Powder bang-for-buck? 296 v CFE Pistol

[Guninator]

So I'm getting back into reloading, mostly 357, 44, 45, 9mm, 10mm. I see after all these years that 296 still leads the pack in many ways. However, I notice that some of the newer powders like CFE Pistol require one half the charge of a powder like 296. Plus I am seeing CFE actually cheaper than the Winchester (once cent shipping currently at Brownells, plus no sales tax).

So considering only price, it seems CFE is an awesome powder. I've heard it is ironically dirty for a supposed clean your bore powder.

Anyone use this powder have anything good or bad to say? I did a search and didn't see much.

[Fishslayer]

CFE Pistol is a faster powder than W296. It will work in magnums but won't give you your best performance.

If you're going to load true .357 and .44 magnums just go ahead & buy 2 different powders.

If you don't understand why then you have some reading to do.

[rsrocket1]

Ditto Fishslayer. Use the right powder for the right purpose. Powder is the lowest cost per shot of the components you use in pistol shooting.

If as you say, considering only price, then use 4 grains of Titegroup or Promo in all your loads and work up until your auto's cycle. It will work in all your guns, but you won't get much of a bang in your magnums, but it will be cheap.

[TexasJackKin]

I did a quick survey a while back, and if I remember correctly I had 28 different powders. Less than a pound of some, and mutable pounds of others. I only regularly use 4 or 5 different types of powder now, but over the course of a lifetime I've accumulated a collection. I've got a couple of pounds of H110 marked $8.95, and I've stared using it again, I suspect I'll have to pay a bit more for it when I run out... Different horses for different courses...

IOW, Use the right powder for the job, the cost factor at best it would be a small fraction of a cent per round...

[santacruzgunner]

Cfe is excellent stuff, works for a lot of different calibers

[stilly]

So I'm getting back into reloading, mostly 357, 44, 45, 9mm, 10mm. I see after all these years that 296 still leads the pack in many ways. However, I notice that some of the newer powders like CFE Pistol require one half the charge of a powder like 296. Plus I am seeing CFE actually cheaper than the Winchester (once cent shipping currently at Brownells, plus no sales tax).

So considering only price, it seems CFE is an awesome powder. I've heard it is ironically dirty for a supposed clean your bore powder.

Anyone use this powder have anything good or bad to say? I did a search and didn't see much.

The only bad thing I can say is that it is near $25/lb if you buy singles. Also, you should know better. It AINT W296. CFE is a pistol powder that to me seems to have more velocity/pop for the charge used, but it AINT any W296/H-110.

If I wanna shoot my Deagle I sure as hell AINT gonna waste CFE-P in any thing I make for .44 mag. Blue dot- Sure, Enforcer- Sure, LIL Gun- Sure, H-110- All the WAY, AA#9, LoL, okay, we can do that again. CFE-P? Get outta here with that.

I WILL run CFE-P in .44 Special and any other regular pistol rounds though. Just not .44 MAG.

I mean, If I am gonna waste that in there, I might as well load up some PB or REd Dot or WST as well. Hell, even load up some 700-X. And then when I shoot that .44 mag people will be all like... (what do you put for nobody paying attention?) But if I wanna leave some skid marks with folks and run off with the girls- Drop a few H-110s in the Deagle or RRH and we are good to go...


LoL. But hey man, yer powder. I just dunno why anyone would want to do that to themselves.

[Guninator]

The only bad thing I can say is that it is near $25/lb if you buy singles. Also, you should know better.

LoL. But hey man, yer powder. I just dunno why anyone would want to do that to themselves.

Easy there Sparky. Just getting back into reloading as I said. Not everyone here knows everything about everything like yourself. I didn't realize this forum was for people who already know everything.

Looking at all the reloading tables closely, I think H110 is the winner, since it does well in rifles too, and every caliber I listed I shoot in both pistol and rifle.

I'm just surprised that after not reloading for over 25+ years, the same powders are still the chosen ones. I will say Power Pistol looks like a winner though.

[bazineta]

Looking at all the reloading tables closely, I think H110 is the winner, since it does well in rifles too, and every caliber I listed I shoot in both pistol and rifle.

The thing to be aware of with H110 / W296 is to never used reduced loads with it, per the manufacturer's warnings of Bad Things happening.

[TexasJackKin]

The thing to be aware of with H110 / W296 is to never used reduced loads with it, per the manufacturer's warnings of Bad Things happening.

Quite true, read twice! And be sure to use Magnum primers

[Paul_R]

W296 is for full power magnum charges only. It's great for that and only that. Ok it's actually really good in 458 SOCOM but that's a rare exception.

CFE pistol is a lot more versatile.

[stilly]

Easy there Sparky. Just getting back into reloading as I said. Not everyone here knows everything about everything like yourself. I didn't realize this forum was for people who already know everything.

Looking at all the reloading tables closely, I think H110 is the winner, since it does well in rifles too, and every caliber I listed I shoot in both pistol and rifle.

I'm just surprised that after not reloading for over 25+ years, the same powders are still the chosen ones. I will say Power Pistol looks like a winner though.

STILLY. Not SPARKY There is no R in my name unless you are Asian...

And I do not know everything, I am just a 10 yr old keyboard commando acting like a guy tonight, tomorrow I will be an FBI agent posing as a girl... Or girr if you think my name still has an R in it...

Anyone who reloaded for any amount of time should have known the main differences between powders and should not have compared H-110 to CFE Pistol like you did. Nobody has to know everything about all of the powders, but H-110 stands out as a magnum powder.

You also will NOT be running H-110 in 9mm or .45 or even 10mm. I mean, SHTF, hard up and you HAVE NO CHOICE, 180gr or heavier in 10mm will give you .45 ACP velocities. But if you do that when you do not need to, you are a person that probably likes to start their car in 3rd gear too... H-110 is best served in magnum because it is a magnum powder. Well, mag and maybe shotty? I think it is also good in maybe 50 BEO and some of those larger calibers, but don't go talking about making any 50 BEO pistols with any success. All kinds of critters will come out of the woodwork and chase you down right after the ATF finds out and reclassifies .50 BEO...

Go pick up a bottle of Blue Dot if you want something that can handle magnum AND regular pistols. Blue Dot is economy AND works in most all of those calibers, dunno about 10mm though, and the ONLY .357 mag you do NOT want BD in is the 125gr. You will die if you do that too much. They said so on their website on this thing called the internets.

Stirry...