Green Dot & American Select both are great performers for me in 9mm....very accurate, inexpensive and consistent for cast lead and moly coated bullets.
Been shooting E3 for a while in 38 and 45acp. It's as accurate as anything I've ever tried.
Been afraid to push it very hard as I've been leary of spikeyness, but after reading this thread, I'm getting more of it if I run across some.
Just chrono'd some E3 38 loads yesterday.
3.0gr E3 behind a 148gr solid double end wadcutter averaged 815fps. That was out of my model 14-3, six inch barrel.
You wouldn't trust some guy on the internet would you? Especially when published data abounds on powder web sites and reloading handbooks are easy to come by.
E3 in 45acp acts and performs like Clays to me. Seems a bit hotter than Bullseye for the weight. Very accurate and consistent and burns very clean.
I don't know that much about its characteristics but to be on the safe side I wouldn't use it in a high pressure cartridge like 9mm or 40.
I can't say enough good things about my Fusion 9mm Longslide and my Dan Wesson PM-9. Both are top notch and a pure pleasure to spend an afternoon with.
Is there a forum here for silhouette shooters. I've never done it formally but I have long range handguns and I try to stay in practice.
I have a Thompson Contender 14" handgun and a Freedom Arms 44 Mag 10" barrel.
I'm a cast lead only 9mm shooter also with my Dan Wesson 9mm 1911. I get great results with Green Dot and American Select. Consistent very tight groupings at 25yds.
I've just always used pistol primers for handguns and rifle primers for the higher pressures of rifles and I really wouldn't want to recommend doing anything else. Maybe I'm strange that way I guess.
unionman, start off byloading your cast bullets with the same powder charge you used for jacketed and see how you like it. With the less barrel friction of lead you might want to bump it up a couple of tenths.
I will however highly recommend 200gr lead semi wadcutters in anything you choose to do with a 1911.
6.0gr of Bullseye is hard to beat behind a 240gr LSWC in 44 Mag for a plinking load. Case filling or not makes no difference to Bullseye. Lots cheaper to use than Trail Boss also.
I have experimented a lot with Clays over the years and without going in to detail I will not use it at all in high pressure pistol calibers and do not recommend anybody else doing it. I only use what Clays I have left in 38 Spl. and 45acp., low pressure calibers. In this application Clays is a great powder.