Which powder for both 9MM and 40S&W?

[SWThomas]

I'm looking to place a backorder for some powder since I can never find it here. Which of these powders do you prefer for loading both 9MM and 40S&W? I'm looking for a clean, powerful powder that meters consistently.

- Hodgdon TiteGroup

- Alliant BullsEye

- Alliant Power Pistol

- Alliant Unique

If you choose "Other" please specify.

Thanks!

[Ryno12]

I use Power Pistol for my 40 (I don't do 9mm). It meters well & I use less of it for similar velocities with other powders. I also have TiteGroup but I haven't tried it yet.
A buddy of mine uses Bullseye & that stuff seems quite a bit smokier than the rest of our reloads.

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[thopkins22]

I hear good things about TiteGroup.

I however fell in love with Vihtavouri N320 for 9mm. It's hot but not so dense that a double charge would be easy. In fact with most 9mm loads, you wouldn't be able to seat the bullet on a double charge if there was any room at all.

Recoil is perfection with 147gr bullets, and quite decent and snappy with 124's. It's safe(hard to double charge), meters beautifully like water, clean, and accurate. The only downside is that it's not really for heavier .40S&W loads and it's expensive(but it's pistol powder...you don't use a lot.)

I started like you and wanted only a handful of powders with which to load everything from. I bought pounds of Unique. These are great powders if you want one to do everything with...but they aren't likely to do everything as awesome as something specific for each caliber will.

TAC maybe being the exception to that on the rifle side. It shoots pretty damned well with 5.56 and acceptably with .308...but still isn't the best with either.

[Tzed250]

I don't load the 9, but I've had good results using TiteGroup for the .40 cal. Meters well and is economical.

[Ridgerunner665]

Clean (ish), powerful, meters easily...

Power Pistol

I use more of that powder than anything...Unique is awesome too, but meters like rat turds.

All my semi auto pistols are 45acp...but the powders work just as well in 9 and 40.

[Alaskapopo]

I'm looking to place a backorder for some powder since I can never find it here. Which of these powders do you prefer for loading both 9MM and 40S&W? I'm looking for a clean, powerful powder that meters consistently.

- Hodgdon TiteGroup

- Alliant BullsEye

- Alliant Power Pistol

- Alliant Unique

If you choose "Other" please specify.

Thanks!

Depends on your purpose. Titegroup is excellent for nice soft recoiling target loads in both calibers. Power Pistol is good if you need more velocity and it is snappy with lots of flash and blast. But its accurate.
Pat

[Raven Armament]

Winchester WSF

[m1a_scoutguy]

Looks like Titegroup will give ya a good bang for your buck in both !! I like and use Universal & Titegroup in both 9mm & 45 acp !! I'm trying to settle on just ONE powder for both & probably will someday,,LOL !!! Looks like when you compare the 9mm & 40 S&W,,Titegroup gives ya good economy,,it goes a looong ways,,hell ya can load over a thousand 9mm Rd's and not even use a full pound of powder,,,now that's stretching your reloading dollar !!! :D

[tommyrott]

i've been using ramshot zip for 40 nice and clean although ramshots data is lite with the max for 180's being 4.5 which gives me 800 fps out of my glock 22, so research a bit for more complete data. also used titegroup and it works as well and is clean with little to no unburned powder

[mattg1024]

I use Unique for 9, .40 and .45. Like it in all 3. May be a tad dirty but it doesn't bother me.

[RearwardAssist]

I use Unique for 9, .40 and .45. Like it in all 3. May be a tad dirty but it doesn't bother me.

I have used both power pistol and unique both shoot fine I prefer power pistol. but like Matt says unique seems to run dirty.

[shootist~]

I voted Other. I like VV-N320 for .40 and 9mm. I used it for years for .40 S&W Major with good results and recently used up my old stash for a new 9mm.

I did a re-supply when a large batch hit the US a few months ago.

[SWThomas]

Thanks for the input fellas! :cool:

[NWcityguy2]

Of the powders you listed I'd use Titegroup. You don't have to search very far to hear a horror story about Titegroup but you will find somewhere the was a safety precaution ignored or misunderstood. Titegroup is a powder for a cautious reloader who works up a load and never tinkers with it.

Bullseye is a good powder also but the current load data for Alliant is ridiculous. There should be a dozen loads for both 9mm and 40 S&W but instead there are 2-3. I burned through 10lbs of bullseye using their older data (1996) with no problems and there are other manuals out there with good data as well.

Someone mentioned WSF and that is a good powder to look at. You can probably get it without a backorder also.

[eightmillimeter]

I use Power Pistol in all the service calibers I reload for, which is 9, 40, 45, and 357 Sig.

Power Pistol is very forgiving, and gives top-level performance in all of those calibers. It is also affordable. The only downsides are inconsistent velocities in barrels 3.5" or shorter, and in some cases a large muzzle flash.

Titegroup is efficient, but can be very sneaky in increasing pressures when load components are changed such as primers or cases. It is also very susceptible to static cling in powder measures.

[yhmspecter]

I use Power Pistol in all the service calibers I reload for, which is 9, 40, 45, and 357 Sig.

Power Pistol is very forgiving, and gives top-level performance in all of those calibers. It is also affordable. The only downsides are inconsistent velocities in barrels 3.5" or shorter, and in some cases a large muzzle flash.

Titegroup is efficient, but can be very sneaky in increasing pressures when load components are changed such as primers or cases. It is also very susceptible to static cling in powder measures.

I have been loading Titegroup for a while, the static cling is deff an issue..But I do find it to meter very consistent as well as being fairly clean and not a whole lot of muzzle flash. I have some Power Pistol that I haven't loaded yet, but like most humans I found something that works for my intended purpose so its hard for me to deviate from it. Titegroup is my vote

[Alaskapopo]

I use Power Pistol in all the service calibers I reload for, which is 9, 40, 45, and 357 Sig.

Power Pistol is very forgiving, and gives top-level performance in all of those calibers. It is also affordable. The only downsides are inconsistent velocities in barrels 3.5" or shorter, and in some cases a large muzzle flash.

Titegroup is efficient, but can be very sneaky in increasing pressures when load components are changed such as primers or cases. It is also very susceptible to static cling in powder measures.
I like Power Pistol too but it has more downsides than just a large flash it has more recoil as well too. Its not popular in the shooting sports for this reason.
Pat

[Bubba FAL]

Used to use Unique in this role, now I use Power Pistol for .380acp, 9mm, 40S&W, 45acp and 38/357.

[SMJayman]

I've loaded probably 80,000 rounds of 9mm with Titegroup and probably 20k or more of .40s&w, also with Titegroup. I don't do nuclear loads, only target level ones. It meters very consistently and produces good accuracy in both of those applications as long as you use a decent bullet.

[bc361]

I use titegroup on my 9mm and 40SW loads. I find that it meters well but burns hot and dirty. I have loaded approximately 20k rds with it. Its ecomomical and easy to find so I continue to buy it and use it. Many of my uspsa friends recommend Solo1000 and VV N320 as well, but I have no experience with them.

[morpheus6d9]

W231, Titegroup, universal clays and n320 meter and burn clean I usually buy a 1lb bottle of a new powder to experiment with if I like it I buy the big bottle

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