Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns powder for 45 acp

what is a good powder for a 45 acp

say 185 gn and 230


something that gives good speed too

thanks

Unique or Bullseye. All I ever use in handgun ammo.

Been using Unique lately. Bullseye before that. W231 will work. I expect Herco would as well. Those are the ones I've got in stock and can think of offhand.

I load W231 with 230 gr FMJ and plated Rainier bullets. 5.4 grs Burns clean and no problems through my Kimber.

JD338

I've used Bullseye, Unique, the older, not the newer stuff, AA#2, WW 231, and Ramshot True Blue.
Of all of them, the WW321 and RS True Blue I like the best.
I suspect the new Unique would be good, and I suspect that Ramshot's Zip would also work well. E

.45 ACP is just too easy. Unique is the classic powder for full power loads, but anything in that burn rate range will work (Power Pistol, WSF, Hodgdon Universal), a buddy and I used to use AA#5. Faster powders like AA#2 and 231 are great for practice at lower velocity.

I've had good luck with VV N340 for .45 & 9mm, but I think N320 is supposed to be a better choice for .45ACP loading.

Universal or TITEGROUP

Frankly, I only use Blue Dot.

I have used Bullseye, Unique, 700x, Red Dot, Blue Dot, and 231.

I shoot IDPA, lot of rounds fired in practice. I switched to AA#5 about 5 years ago. It is a very accurate powder over a much wider range of powder charges than any of the above powders.

The really nice thing about Accurate Arms #5 is how clean it burns. Bullseye is the dirtiest along with 231 ranking second.

I have 2 lbs of 231 left and I hesitate to use it because it burns so dirty compared to AA#5.

I shoot 9.6g of AA#5 with the 185's Speer Gold Dots and 8.0g of AA#5 with the 220 Cast with accuracy and speed being outstanding.

Not long ago I got a Dillon powder 550 RL, what a joy to use. The Dillon powder measure throws very accurate charges with AA#5.

I use a Redding BR-30 and BR-3 powder measures. Shotgun powders(flake) powders bridge in the measure giving me a light then a heavy load perhaps 3-5 shots in one hundred.

I always have had good luck with 231, especially with 230gr bullets.
It is on the dirty side, only drawback, that.

Been using Power Pistol for about the last year or so, burns really clean and gives good velocity. I used Unique for over 10 years but it was just too dirty for my taste.

I have heard good things about Power Pistol.
I am thinking about trying that in my 10mm.

I use it in 9mm, 38 +P, 40 S&W and 45 ACP. The only downside I have seen with it is that it tends to run pretty hot. In every load I have tried it in, I have hit max velocity well before max load.

If you try it and you have a chrono, work up.

Hawk,
Thanks!
I may give it a try as I do have a chronograph.

I bought a bunch of HP38 (which is just 231 by another name) on sale awhile back. Many consider 231 a classic default powder for the ACP though it's not really at it's best trying to load for top velocity. I've got a quite of bit of Blue Dot, 800X and Longshot lying around as I like those in 10mm. Supposedly all will work in the ACP but I'm not all that interested in loading the .45 hot anyway since...well...that's what the 10mm is for.

Power Pistol, Unique, Bullseye & SOLO 10000

MM

I like using unique for the .45 but i had the chance to buy some AA#5 and some Ramshot true blue. I liked both of them ok but as far as loading a bunch of fairly accurate rounds i prefer clays. clays is a shotgun powder but it doesnt seem to dirty my gun as bad as some of the others. AA#7 works well but it uses a lot of powder. It may not have been any help but i have had good success with several powders so its hard to just pick one. these days i lean toward less powder usage so i use more clays.

I have used many lbs of unique with very good accuracy,That said I switched to 231/Hp38 and like it a lot.I use it for medium loads for range and IDPA.I still have 6lbs of Unique that I prefer for hotter loadings,Very accurate under a 230gr xtp hp.
Bob.

231 and power pistol.