Powder recommendation

[boyguan]

Looking to load my first batch of pistol and soon after rifle

9mm fmj berry bullets 115 grn

223 and 308 sierra 69 grn match king. 169 grn horandy eld match

I was thinking for pistol to buy some
Winchester 231
Cfe pistol
Tite group

Rifle
Cfe 22
Varget
H335


Any other suggestions? I will start with a few times loading 9 and if goes well move up to 223

Figure buy it all at once to save on hazmat

[slayer61]

I can't personally speak to rifle powders, but your choices of pistol powders is spot on. I have all those in the powder locker, and a few more. I use HS6 for most of my 9mm stuff. Shoot safe.

[tonyjr]

I use HS 6 , HP38 and CFE . Varget is a dirty powder , when gone , I will be changing to probably CFE .

[Howitzer1987]

CFE 223, WIN 748, BLC-2 and accurate 2200 are all good powders that I have used with pretty good results. With that said, while Varget does run slightly dirty, it is extremely consistent and gives great results. Pistol wise you can add bullseye as another good option

[dwalker]

CFEPistol is a great start. Titegroup is a bit risky for newbies as it is easy to doublecharge and not notice.

The rifle powders you have picked are fine.

[Calif Hunter]

I like Titegroup, followed by W231/HP38 for non-magnum handgun rounds. For .223, I have gone to Ramshot TAC. Clean burning, a ball powder so it measures perfectly without having to weigh each charge and accurate. I used to use H-335, then went to H-322 before going to TAC. They also worked well.

[boyguan]

Thanks guys

How do you decide what's not good and what is good? Personal preference? Cause I assume with each new powder you need to do a work up for each one. In my Lyman reloading book the recommend certain powder with certain types of bullets.

How does one make a call about that?

[Dellinger]

The tight group goes a long way. Books are great and all but the website has the most recent updated load data. Take your time setting up and enjoy. Start in the middle for grains and make 10-20 of each weight and work up to higher loads under max load of course. I load my practice ammo a bit lower in pressure. Saves powder and less ware and tare on the guns.

[sargenv]

All of those powders are good for starters. If you are in the bay area, Richmond R&G has them in stock for sale..

Titegroup isn't so bad in the 9mm, it's not hard to spot and generally a double charge unless very low charge will be obvious in the 9mm. Depending on bullet weight that is.. I usually go 3.5 gr with a 125 LRN.. 7 gr will be very obvious in that small case.

[Milsurp Collector]

Titegroup is versatile and economical (small charges used = more charges per pound) for many handgun rounds. For 9mm also consider Power Pistol and BE-86. BE-86 is good for short barrels because it has a flash suppressant.

One powder that is good for .223 and .308 is Reloder 15. I have used it for .308 and made some super-accurate .303 British rounds with it.

[Howitzer1987]

Finding the powder you like best comes down to personal preference and performance. Depending on how you are doing your powder loads, you may find that you want to stay away from stick powders as opposed to ball powder or even flakes. Certain loads will also work better with one gun and be mediocre in another. Its all in what you are looking for in terms of performance and the tools you have at your disposal. With that said, finding the best combination of loads/powder/bullet weight/primer takes some trial and error and the best way to keep the best powder/every other component is to keep a record and write if it was a good load or not or if it worked well for one gun and not another. While time consuming and sometimes a pain in the ***, getting your groupings to tighten up because of a bullet you made is one of the best feelings when it comes to shooting

[Che762x39]

Looking to load my first batch of pistol and soon after rifle

9mm fmj berry bullets 115 grn ...

For 9mm which I have been reloading for since 1982. Bullseye is a great choice and it meters well.

For a Reloading Manual I suggest Speer.

[rm1911]

My all time favorite 9mm powder is accurate #5. For the longest time it was unobtainable but now it's coming back online. I did find power pistol to be a pretty good replacement. Really like PP, although I think #5 meters better.

Oddly enough both powders are 5.8-6.0 gr. Neither is a max load but are accurate and cycle great.

Also bullseye works great in 9mm. 4.5-4.8 grains. Bullseye meters great.

Usually use 115's but also 124's. Never had a problem with either.

[Dellinger]

I have a load I've been making for a couple of years for my wife. It's a 135 grain copper plated 40 Cal from extremebullets.com loaded with tight group. Very light recoil round and the gun cycles fine. She loves my Glock 23 but the normal 40 is to much for her. My reload is no more than a 9mm's worth of recoil. She loves it. Once in a wile I'll throw a factory round in the magazine for kicks.

Plink, plink, plink, BOOM, plink. Funny every time.

You'll get a bunch of enjoyment from experimenting with different purpose driven taylored loads.

[OpenSightsOnly]

Thanks guys

How do you decide what's not good and what is good? Personal preference? Cause I assume with each new powder you need to do a work up for each one. In my Lyman reloading book the recommend certain powder with certain types of bullets.

How does one make a call about that?

I primarily load for rifles and found out that H4895 or Varget does a good job for 223, 308, and 30 cal loads.

For 223 gas gun primers, I use Rem 7 1/2 BR or CCI 450, thicker/harder cups.

I also have three different reloading manuals (Sierra, Hornady, and Berger) and have access to a chrono should I need to verify velocity.

The loads from the reloading manual are a good start.