45LC powder

[huntswithdogs]

I had an eye opening experience this weekend. I've never shot one of my handloads over a Chronograph before. 2 shells were loaded in the cylinder(with the revolver pointed at the dirt), it was set on the rest and fired. The first load came out as 1250 fps.  The next one came out at 1099. These were the last of 10 shots.  The others(first 8 shots) had been pretty close of each other velocity wise, until these two. The guy of was lending me the use of his Chrony asked what powder I was using and I told him it was 231, but I didn't remember the weight. I'm shooting a 255 gr Keith bullet.
He advised me to check into another powder, possibly 2400. He said that 2400 would come closer to filling the case than the 231 and I wouldn't get extreme spreads on velocity. My problem is, this has been my most accurate load so far, with little to no leading. I've tried both 4227 and don't like them at all. For play loads ,I load Clays with good results.

Have any of ya'll experienced extreme spreads like this? Am I making more of it than what it is? Was I better off just being dumb about what my velocities were?

HWD

[Lloyd Smale]

if it was a chrony brand chronograph id be more apt to blame the chrono then the load. 231 usually burns pretty consistantly and i get weird readings on my chrony all the time. Its got to be my next big purchase. Ive been fighting that piece of junk since it was new

[Catfish]

You have a problem with your loading or with the Chrony, and like Loyd I`d bet on the Chorny.

[corbanzo]

I had my chrony reading some 168 grn 06 loads at 3500 (any of you who shoot the -06 knows that that is gun blowin up speeds) told myself... no way... moved the set up around, ended up getting readings of about 2750, which were where I was looking for...  I myself am looking to upgrade from the chrony. 

And as long as you are getting good ignition, filling the case should be the least of your worries.  I have some loads with titegroup that fill up the smallest amount of a .45colt case that are pretty consistent.  I did get some random velocities with some cases that I tumbled and left pieced of corn cob in the flash hole...  (DOH!!)  Now I always deprime AFTER I tumble....

[Castaway]

Though not exactly what you're hunting for, with mild to medium cast loads, you can't beat Unique.  Going up the scale, either H110 or either of the 4227's fills the bill for me, or as the man advised, 2400.  From your explanation, I can't tell if you lowered the muzzle between the two shots with the large variance.  With 231, you're using a relatively quick powder with a low volume charge. Given those conditions, powder position is more critical than with slower powders.  150 f/s does not seem out the realm of possible spread to me.  Could be the crony, but...   What was the average velocity of the other loads?  By the way, what was the charge you were using?

[Steve in Michigan]

Some other really good powders are Alliant Power Pistol and Hodgdon Universal Clays. The Universal is extremely clean burning (probably cleaner than Unique). Power Pistol works fine as well. I know of some people that load Tite Group in their .45s as it is not position-sensitive like some other powders with low charge weights. I guess if it were me, I'd re-determine whether the 231 was a problem or not by doing some more shooting and paying close attention to accuracy, extraction and primer condition. Otherwise if you just don't trust your load, you might make the switch to one of the slower-burning powders. Brian Pearce in "Handloader" magazine uses Power Pistol in some of his big bore cartridges and speaks very highly of it.

Steve

[Castaway]

Steve, not a slam, but I've never figured out why a clean powder is a good powder.  I've never had a failure due to a dirty pistol and I'm not one that cleans my firearms obsessively.  I use Bullseye in my 45 ACP's because it works well and Unique in all pistols and shot shells because it is still the best and most versatile powder on the market as far as I'm concerned.  Dirty, smirty! 

[mcwoodduck]

For powders in pistol I load either green dot or blue dot.  These are the two powders I load for all of my shotgun loads and it makes it less components to keep around and allows me to buy in bulk.
Auto's get the green and revolver cases get the blue dot.  It takes almost twice the weight of the blue to do the same as the green but I want the charge to fill the more of the case.
Your other option is to use fiber wads on top of your powder to suck up volume.  I have added these to the green dot loads for my 44 in making light loads for my friends kid to shoot.  They are bad only in the fact that they allow you to think evil thoughts as adding confetti or glitter under your bullet and letting others shoot them, but be careful.