Wellllllllllllllllllllll................I have found unique(alliant)powder to work extremely well in 45 and 9mm.It also can be used in 38,357,and 44spec and mags.But that's just my personal opinion.All loads should be worked up from the lower end of the manual or the suggested starting load.Wanting to turn a 45 acp into a 45 supermag will in the least cause equipment failure,and worse!

I was told by my reloading supplier to try 6gr of HP38 for the 230gr RNFMJ.

Hp-38 and 231 are the same powder - direct from Hodgdon - even the load data is exchangeable.

Dang-it, Paul, just when I was getting it figured out, you thow a curve in. Does anyone know of a cross reference or mapping chart for powders with different names?
Paul, thanks, good to know this.

Has anybody ever tried HSM Custom bullets? Particularly the 230gr plated hollow points.

Sqirrel,
If you go to the Hodgdon website in the pistol reload data area you will find that 231 and 296 have the same load data and pressure as HP-38 and H110 respectively. I had requested confirmation from Hodgdon at one time because I had heard over and over that the powders were the same - The old man himself emailed me back with confirmation.
There are some rifle powders that are the same too and in the listings you can request confirmation but when you see identical loads with identical pressures one all the bullets then the powders are the same powder being sold under different names.
It really helps that Hodgdon is selling both Winchester and their own powders now.
I will try to put one together....

Paul, thanks for the info and efforts. I think I am still going with Universal for the 45. It seems to work pretty well across the 185 to 230 gr bullets. I don't shoot accurate enough to know whether anothe powder is the "perfect" poweder or not. I know unique may be good for accuracy and speed but is dirty as hell. I'd like to see a ball powder (throws better) like lil-gun or something with the same characteristics as universal.

One of the reasons Unique is popular is also due to the fact it meters well at the lighter charges associated with pistol loads and target loads for the revolvers.
I use Nitro 100 in my 12ga. loads for skeet, trap and sporting clays. I’ve tried to use it in my 45acp but found it didn’t care for my powder thrower at the 4.0-5.0 grains that were called for. I went as far to weigh each charge and trickle up to said weight just to test it’s performance. In the end it was a good load but not at the expense of the extra time it required in the loading process.
Obviously others have found this too as Accurate powder realized it’s not popular among handgun shooters and has quit giving data for it.
This is the sort of thing each and every re-loader needs to work through, finding what works best for them.
Had I not been shooting as much as I did with that gun I probably would have used it.

squirrelbait, Talk about things getting weird !!!

I've been exploring the idea of shooting the Enhanced Service Revolver class in IDPA this coming summer with a .357mag. (the +P 38 special loads won't make power factor)
I need a minimum velocity of 1050FPS with a 158gr. bullet, guess what powder is looking pretty good ???

"Handloader" magazine had a bunch of .45 Auto loads for 200 grain bullets in the last issue.

squirrelbait wrote:

Dang-it, Paul, just when I was getting it figured out, you thow a curve in. Does anyone know of a cross reference or mapping chart for powders with different names? Paul, thanks, good to know this.

Here ya go Squirrel...check out this link. It will take you to an Aussie powder manufacturer, who Hogdon gets a lot of their powder from (Varget being just one).

Powder Equivalents

Cheers, Vince

Vince, I do believe that squirrel was referring to powders that are the same marketed under two different names !!!

The chart you referenced refers to similar burn rates and the re-loading data isn't always interchangeable.

Just tried out a new load last night in my tactial Colt.

230gr Xtreme CPRN over 4.5gr W-231. Mixed brass, CCI300/Remington primer.

50 rounds, no FTF or cycle. Good burn. Much reduced recoil. I thought they shot a little softly and there might be feed/eject issues. Nope. Good to go. Used factory mags too. Light grey, minimal soot as deposits. 5 mins to clean. Cleaner than the range reloads I've used.

I like this load and it will save a ton of wear on the gun.

Groups were a surpise. Off-hand @ 20y avg. 3" for 7 shots. I can keep them all in the SEB top triangle (head-shot).
I do not shoot off rests with my carry pistols, so....

YMMV!!!

I would go with Bushy on this one squirrelbait

I shoot thousands of .45ACP rounds a year, using different bullets, and load with nothing but W-231 powder.

I have a ton of recipes that I could give you, and I'm sure Bushy has also.
Over the years, this subject has pretty much been covered on this forum, if you care to look into the archives.

Otherwise give me a pm.

All of my loads that I will give you are for target, and are on the low end of the powder drops recommended in the books, and all are extremely accurate up to 50 yards.
For .45ACP, a good rule of thumb is to try to get close to 800fps for best accuracy.

Eric

Eric, thank much for the response. Choices, choices!
I have a can of universal I'm going to finish, then I'll sift thru all the inputs. Looks like there are lots of possibilities for good loads for the 45. It's been around long enough to know what works and what doesn't. thanks