Powder Help

9mmskng · February 25 2018 10:19:54 PM MST

Ok 10mm Forum, Help me choose a powder for my BN Gen4 G20. After many years of reloading 38/357, 9mm, 45acp, this is my first 10mm pistol EVER! I use strictly CCI primers and Alliant powders. Because I load almost all 9mm, Bullseye's been in my Dillon Powder hopper for MANY years now! Was thinking about Power Pistol so I could load 9mm with it/without changing powder? Most of the guys in the forums are saying Blue Dot, Longshot, Accurate #9, etc...Help me stay with Alliant, I'm heavily leaning towards Blue Dot. I'll be buying 180gr Copper Plated bullets ONLY, loading strictly range/target loads, I'll leave SD stuff for the Factory experts. Thanks 10mm Forum, glad to be part of your community!

Spudmeister · February 26 2018 08:45:28 AM MST

Welcome!

There is a lot of personal preference to what the best powder is. Then it depends on the bullet and a few other things. My suggestion is you start with Power Pistol and shoot it until you see a need for something different. I shoot power pistol in a half dozen handgun cartridges including 10mm. It is easy to work with, hard to screw up and always gives good performance. You have lots of other choices but Power Pistol is almost never the wrong choice and that makes it special.

The_Shadow · February 26 2018 09:35:29 AM MST

9mmskng, welcome to the forum! Yes Power Pistol is a good choice for 10mm but don't expect the highest velocities, although Power Pistol has a great yield! The yield is better with the lighter weight bullets 165 and down but will get even the 220 cast bullets moving well.
I have used 8.0 grains of Power Pistol under the 200 grain XTP at 1200 fps from the G-20SF with 22 lbs non captive spring.

The newer Alliant BE-86 is also another good powder for 10mm and other cartridges as well. BE-86 like Power Pistol was derived from Bullseye hence the BE designator. BE-86 is also flash suppressed...

I have put together a load dat section here for most all powders and you can find it at this link.
http://10mm-firearms.com/reloading-10mm-ammo/10mm-load-data-collection/ (don't know why but some data pictures were not loading, could be the hosting site)

Longshot and 800X are the top velocity performers for most bullet weights
Blue Dot has been my accuracy powder since 1990 with 10.2- 10.4 grains under 170 JHP in the past and 175 cast and 180 JHP

sqlbullet · February 26 2018 09:38:11 AM MST

I am really liking BE-86 myself lately. Perhaps because I got a deal on an 8lb jug ${$default_tongue_smiley}$

It is a great powder with lots of flexibility.

jjavedas · November 24 2019 09:37:57 PM MST

BE-86 is all use now 10,9,.45 .40 runs clean flash suppressed, meters well from a dillon JJ

Kenk · November 24 2019 10:08:54 PM MST

Hey 9mmskng,
I would seriously consider using BE-86 or Blue Dot. If Muzzle flash is not a concern, BD can be an incredibly accurate load.

Ken

erdyalx · November 25 2019 05:51:21 AM MST

Blue Dot is a great powder in the 10mm, but you will hate it in the 9mm most likely. It is a real high volume or "fluffy" powder. So the max loads nearly filled the case.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

woods_walker · November 25 2019 08:50:26 AM MST

Quote from: 9mmskng on February 25 2018 10:19:54 PM MST
Ok 10mm Forum, Help me choose a powder for my BN Gen4 G20. After many years of reloading 38/357, 9mm, 45acp, this is my first 10mm pistol EVER! I use strictly CCI primers and Alliant powders. Because I load almost all 9mm, Bullseye's been in my Dillon Powder hopper for MANY years now! Was thinking about Power Pistol so I could load 9mm with it/without changing powder? Most of the guys in the forums are saying Blue Dot, Longshot, Accurate #9, etc...Help me stay with Alliant, I'm heavily leaning towards Blue Dot. I'll be buying 180gr Copper Plated bullets ONLY, loading strictly range/target loads, I'll leave SD stuff for the Factory experts. Thanks 10mm Forum, glad to be part of your community!

Welcome to the forum!

If you are a guy who only loads through a powder dispenser, BE-86 is an excellent powder for you. As was said previously it is descended from Bullseye, and we all know what a great powder that is! You might even find yourself using it for ALL of the other cartridges you mentioned- it is that good.
In my opinion, Blue Dot will not serve your needs. It is a powder designed for top-end loads. If you're not pushing BD , you're less likely to get the results you seek. Something to keep in mind- Blue Dot has a severe muzzle flash in some loads. Some people like it, others prefer flash-suppressed powders.

Longshot performs very well in 10mm as does Accurate #9. These powders were suggested because they ARE good performers.These two and Hi Skor 800-X are almost all I use for 10mm.

Another one to consider, if you MUST stick with Alliant products, is STEEL. It's another shotgun powder but it's characteristics lend itself to handgun usage. There are no STEEL loads listed on the website but if you are interested, I can give you loads that were figured out by another 10mm pioneer. When I was given the data, the first thing I did was call Alliant to discuss the usage and loads. They gave me the green light for its use in the loads I described. I'm willing to bet The_Shadow has this data squirreled away somewhere, too!

Again, welcome to the forum.

Graybeard · November 25 2019 08:52:44 AM MST

Go with the Power Pistol, especially if you use a progressive press. It meters very well, like BullsEye, and can get some pretty good performance. I chronographed some 180gr RMR fmj bullets averaging 1296fps out of my 5" Kimber with 9.0gr of PP. Pretty much everyone here will attest that the 10.4gr, 180gr bullet, BlueDot load is very accurate, although not that speedy. If you're really chasing speed, you might have to change brands. 800X and LongShot seem to be the winners in that category. I've loaded both, but prefer LongShot.

I load 9mms with PowerPistol as my pet load. It works very well. You should have no problem switching back and forth.

Welcome and good luck with your new caliber!

Trapper6L · November 25 2019 09:52:02 PM MST

Here's an alternative for you to consider. If you want one powder that does reasonably good at loading 9mm and 10mm and give decent velocities, good accuracy, and is economical to shoot, take a look at Hodgdons CFE Pistol. It shoots great in both cartridges. In a 10mm you're looking at 7.6grs as a max load that yields 1208'ps using a 180gr bullet. And you pick up that the powder is self cleaning meaning it removes any copper fouling- that's what CFE means(Copper Fouling Eraser). In a 9mm, a 115gr bullet using 5.9grs yields 1185'ps as a max load. Being a small grain ball powder will run thru a powder measure like water. Always options.

sep · November 27 2019 07:58:01 AM MST

For plinkin loads I'll be switching over to Win 231/HP38. I can load, 9mm, 10mm, 357 and 44 magnum with that powder and it meters well through my Dillon. For 10mm, 200 grain hard cast, I use Blue Dot, for 240 grain 44 Magnum I'm using Unique and for 180 grain 357 loads, I'm currently using Win 296/H110 but am going to try N-110.

The_Shadow · November 27 2019 09:02:09 AM MST

Sep, have you tried Blue Dot for your 44 mag and 357 mag loads? I have used Blue Dot for 44 Mag / SPL and 38 SPL / 357 Mag with great success and accuracy too.

Here is some Alliant 2006 data for 38 / 357 / others SPEER #10 & 11 manual shows some hotter loads than these
https://i.postimg.cc/QC6CcvVD/Alliant-2006-9mm.jpg

Here is some Alliant 2006 data for 10mm / 44 / others
https://i.postimg.cc/Dzqjdr70/Alliant-Datapg44-zpsffcd250d.jpg

My favorite load for 44Mag 240 grain JSP and Cast has been 16.2 grains of Blue Dot for very accurate at distance shots...

sep · November 27 2019 07:04:48 PM MST

Shadow,

I haven't tried Blue Dot in those other calibers but I will give it a try this coming spring as I have about 6 pounds of Blue Dot and I'm always interested in finding an accurate load. If Blue Dot would work well in 357 and 44 then I'd be set for all three of those calibers. Thank you for the load data.