Beginning Reloading Powder Suggestions -
I'm finally going to get into reloading after all these years. It'll be another 4-6 months before I pick up a press, but with gun sales rates going up, I'm seeing panic buying on the horizon in the near future. I want to go ahead and start ordering powder and primers.
I'll be reloading in bulk:
9x19
.45 ACP
.38 Special
Sparingly:
.357 Mag
I know I'll want to experiment with a few different pistol powders - so I figured to order a pound of each to try - Sitting in my Brownells cart I have:
Unique
Bullseye
HP38
TiteGroup
Trail Boss
N320
___
Am I on the right track? Is there a powder I absolutely should try? And any (including any of the above) I should absolutely avoid until I have a bit more practice reloading?
Beginning Reloading Powder Suggestions -
Rob, of the powders on your list, HP38 is all you need. It will produce good loads for each of these calibers, though not top velocities for .357.
Start with that one, first, and then see if you want a faster powder for very light loads, or a slower powder for hot magnum loads.
Trail boss is only appropriate for lighter .38 spl or cowboy .357 in the calibers you’re reloading.
Titegroup overlaps HP38 to a large extent. There’s no need to duplicate. It very high density, so there’s more risk of double charging.
Bullseye and Unique are great powders, and versatile, but older technology and harder to meter well. They’re dirtier than newer powders. On the plus side, there are many, many established great loads with these powders, and a ton of data that wouldn’t be developed today. HP38 does everything Bullseye will do in a pistol, and most of what Unique will do.
N320 is an excellent powder, but again, a duplicate of HP38 that costs more. It’s very clean, and meters great.
In your shoes, I’d get a 4 or 8 pounder of HP38 and get shooting.
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