38 special 44 mag using same powder ?

[NOTABIKER]

My son in law has a Henry lever action rifle in 44 mag, and a 357 pistol . I have a 1911 in 45 acp and a 38 colt police special . I want a powder that will work in all of these guns. we only plink and shoot paper at out local range. perfection is not what we are about. If performance will only suffer a little that is OK.

[Tom-ADC]

Is Unique still available I used it in all four of those calipers I'm sure there are more modern powders that also work. I still have and load with Unique.

Edit I used it in 38 Special not 38 Colt

[FLIGHT762]

I recently loaded up some 357 Mag. with 158 JHP and some 44 Mag. with some 240 gr. JHP. I used Blue Dot in both loads . They both shot well. I used Blue Dot because I have about 2# of it.

You didn't specify what bullets you would be using. If you're using cast bullets in both, I would agree with Tom-ADC on using Unique in both.

[wbunning]

Is Unique still available I used it in all four of those calipers I'm sure there are more modern powders that also work. I still have and load with Unique.

Edit I used it in 38 Special not 38 Colt

Unique is still produced and still a good choice across all those calibers. Alliant's newer BE-86 could also work. What manual do you have? The Lyman book has load data using Unique for all the calibers you list.

[357magnum]

Hodgdon HS-6

[Divernhunter]

Unique for the win.

[tonyjr]

I only use hodgdon powders .
H110 for magnums [ it is a slow burning powder .
From 25 ACP to 45 ACP [ 9 MM , 380 , 38 ] HS6 , HP38 and CFE pistol .
There probably are other companies , that make powders that will / might work but to me it is like having a pair of pliers in stead of a set of wrenches .
I would suggest going on ebay and buying a couple of used reloading manuals .
You should at minimun go to what ever powder company you choice web site and check .

[JagerDog]

Many powders will work if you're not trying to get the performance available in 357 and 44. The powders on the faster side lend themselves to 38 and 45. The slower side to 357 and 44. The rifle/carbine really appreciates the slower powders. Note that the slower the powder the more of it a given caliber will require, hence economy goes down.

Unique, BE86, Unequal are just a few which will be somewhere in the middle of performance and economy.

[Abenaki]

Unique

Take care
Abenaki

[PoorRichRichard]

Check out load data for 700X (cheap), and 800X.

[bigbossman]

My son in law has a Henry lever action rifle in 44 mag, and a 357 pistol . I have a 1911 in 45 acp and a 38 colt police special . I want a powder that will work in all of these guns. we only plink and shoot paper at out local range. perfection is not what we are about. If performance will only suffer a little that is OK.

700x. Works well in all those calibers, is relatively cheap, and always available.

[God Bless America]

NAB do yourself a favor, get 2 powders. One for the 38 and 45 (231, HS6, bullseye, CFE pistol, many other choices), and another for the magnums.

For the magnums, blue dot, 2400, AA9, 110 and 296 will work. 110 and 296 cannot be downloaded much; they are a full-power proposition.

Blue dot and 2400, OTOH, are very flexible. 2400 is a favorite in reduced-power rifle loads.

[stilly]

My son in law has a Henry lever action rifle in 44 mag, and a 357 pistol . I have a 1911 in 45 acp and a 38 colt police special . I want a powder that will work in all of these guns. we only plink and shoot paper at out local range. perfection is not what we are about. If performance will only suffer a little that is OK.

Blue Dot works in 9mm, .45, .44 special, .44 mag, .38, and I think .357. Just do NOT shoot .357 with blue dot and 125gr pills or you will die. I do not know about .38 Colt Police Special, but I imagine it would be fine there too.

Essentially, you can load .44 mag with any powders found in .44 special loads as well. They will just be a tad under pressure and longer obviously. If you had a BoLee then you could look at the calibers and connect the dots yourself to see which 12 powders you could do this with...

TLDNR: ANY pistol powders should do this, but load the .44 mag like you are loading .44 special...

[sargenv]

Surprised no one else made the suggestion.. If you want to ensure you won't double charge the load and you aren't looking for top velocity.. Trail Boss.

[Phalanx20mm]

I have used Unique for .38 Special, .357 Mag. and .44 Mag. with lead bullets.
If I'm using jacketed bullets I use Blue Dot for .357 and .44 magnums.