Best powder for beginners?

[YoungGunLover]

Hey all you experienced reloadeds, I was wondering what you would recommend as a good powder for beginners. I will be starting to reload for .40 S&W and know some consider it a more difficult round to load for due to the pressures. Just wondering what you would recommend? Thanks guys.

 

[Dr.Midnight]

I've never loaded for 40 S&W, but I'm sure some of the seasoned guys will chime in shortly. The first caliber I started with with 38 special, and the powder I used was Unique. One of the main reasons I chose that particular powder was it would have been easier to spot a double charge if I had one due to the volume of the powder.

 

[rockhopper46038]

My experience with various powders is not nearly what some other on here have, but I will say that Power Pistol uses quite large charges for loading .40S&W, (which makes it virtually impossible to double charge) so it might be worth a look if that is your primary concern.

 

[bigcraig]

I am a Tightgroup fan, but be advised, it is a low charge weight powder, thus some folks do not like to recommend it for the possible double charge chances.

That said, I am of the firm belief, that if you plan on reloading ammo, and take it seriously, you will not have any issues.

Note, depending on the bullet you choose to use, Tightgroup may not be the best to use. For example, if you want to use low cost cast lead bullets Tightgroup will be very smokey. If that is your intention I suggest WST.

 

[Iroquois]

Another vote for Unique, it has a wide range of applications.

 

[sloughfoot]

I would tend to go along with the powder recommendation of your reloading manual for your cartridge/bullet/desired velocity.

I would not give much weight to what somebody on the internet advises. Unless they are advising you to use the data in any of the reloading manuals. Maybe if you were more specific on the bullet weight and type. There is no "one" powder suitable, or the best, for all bullet weights and types for a specific cartridge.

Buy a book. They are not just for beginners. I have books that date back to 1970. They are constantly referenced by me.

 

[mrortega]

I would tend to go along with the powder recommendation of your reloading manual for your cartridge/bullet/desired velocity.

I would not give much weight to what somebody on the internet advises. Unless they are advising you to use the data in any of the reloading manuals. Maybe if you were more specific on the bullet weight and type. There is no "one" powder suitable, or the best, for all bullet weights and types for a specific cartridge.

Buy a book. They are not just for beginners. I have books that date back to 1970. They are constantly referenced by me.

I would never consider reloading without a fairly new book. The latest ones in a lot of cases give lower charge amounts than some of the older ones. I don't know if powder and component companies are more worried about kaboom type law suits these days or what the deal is. You have to go with several of the recommended powders in your bullet weight. If you're loading 180 gr bullets for the .40 you will see that the choices are different than some of the loads for the 155gr. Personally I use Blue Dot and just load 180gr and get really good groups. It also burns very clean. I just have to use a dry patch thru the bore and it's shiny again.

I also recommend hitting different web sites. You'll get a ton of responses but you'll start to see that some powders keep coming up more than others. I did this before I settled on Blue Dot. I also tried several others listed on the net and my reloading manuals and found them to be not quite as accurate/clean/easy to use as BD. Good luck and be careful!!

 

[Dr.Midnight]

I would tend to go along with the powder recommendation of your reloading manual for your cartridge/bullet/desired velocity.

I would not give much weight to what somebody on the internet advises. Unless they are advising you to use the data in any of the reloading manuals. Maybe if you were more specific on the bullet weight and type. There is no "one" powder suitable, or the best, for all bullet weights and types for a specific cartridge.

Buy a book. They are not just for beginners. I have books that date back to 1970. They are constantly referenced by me.

I absolutely agree with this post. When I commented, I was working under the assumption that the OP has done his reading and was trying to decide about the powder options given to him by his manuals. When I'm reloading, I always have my manual open to the caliber I'm working on, and if need be, other reference material is no more than an arms length away.

 

[ridetoslide]

+1 on the reloading books and internet info. I have a couple different ways to measure powder and not sure how you are, but I like Winchester 231 ( HP-38) and Accurate#2 because these 2 flow like water and measure out very accurately. Like the others have said, everyone has pet loads and what one guy likes the other guy doesn't for some reason. The advice for a beginner that requires a powder to fill most of the brass is excellent. I like a clean burning, easy flowing, cheap, and lot of rounds per pound. Hard to get all of that! Keep asking questions, thats how you learn!

 

[singlestacksig]

Hey all you experienced reloadeds, I was wondering what you would recommend as a good powder for beginners. I will be starting to reload for .40 S&W and know some consider it a more difficult round to load for due to the pressures. Just wondering what you would recommend? Thanks guys.

green dot, IMR 700X , or AA #7 ..
all of them are enough volume that you can spot a double..

But the flake powders sometimes do not work well with auto powder devices..

 

[RandomName]

I use Accurate #5 when I reload .40S&W.

 

[Craig T]

when i first started out i used bullseye for my .40, now i use titegroup for my 9 and bullseye for my .40 still