staring new with new equipment. I don’t expect to do a lot of experimentation with different loads however I plan on loading .38 /357 .45ACP and 44Mag.
Is there a powder that works well in all these calibers?
Do I need to lube the cases?
Do I need to trim cases?
Do I need to tumble the cases?

Thanks again for your help.

Unique from Alliant works in these calibers,
depends on the dies if they're carbide not necessary,
trim only if they're too long (multiple reloads unless they're very hot),
cleaning is needed if they're dirty or tarnished or hitting the dirt on an outdoor range, otherwise after a few reloads to clean the burnt residue from the cases.

 

[caillean]

I currently use Bullseye for .38spcl/.357mag, and .45 acp (and 9mm). I like it far better than unique. It definitely is cleaner and dispenses dead-reliable from the powder measure. The unique was impossible to get a consistent charge out of and is filthy. (I am using a progressive press. if you're doing things on a single stage and weighting each charge, you won't have a problem with unique not dispensing evenly.)

I would assume it would also work fine for .44mag. There may be a better choice out there, but Bullseye will get the job done.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Is there a powder that works well in all these calibers?
You'll want to use a faster powder (like Bullseye or W231) for .38 and .45 ACP.
To get magnum performance out of the magnums, you'll need a slower powder like 2400, Blue Dot, or AA9.

Do I need to lube the cases?
No need to lube pistol cases if you use carbide dies.

Do I need to trim cases?
You should never have to trim a pistol case.

Do I need to tumble the cases?
Yes. Every time. You want to make sure your cases are free from grit of any kind. If you put a gritty case into a die, and that grit gets embedded in the die, it can score the rest of the cases that you size. Guess what happens when you fire a scored case.

 

[richc]

What powder would y'all use for 9mm pistol and .223 rifle?

Thanks,

Rich

 

[EddieCoyle]

What powder would y'all use for 9mm pistol and .223 rifle?

Thanks,

Rich

9mm - Power Pistol, HS-6, Blue Dot
.223 - H335, H322, A2230, Varget, 4895, 3031

 

[richc]

9mm - Power Pistol, HS-6, Blue Dot
.223 - H335, H322, A2230, Varget, 4895, 3031

Thank you very much.

Rich

 

[EddieCoyle]

Thank you very much.

Rich

Plus dozens of others. You got to find out what your gun likes for the bullets you use. If all you get is shit, try changing brands of primers.

 

[richc]

Plus dozens of others. You got to find out what your gun likes for the bullets you use. If all you get is shit, try changing brands of primers.

Yup... but us newbies need to start somewhere. And the years of experience you have can save us a lot of trial and error and allow us to start with best of breed.

Thanks,

Rich

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

What powder would y'all use for 9mm pistol and .223 rifle?

Thanks,

Rich

If you're taking a poll I'll vote for Titegroup for 9mm (used to use Bullseye) and H335 for .223. All of these should be easy to find or will be once things settle down.

 

[RustyFN]

If you're taking a poll I'll vote for Titegroup for 9mm (used to use Bullseye) and H335 for .223. All of these should be easy to find or will be once things settle down.

Another Titegroup fan in 9mm. I like W748 and H335 in 223.
Rusty

 

[RKG]

For what it may be worth:

.38 Spl target load: 158 gr. cast lead, 2.7 gr. Bullseye.

9mm full power practice load: 115 gr. Win FMJ, 6.0 gr. Unique.

.45 ACP full power practice load: 230 gr. Win FMJ, 6.3 gr. Unique.

5.56 NATO practice load: 55 gr. Win FMJ, 26.0 gr. Win748.

The latter three are at or near max., and therefore should not be used in anyone else's gun until approached with OK results.

 

[FLHTC]

Awesome guys, thanks for the info. Its all very helpful.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I use a lot of Titegroup for jacketed bullets - I hate it for lead.

 

[Big_Red]

Would there be times when it would make sense to deprime the brass before cleaning it?

 

[GTOShootr]

Would there be times when it would make sense to deprime the brass before cleaning it?

No.

 

[Big_Red]

No.

Then how does one clean the prime pocket? I have seen range brass without primers and the primer pockets were filthy.

 

[ochmude]

I know Lyman makes a little brush for scouring out primer pockets. I wash all my brass prior to tumbling. 10 minutes in a mildly acidic solution cleans it pretty well.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I don't worry about cleaning the primer pockets.

I do worry about media in the flash hole though, so I don't tumble after decapping unless it's to remove lube from rifle cases.

 

[GTOShootr]

I have seen range brass without primers and the primer pockets were filthy.

The reason that the primer fell out of that brass and the reason for the dirty looking pocket are probably related. When a primer falls out on its own, you probably don't want to load that brass and trust it to lead to a reliable round anyways.

Sort pistol brass, tumble it, load it. Get fancy with rifle brass if you want.

 

[RustyFN]

I use a lot of Titegroup for jacketed bullets - I hate it for lead.

I have been using TG for both. What powder do you like for lead? I bought a pound of WST at the recommendation of a friend but haven't had a chance to use it yet.
Rusty

 

[NavyRedneck]

I use Unique for .308 (cast bullets only), 44 mag, 9 mm, .357. It's dirty but you can use it for anything and it's very cheap. I think I use IMR 4350 for the full power 308 loads.

For primers I prefer CCI but since the panic started I've had to use whatever I can find and I've realized that there's not much difference to me between all the primers out there. Basically, buy whatever primers you can find (in my opinion).

 

[RKG]

Would there be times when it would make sense to deprime the brass before cleaning it?

Yes. Always.

Edit: I use the crush walnut shells with a bit of jewler's rouge added. I've done this for more than 30 years, and I have yet to have a piece of media stuck in a flash hole.