IMR powder?

[AIRret]

Are any of you fine folks familiar with IMR HI-SKOR 700-X powder?
What do you think?

[johnatw]

I use 700x for 12 gauge reloads for skeet shooting. The powder works great, good speed, but in my humble opinion a little dirty.

[CJB]

even dirtier in pistols imho

[Ikeo74]

If you already have it then use it. I have loaded a lot of pistol calibers with it as well as shotgun. Don't worry about residue or smoke. If you are just shopping for a powder there may be better ones for you. What's your story?

[AIRret]

If you already have it then use it. I have loaded a lot of pistol calibers with it as well as shotgun. Don't worry about residue or smoke. If you are just shopping for a powder there may be better ones for you. What's your story?

We are getting ready to reload for the first time and I'm trying to educate (with the help of the Karh forum) myself. Therefore, when I hear about a product I'm trying to research it and go from there.

Thanks

[Ikeo74]

The best way to decide on what powder to buy and use is to look in your reloading manual for the load data page of the caliber you are loading and use 1 or 2 of the powders the book is listing data for. Go by the book until you have enough experiance to explore other powder options. That is the safest way to start. Use middle of the velosity load data that is listed. Do not start at the very lightest load and do not start at the highest velosity loads. Middle of the chart data will give you a margin of safety if your powder charges vary a little as you are getting used to your new equipment. Take your time. Speed will come later.
I can tell you what powders I use but first I need to know which ones you are choosing from besides 700x and what bullets you are loading. (cal and wt)

[garyb]

Good advice to refer to the manuals first. However, it also never hurts to ask what others are using and why.

[AIRret]

Ikeo74 this is what we have bullet wise;
45 acp berry's 230gr, hornady 230gr and 185gr
9mm 115gr
38 special 125gr
We also have the hornady and the Lyman manuals.

And yes we plan to use middle of the road powder loads.

[Ikeo74]

One of the most universal powders and it is listed in the Hornady manual is Unique which I use along with 231. Both are good powders. Another powder I use is Longshot which loads a wide variety of pistol and shotgun loads. Like I said before there are a lot of good ones and everyone has their own opinion. The main thing is to use one your manual shows has good results and stick with it for a while. 1 pound of powder will load over 1000 pistol loads in 9mm and 45 ACP. So don't start with large quanities of any single powder.

[Ikeo74]

AIRret, Another good source of reloading information can be obtained from XDTalk in the sub forum of "Ammo Can" They have tons of information on reloading ammo, presses, powders and everything else. It is a larger posting of that type info than you will find here on Kahr Talk. Go to here:

Sorry, Kahr talk doesn't want you to go there, but I am sure you can find it on your own.

[Bongo Boy]

I have never seen any online references to the use of 700X for pistol. Is IS used for pistol--I'm just saying it doesn't seem to be prevalent at all. You may also find it difficult to find Bullseye and Unique right now--I don't know.

Other powders I think are fairly well-regarded, potentially for all 3 of your calibers, might include Winchester 231, WST, Hodgdon Clays, Titegroup and SR4756. Of course there are dozens more, but I think these are used quite a bit and potentially more available than BE and Unique at the moment. Hodgdon HP-38 and 231 are the same product, in case you don't happen to find 231. Of these I've listed, I've used all except Titegroup, and they all seem to be relatively clean.

In Accurate's line up, incredibly popular pistols powders for all 3 of your cartridges would include their No 2 and No 5.

When you look at powders, you might notice how they differ in the width of the full range of charges listed. For some, the range of recommended loads is very narrow, and your margin of error in measurement, etc., is less forgiving. For others, the range is relatively wide from min to max--meaning peak chamber pressure is changing more slowly with charge weight. These are attractive for the wiggle room they provide.

[MW surveyor]

This really needs to be moved to the reloading section.

In any event:

Unique and Bullseye are generally available. Unique is an older powder and is included in the majority of the calibers that you want to load. It is kind of dirty when loaded light. Bullseye is a "faster" powder and a bit cleaner.

HP38/W231 also works well in different calibers and is a bit cleaner than Bullseye.

Remember that there are 7,000 grains to 1 pound of powder and most (not all) charges for the faster powder are generally less than 6 grains. So you'll get a bunch of rounds out of 1 pound. If you are loading "bunny fart" target load 38 special 148 grain DEWC at 2.7 to 2.8 grains, that's 2,500 rounds!

[muggsy]

A good all round powder is Alliant's Power Pistol. It's clean burning, low flash and meters well through most powder measures. I've used it in everything from .380 Auto to .45 ACP. You can get loading data from their website.

http://www.alliantpowder.com/