Powder for handgun is a big problem

[jerry52 893]

First it was primers now they are back ,a bit high but they are back but pistol powder is gone. There is nothing out there.

Anyone have a in on why this is? There is a ton of rifle reload powder out there but pistol powder is gone.

I have a ton of 380 to reload but no powder. This is diving me nuts , there was a time a bunch of us re-loaders would pool our cash and get a large shipment to save money but most of the time they only have a few 1 lb containers in stock.

[dashowdy 141]

pistol still seems to keep flying off the shelves, I see powder every now and again but the bulk cans get gone real fast, check out powder valley they usually have something that will work.

 

what powder are you looking for.

[jerry52 893]

Bulls Eye  Tight group  Winchester 231 in short anything right now to get by . I dread going to the local gun show

[semper299 284]

I use 231 as well for 9, 40, and 45 ACP. I have 2 lbs, so I am good for a while, but man you are right, it is a beating trying to find some right now. A friend of mine in the industry told me it all ties together. The huge contracts go to the bullet manufacturers. And, because some many folks are hoarding ammo right now, the powder folks are selling all their product to the big contracts. Makes sense, but still sucks. When the bullet craze dies down and people quit hoarding ammo, powder will come back. Like you said, primers and pills are already making a comeback. Powder won't be far behind.

[jerry52 893]

Ordered 4lbs of bulle's eye from Loman we will see if it comes this decade

[sccritterkiller 473]

The range I belong to has a group of us who do group buys on components...we got an email from the Bullseye factory rep about an order we have been waiting on....I tried to find it but I must have deleted it....It basically said the factory is running 24/7 and they are shipping out product everyday and they have no control over their product once it goes to the distributor...They are making it so I guess the question is how long will it take for the closets to fill up?

[jerry52 893]

Yes I think it will be some time.

[beefcakeb99 572]

One good thing is it has to boost the economy as far as ammunition goes. It Shirley is helping these manufacturers, bringing jobs, and flooding the market. Thanks Obama! 

[termite 463]

That's why when I can afford it, I buy the 8# jugs of what ever I need. Local store told me when I asked for some 8# jugs of BLC2 to be placed on his next order, that Hodgdon was mainly shipping 1# jugs. 8#ers are few and far between. I've been watching powder valley everyday, and they only have a tiny bit of powder, at leased listed on their site. Check out Grafs or maybe Wideners, I think that Grafs got in some accurate powder.

[magsite20 1,664]

kind of an endless cycle with ammo problems. when you can get 1 item for making a round something else goes missing. I've gone back to playing with revolvers more just so I don't loose the brass.

[jerry52 893]

Look and wait, wait and look sign of the times

[Run and Gun 25]

The 8lbs of autocomp powder I ordered has been on back order for 8months. I had to switch to imr from win231 because I can't get any. This sucks!

Edited February 21, 2014 by Run and Gun

[jerry52 893]

Just picked up 3 lbs of unique at bass pro. First powder they have had on the shelf in 6 months

Loading 9 mm this weekend.

[gunfun 3,931]

I wasn't really happy with bullseye for .380 and after some investigation and advice decided that my next batch will use blue dot. Maybe some of that is available near you.

 

BTW, Lee just started making a new mold perfect for .380 that is not listed yet. You can order it by phone. 

[jerry52 893]

they have some blue dot. but this is for 9mm still looking for 231 and thanks for the heads up on the mold

[Bigtwin 219]

Yeah well, I am having a hellova time finding any Varget for my rifles, so don't feel too bad.

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

Yeah well, I am having a hellova time finding any Varget for my rifles, so don't feel too bad.

 

Running lower than I like also and cant find squat.

 

Wait it out I guess

[gunfun 3,931]

Yeah well, I am having a hellova time finding any Varget for my rifles, so don't feel too bad.

 

I got to try some CFE 223 and I like it much better. It meters much better than varget. Unless it is a real bargain, I will be sticking with the CFE 223 for .223 and 308 from here on. It's also supposed to give more consistent burns with big temperature changes than most powders, so that's a plus. Just what I was told by a palma shooter.

[Bigtwin 219]

Thanks GunFun! I will definitely look into this powder.

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

Yeah I take my loaders handbook with me when I go looking for powder, flexibility as always, still not much for results.

 

Not hurting enough to pay hazmat fees yet so brick and mortar it is.

[jerry52 893]

Wife just let me buy a new loader and stand to load her 380 acp . With the powder I have it should keep her going for the year.

Loaded some 9mm with berry plated bullets to see how they work ,just did 20 rounds. Years ago I would have loaded 50 to a 100.

[gunfun 3,931]

Be twice as careful with that .380. The small charge means you have very small margins of error. Think of it this way A variation of +/- 0.1 grains in a ~12 grain .357 charge is a small percent change in total power. A variation of +/- 0.1 grains in a 2.3 grain is a much larger percent.

 

Another way to look at it is that volumetric measurements tends to have clumping problems with very tiny volumes due to bottlenecking. So normally accurate powder measures become inconsistent once you get around 3 grains and under. So a powder measure that gets +/- 0.1 grains when dropping charges from 3.5 - 48 grains might have a variation of  +/- .6 grains when you are in the 2.3 grain range. And visually verifying the powder won't do very well for warning if this happens. So you really want to use the bulkiest possible powder for .380 as a safety thing. So if your powder charge uses up all the space not taken up by the bullet, you have best safety and least variation. (AKA max "load density") 

 

I've come to the conclusion that I am not comfortable reloading .380 with the bullseye powder I use for most of the other pistol cartridges because the right amount of powder is simply too small, and I am not interested in trickling powder on a scale.

[gunfun 3,931]

p.s. .380 has aproximately .49 CC of useful case volume depending on what bullet and how deep it is seated. so the closer to .5 CC your powder drop gets to the safer. Remember, "squib loads" are a bigger danger than over power, particulary if you choose a bulky powder. A powder with a good load density won't fit if you double charge.

 

Based on some old nosler data a friend relayed to me, blue dot has one of the better load densities for .380 ACP with heavier bullets around 115 grains. For bullets more in the normal .380 weight range, a survey of my manuals indicates that a very good common powder would be Hodgedon Universal. IMO, it's worth spending another $20 for a pound of this, and using the less bulky powder for some other job such as 9mm luger.

[jerry52 893]

Gun fun you are a man after my own heart and I here you!

The wife only shoots 100 rounds out of her mustang and I never shoot it. When it comes to charge I am all digital and plan to weigh every charge

This is the first powder I have found for a while so I am going to slowly try it. Powder for rifle I have plenty

Thanks for you great input oh and if you have any Universal Send it my way and mark it MOMs Cookies to make lawful ha ha.

[jerry52 893]

Oh I forgot to let you know that I am going to use a Berry's flat bottom 100 grain plated starting at 3.9 grains of Unique. Should run at about 19,500 pressure. It will be okay for targets I think

Bass pro did have some blue dot but that was a week ago if they have it I will try it

Edited March 3, 2014 by jerry52

[gunfun 3,931]

Ok then. Just make very sure that load will get the bullet out the barrel every time before you let anyone else shoot it. I suggest dividing the range from min to max into 5 even sections and load up 20 of each. Run two steps up from the first one to cycle every time is probably going to be your winner. Do slow fire and see whether they hit high or low. Don't pull the trigger twice if you aren't sure you saw an impact. Squib loads are a real possibility with the tiny amounts of powder in .380.

 

Bring a  brass rod, a hammer,  and a block of wood with you in case you get any squibs when you are at the low end of the spectrum. Otherwise you'll have a wasted range trip. The rod is also a handy way to verify if you aren't sure the bullet made it out the barrel.

Thanks GunFun! I will definitely look into this powder.

 

It's apparently what they developed for the Aussie military contract, or the commercial version of that. It kinda looks like glitter.

[jerry52 893]

I here you buddy! I will be the one doing the shooting on new loads. Always take my doctors bag and always have six or seven handguns to shoot.

Will not get to the range for a few weeks and the press has to get here . Going to take it slow . thanks

[Bigtwin 219]

Jerry52, GunFun,

 

I hear ya both on the .380acp. I reload for my Bersa Thunder and I found out right away that such a small case is tough to meter for. Me personally, I have found it easier and safer to just use the Lee dipper that came with my die set(it is always .5-.7 lower than the charge I want) and trickle the last .5 grains or so on a scale.

I do not shoot this gun like crazy compared to others, so a little time here and there to do a box of 50 is not missed.

 

On a side note couple days ago I found a pound of Varget at my LGS, I am happy about that.

[Shandlanos 1,470]

p.s. .380 has aproximately .49 CC of useful case volume depending on what bullet and how deep it is seated. so the closer to .5 CC your powder drop gets to the safer. Remember, "squib loads" are a bigger danger than over power, particulary if you choose a bulky powder. A powder with a good load density won't fit if you double charge.

 

Based on some old nosler data a friend relayed to me, blue dot has one of the better load densities for .380 ACP with heavier bullets around 115 grains. For bullets more in the normal .380 weight range, a survey of my manuals indicates that a very good common powder would be Hodgedon Universal. IMO, it's worth spending another $20 for a pound of this, and using the less bulky powder for some other job such as 9mm luger.

I had shitty luck with Blue Dot and handguns.

 

I had a lot of unburned powder in my .380 and 9x19 loads - which were by the book, minimum loads.

[gunfun 3,931]

Thanks for the info. 

 

Kinda ditto with green dot and 45 ACP. It was good for matching hardball and a couple clicks up, but I started getting sour smelling unburnt powder with no power well under where max should be. Perhaps magnum primers would have cured that. I do like it for shotgun loads that stay close to 3 dram. However, I kinda liked WSF a little better, and I prefer the smell. It's slightly cheaper too. As soon as I can get an 8lb can, I'll switch back. Mostly the deciding factor is WSF works for some light loads and some hotter loads.