What is "THE" Powder for 9mm

I have resisted reloading 9mm for years but here I am. I am casting 130gr bullets and I figured I may as well figure out Hi-Tech coating. These should act about like plated bullets. The Hi-Tech went well and now I'm ready to load them. My thoughts are to use Bullseye but I also have Unique Tightgroup Longshot and probably others. I don't have any of the Dots. What about about Power Pistol?

What is your go to powder for 9mm?

I like unique but its a dirty powder. I don’t know if I would use it in a semi.

This is a good read and should both answer your question and confuse you more at the same time.

http://www.natoreloading.com/

I use N320 but I like soft shooting clean powder...

Winchester Super Field (WSF) is my go to powder for 9mm and also for .40.

Of the powders you have, Unique and Titegroup work well for standard pressure 9mm loads, with Power Pistol and Longshot being good for maximum velocity loads.

N320 is too expensive lol. Please follow all safe reloading practices.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Vihtavuori powder is a little higher in cost but with what I paid for it during non-crisis period my cost per round for powder is .012 per round..... less than half the cost of a primer.
Using high quality jacketed HP bullets I am at under .15 cents per round for 9mm which is not as cheap as you can load but for the quality of the ammo it’s a price I can live with.

I do not load the 9mm very much anymore but Hodgdon Universal is what I switched to from Universal, Universal is a much cleaner burning powder

I be lovin' me some Power Pistol for my stable of 9mm's, both carbine and hand gun.

I use Universal Clays in .45 ACP.

Do yall like it for 9mm?

I'd say Titegroup is THE definitive 9mm powder. Low charge weights, clean burning, and capable of decent velocities.

Power pistol is popular, but god dang is it loud and flashy.

N320 is nice, but expensive.

I use bullseye for 115 plinking loads, it's just a little dirty.

CFE pistol is my go-to currently since it's widely available and I've loaded everything from steel challenge loads to 1400fps 124gr zingers with it.

I have never considered Titegroup due to all the reports of how dirty and hot burning it was.
My most recent buyout of someone getting out of reloading came with a lot of Power Pistol and CFE Pistol. He loaded a lot of 10mm and 40SW though.
It will take me years to run out of N320 at 3.4 gr at a time.

Titegroup for bulk loads, longshot for high performance.

Titegroup for me.

Thanks guys. I was reading up last night and it seems HS6 is good in 9mm for velocity and accuracy at normal pressures. I was able to find published data for lead bullets. I have a little of it so I'll load a few to test also. Seems there's no shortage of 9mm powders



I use Universal in my 45 acp also. It needs to be loaded to near max to get it to burn clean. Have you noticed this with your loads?

What I have seen with Universal on clean burning is from about half way between starting and higher to max loads clean burning. Lots of powders are that way, the more pressure the cleaner the burn. I have used Universal in 45 and 9mm loads. Don't remember the charge I used but was with 115gr Berry's plated bullets for just fun shooting

I really can't say. I was going for what shot the tightest in my 1911. If memory serves, it was a lower charge that did the best. I totally stayed within published minimum and maximum per Hodgdon. I do not have near the pistol ammo loading knowledge as I do rifle.

I have been using AA #7 for years. I have noted that a full charge is very obvious so a double charge would be very difficult to miss ( it would actually probably overflow if you are loading near the top of the recommended range like I am.) I have seen crazy hot loads with this powder that people claim to have shot thousands of in competitions so it also appears to be very forgiving. I have loaded within a .4 grain window with good accuracy so I can also get good accuracy from a progressive press. I started with it after I determined my Hi Power GP Comp needed a relatively stout load to function reliably. My standard load is now just over max specs but was fine back when I was using an older Speer loading manual. I had called Accurate about the various load discrepancies from older manuals to newer manuals and they actually put me on the line with the guy who developed the loads in the book. I felt better after that discussion.

Having said all that, because you are using more of a slower powder its not as cost effective as TG or unique or other powders but after trying several other powders It has shot the best for me in both pistol and carbine. BTW, I had good luck with AA #5 too but since I had an 8 # jug of #7 I just stuck with it.

Between 9mm .40 S&W and 45 ACP you can use HP-38 on all and it works well meters well and usually fills the case over half way.
so if you wanted to save on having to keep several powders HP-38 works very well...
That said I still use HS-6 in 9mm. Burns clean and gives good velocity and HS-6 is usually in stock when everything else is sold out.

I thought 231/HP-38 was the forever standard for 9mm powder. It's only what I use.