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Reloading questions

fingers8

fingers8

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Starting to get In to reloading hand gun ammo 9mm,45acp and 357 mag. Obviously different primers , but is it possible to find a powder to cover all these loads ? And if so powder of choice or recommended? Primarily looking to put holes in paper . But also looking for some Acuracy.... Any suggestions or recipes
 
There are lots of powders you can use for all three. I load all of those with Power Pistol.

Get a couple of reloading manuals for the recipes. You're going to need them. Speer, Hornady, and Lyman are all good ones. There's also lots of data for Hodgdon, Winchester, and IMR powders available at Hodgdon.com
 
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Bulls eye, Power Pistol and Win231 should take care of your handgun load needs..... (those are three I buy. Varget and IMR4895 for .223)
 
I load cast bullets for all three, bullseye so far is the only one that works good to very good in all three you listed. I like hodgdon clays also....but I have found other powder/bullet combos work better than trying to make one powder cover all.......I tried though. I have not tried power pistol only because I have not found any yet?
 
Well have heard lots of great thing of all of these looking like the power pistol or win 231 but very tough to find any right now .... Appreciate the fees back guys ....
 
so looks like ww 231 would be good just not likely at max load ...... just trying to learn and study these different things here ,to make a educated choice. unfortunately material is not readily available to buy ........but ill keep looking
 
fingers8 said:
so looks like ww 231 would be good just not likely at max load ...... just trying to learn and study these different things here ,to make a educated choice. unfortunately material is not readily available to buy ........but ill keep looking
Click to expand...

Check out the reloading data side of the Winchester web site... You can safely use the charge range listed without issue. I actually made up some loads to test out the .45 (1911) IPSC race gun that was my father's. 185gr projectiles loaded from the middle of the range to the highest charge level performed flawlessly. Of course, with the comp on the gun, it stayed pretty level at the top end of the range.

I would go with Win 231 first, if you can score some. If you're willing to travel, Acme has some Bullseye in stock (as of yesterday afternoon at least). Price is in line with what you would expect too (reasonable). Just be sure to use standard primers with the powder first. If you go with magnum primers you need to adjust your powder charge accordingly.

BTW, I was using 4.6gr of Win 231 with 255gr flat tip projectiles in my .45 ACP IPSC (limited class) gun. Shot really nice, and with the right recoil spring (a variable) the gun handled it really well.
 
As mentioned before W231 is great. I use it in almost all of my calibers. As you look through your reloading manuals you will notice that HP-38 is basically the same as W231, if not the exact same, and it seems like HP-38 is easier to find and usually cheaper. Good luck.

Curtis
 
Another vote for W231.

I load 4.5gns of W231 w/ 115gn Berry's plated RN, C.O.L. of ~ 1.120" for my 9mm loads. I load 5.3gns of W231 on my 230gn Plated RN, C.O.L. of ~ 1.26" for my 45acp loads.
 
Golddiggie said:
Check out the reloading data side of the Winchester web site... You can safely use the charge range listed without issue. I actually made up some loads to test out the .45 (1911) IPSC race gun that was my father's. 185gr projectiles loaded from the middle of the range to the highest charge level performed flawlessly. Of course, with the comp on the gun, it stayed pretty level at the top end of the range.

I would go with Win 231 first, if you can score some. If you're willing to travel, Acme has some Bullseye in stock (as of yesterday afternoon at least). Price is in line with what you would expect too (reasonable). Just be sure to use standard primers with the powder first. If you go with magnum primers you need to adjust your powder charge accordingly.

BTW, I was using 4.6gr of Win 231 with 255gr flat tip projectiles in my .45 ACP IPSC (limited class) gun. Shot really nice, and with the right recoil spring (a variable) the gun handled it really well.
Click to expand...

I may be wrong, but I think 4.6 of 231 behind a 255 GR bullet is on the hot side, more than you need for the 165 power factor.
 
I ran some 5.7gn loads through my 1911 @ the advice of the Speer reloading manual. These were on 230gn RN plated.... 4.6 is probably a little hot in 255gn, but I'd be surprised if it were unsafe. Those 5.7gn were definitely hot though....
 
turbo89 said:
I ran some 5.7gn loads through my 1911 @ the advice of the Speer reloading manual. These were on 230gn RN plated.... 4.6 is probably a little hot in 255gn, but I'd be surprised if it were unsafe. Those 5.7gn were definitely hot though....
Click to expand...

5.7 of 231 will most likely make the USPSA major (165) power factor with a 200 gr bullet. With a 230 gr bullet this load will exceed the 165 power factor. This is not necessarily a safety issue, you will just be generating more recoil than necessary which will can hurt your scores.

Loading the 255 to the 165 power factor can cause one problem. The low velocity (under 700 fps) will hurt down range trajectory. The bullet can drop as much as six inches at 50 yds. A 200 gr bullet at 850fps, which is just safely over the 165 power factor, will shoot pretty much flat out to at least 50 yds.

I prefer the 200 gr load because it allows me to use the same hold out to at least 50 yds. One less problem to worry about.
 
I do not load .45acp, or 357mag, but I do load 9mm and .40cal. I've been using win wst for both and I am very pleased with the results. Accuracy seems much better than any of the factory target ammo I've run through both guns.

Also, win wst is sorta bulky and easy to see in the shell when placing the bullet before pressing.

StevensMarksman
 

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