Hey guys!

Just traded in my Beretta 92FS for a Blackhawk convertible (.357/9mm). I thought a single action would be a great addition to a browning buckmark and a S&W 629, and I have heard good things about the blackhawk. Anyways, I have a few questions, and any advise on good bullet/powder combinations would be greatly appreciated!

1. I need a good mid to low range powder that will work for 9mm, .38 special, and .44 special. I know that unique is a geat powder, but it won't meter worth a darn in my hornady powder dropper! I was thinking HS-6, HP-38.......

2. Will heavier or lighter bullets be better for this gun using the 9mm cyclinder?

3. What weight gives best results for warmer .357 mag loads?

thanks,
vanbuzen9

Hey guys!

Just traded in my Beretta 92FS for a Blackhawk convertible (.357/9mm). I thought a single action would be a great addition to a browning buckmark and a S&W 629, and I have heard good things about the blackhawk. Anyways, I have a few questions, and any advise on good bullet/powder combinations would be greatly appreciated!

1. I need a good mid to low range powder that will work for 9mm, .38 special, and .44 special. I know that unique is a geat powder, but it won't meter worth a darn in my hornady powder dropper! I was thinking HS-6, HP-38.......

2. Will heavier or lighter bullets be better for this gun using the 9mm cyclinder?

3. What weight gives best results for warmer .357 mag loads?

thanks,
vanbuzen9

This is mostly just one man's opinion (as is everything else on the web).

1. 231 meters well. but HP-38 or HS6 will do the trick. ONE powder isn't a bad idea, but feeding 3 calibers with one can of powder just makes the an run out 3X faster.

2. Going to end up needing to adjust the sights when you switch between 357/38 cylinders and 9mm anyway but a heavy 9mm bullet might make the ppoint of impact closer to the .38sepcial point of impact.

3. Could be happy with anything in the 140-160gr. weight as a standard .357 bullet. Miaght want a ligher bullet for some loads, or a heavier bullet from some hunting applications, but general every day use, will load 158's.

As ribbonstone says, IMHO (and we all have one):

1. W231 or Bullseye for a good plinking/ target, or light game load. Other fast burning powders will also do the job. Just be sure to buy it in larger than one pound quantities (also cheaper per pound) to feed your three calibers.

2. ribbonstone's right, so if you shoot 148 gr. wadcutters and 158 gr. .38/.357's along with 147 gr. 9mm's chances are you will have less sight adjustments to make.

3. For all around shooting stick with the 158 gr. weight bullets for .38/.357. Most common weight, lots of load data, and cheapest bought in bulk.

4. For a little more lively load but not a wrist breaker, I load 6.5 gr. Unique behind a 158 gr. LSWC plain base bullet for my .357 (too hot for the .38). I can shoot this load all day without feeling beat up and it doesn't lead up my barrel.

As with all load data, approach with caution as what works in my gun may not work as well in yours.

Hodgdon Universal Clays is something I often work up loads with in place of Unique. Start with about 7% lower charge for same pressures. It doesn't quite get the same velocities, but its advantages are its smaller compressed spheical grains meter better and burn much cleaner (not having graphite all over them). Hodgdon Clays is closer to Bullseye in burning characteristics, and with the same clean burning advantages. Again, you use a little less by weight. (Please note that Hodgdon Clays and Hodgdon Universal Clays are not the same powder and you want to be careful not to abreviate your terminology into an incorrect purchase).

For max loads, stick with Winchester 296 and/or Hodgdon H110. A Hodgdon tech told me they are the same powder purchased from the same plant, but labeled differently Winchester and Hodgdon, so buy whichever is less expensive at the moment.

Nick

1. I need a good mid to low range powder that will work for 9mm, .38 special, and .44 special. I know that unique is a geat powder, but it won't meter worth a darn in my hornady powder dropper! I was thinking HS-6, HP-38.......



If I were to use one powder for the cartridges you mentioned, and could not use either my beloved Bullseye or Unique, I would use W231 or HP38. In fact, the burn rate of W231/HP38 isn't that much faster than Unique.

Thanks for all the great info, guys. I just went out and bought some new dies today, and the stack of them at home keeps getting bigger! I think I will try HP-38 as an alternative to unique, I just wish they would make "trial" cans, say a quarter pound or so, so I could see what ones are better w/ out spending so much. Now that I think about it, I should of left 9mm out of the other three, because I normally use power pistol for that with good results. I am mainly looking for so called "cowboy" loads for my .38/.44 specials, as I get the 140 and 180 grain hornady cowboy bullets for a great price. As for the .357 and .44 magnums, I'll stick with H110 or 2400. Guess I'll keep experimenting though!

thanks,
vanbuzen9

Accurate Arms #2 is a good target load powder. Meters really well. The 158 grain bullets are good for practice but for hunting larger game the 180 grain bullets are better. If you must, 158 grain bullets can be loaded in 9mm cases. You will have to experiment with powder charges to match the point of impact. Since the 9mm does not have to feed, you can use any bullet point shape. I use 160 grain lead 38 Super bullets in my 9mm for practice. You have to use the Lee factory crimp die to smooth out any buldges the long bullet may make in the case.

Hopefully this does not post twice, as my system crashed when I wrote this once.
I am not quite sure what the problem is with metering Unique, as this is the second, recent, post that mentions this issue. Marshall Kane responded to one complaint in another thread.
I have used Unique for years in handgun cartridges and rifle, and I have never found it difficult to use, or to meter in my RCBS powder measure.
As an example, I recently loaded a box of 9mm for a Browning Hi-Power, using a 125 grain cast bullet and a load of 4.5 grain Unique. This load of powder fills up most of the case. I chronographed this load at 1106 fps, with an extreme spread of 25. Perhaps that is not sufficient, but for me it is a nice load, very consistent and illustrative of how Unique loads and shoots nicely.
I have had similar success with cast bullet loads in rifles, such as the .270 Winchester.
So, again, I am not quite sure what the metering problems are. Am I missing something?

. . Am I missing something?

What you're missing is a sliding bar powder measure. The drum meaasures work nicely with about anything but coarse sticks. The sliding bar measures wind up getting the flakes caught in them and the graphite packs up after awhile. It is easer to make a drum fit precisely, and that is part of the issue. I've run Bullseye in my Dillon SD for years, and I just have to disassemble and clean it out from time to time. Just how it is.

I still use Unique for light rifle and firelapping loads. I am starting to look at the Hodgdon flakes as replacements only because they seem to burn a bit cleaner and don't have the heavy graphite coating to build up in the measure. I am going to work up some Clays loads to try in place of Bullseye.

Who knows? May well end right back on square one. It all depends on the accuracy.

Nick