Kungfurabbit Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I'm getting the last few components together to start reloading and stopped to get my powder on the way home from work Saturday. I got a pound of Titegroup at a good price. Told my buddy what I'd gotten and he said it's great for 9mm but a little snappy for .40. He recommended Alliant E3. Anyone have experience with both of these in .40 able to compare the 2? Should I save the Titegroup for 9mm and get a some Alliant E3? Any feedback would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 e3 is a stunningly good powder in 40 (also 9mm and 45). It meters well, burns quite cleanly, isn't so hot it melts the FO in your front sight (like TG does), can be used with poly coated bullets (several mfgs. recommend against TG for poly), exhibits no temperature sensitivity and it's inexpensive. I buy it in 8lb jugs. Another thing that e3 has going for it is amazing consistency. In my chrono sessions, I almost always get SDs in the single digits. That's exceptional performance. If you shoot lubed lead bullets, TiteGroup is going to be a LOT smokier than e3. Act on your friend's advice and buy a pound of e3. Try it for 9 and 40, and 45 if you load that too. You will like it and soon be hunting down a 8lb jug. Hint: go to a store that caters to Trap shooters. That's where you will find the larger bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kungfurabbit Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Ok, cool. I'll stop to see if they have any E3 on the way home today. Right now I'm only set up for .40. I'll be getting a conversion for the SDB for 9mm soon and will have to try it there too. Thanks for the input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e5gator Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Have you found any load Data for E3? Posted by alliant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e5gator Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) high and low and speeds? Edited March 7, 2016 by e5gator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kungfurabbit Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 It's a shotgun powder and the only data for E3 on Alliant's site is for 12 gauge. Googling for data brought up a ton of data from shooters that have been using it in straight wall pistol rounds. I'll dig some up and post when I get off work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItZallGooD Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I've been using Promo/Red Dot in .40 with similar results. Burns clean, meters well and no trouble making major PF. Promo is pretty cheap and easy to find as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kungfurabbit Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Got 2 pounds of E3, 1 pound for me and a pound for my buddy today. Still gotta look up load data. May have to check out one of those soonish. The E3 was a little hard to find and this was all they had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtrump Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I found titegroup to be pretty tame in .40 if you can get away with making major pf "169ish" out of a 5inch gun with the minimum charge weight. I've heard good things about E3 also, another powder I wanted to experiment with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallz Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 My $.02, Everyone has their favotite go to powder and projectile based on their perceived recoil and thier pistol. In the end, I recommend you try various combinations of powders & projectiles in diffrent weights to find your own per load you like. Then spring your gun to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erttactics Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 I have used Titegroup for a couple years now, I'm always willing to try new stuff though. All in all can't complain about the TG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallz Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 TG is loved by the majority of people and there is load data for it everywere! Personaly, I prefer WST, Clays, Clay Dot, N320 over TG. To me in my pistols they all shoot softer than TG. I have not tried e3 yet simply because I have not found any. I am very intrested to how it feels and shoots compared to Clays & WST. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Just for informational purposes, here are my loads for 40sw. I load to 1.126" for my CZ Tactical Sport. If you load long for a 2011, you'll need to up the charges a bit. For Major: CCI 500, 3.7gr e3, 180gr LTC bullet- 960fps, 172PF, SD 4.85 For Minor: CCI 500, 2.8gr e3, 180gr LTC bullet- 773fps, 139PF, SD 6.75 FWIW, 180 Falcoated TC bullets would make 176PF and BBI 180 HiTeck coated 180 TC would make 171PF. BTW, you can go lower than 139PF with perfectly acceptable results. I stay at 139 because that is as low as I can go and still have it work with the 13lb spring I use for Major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtrump Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I like the way TG feels, N320 feels good to, maybe not as good as TG to me, but such slight difference but what is drastic is how clean it is in comparison. On the other hand the price comparison and availability is also drastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike21STI Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I have tried WSF and ramshot competition. My current rs comp load is very soft. I have n320 as well and will try that onve the rs is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferg34 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I like the way TG feels, N320 feels good to, maybe not as good as TG to me, but such slight difference but what is drastic is how clean it is in comparison. On the other hand the price comparison and availability is also drastic I agree with you jtrump. I use tg and n320 for my .40 competition loads. They are both soft shooting at around 169-170 pf. Tg is much cheaper but burns hotter and dirtier. Tg is also easier to find for me locally and I usually have to buy online to get the n320. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daft Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 +1 for Haltz and springs. Somewhere I found the burn rates for powders, and it helps to compare different powders. I prefer a slower burning powder than titegroup, like HP38. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarksideCZ Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 +1 for Haltz and springs. Somewhere I found the burn rates for powders, and it helps to compare different powders. I prefer a slower burning powder than titegroup, like HP38.Hp38 is my go to in 40. My major load is 4.3gn behind a summers enterprises 180gn lead bullet @ 1.135". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1gcountry Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 You can make a lot of different powders work for. 40, and there is a good chance you will never notice any difference. I use WST for many things just because it's easier than swapping out powders. I have some TG too that I have developed loads for, and they smell different, but that's about it. The one thing I don't like about e3 is how dense it is. A small change in powder charge is going to have more impact than the fluffier powders like WST. U can't fit enough powder in 9mm to double charge with WST. TG will fit almost 3 charges in one 9mm case. Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulm540 Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 extremely happy with titegroup and BBIs. My .40 minor loads with 165 BBIs are accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonglee0507 Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 VV n340 Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chutist Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) If you haven't seen it, people were kind enough to give quite a bit of info here: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=226113&hl=%2Bchutist#entry2521841 You'll see E3, VV- N320 and TG come up a lot. Clays too for STI "Long" loads. I started with TG but it was just too "dirty" for my taste. Clays is much cleaner! I have N320 on hand and plan to start testing with that soon. I'd try E3 too, if I found some.... Edited March 29, 2016 by Chutist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Here is my take on the powders Chutist lists. e3= the cat's meow. No temperature sensitivity, burn clean, meters well, and is accurate. It is consistent. It's almost impossible to create a load in the 165-180gr bullet range that does not give single digit SDs. N320= all VV pistol powder are temp sensitive. N310 horribly so, N340 not as much and usable as long as the temps are 40 and above. N320 in the middle. Clays+ way to spiky pressure wise to use for Major is you don't load really long. I have to load to 1.126" OAL, so it is a no go for me. TiteGroup= eeeuuew. It doesn't meter as well as the others, tends to clump and bridge, stinks, burns way too hot (melts for FO front sight), smokes more than anything else I know (except black powder) and it is downright filthy. I poured all the rest of mine on the garden as fertilizer. Another C doesn't list is WST. It burns clean, meters like water, is quite consistent and accurate. The only two dings I'd give it are you have to use more of it than e3 or similar and I don't really like the smell when fired. That being said, if I didn't have 12lbs of e3, but had WST, I'd use it with no worries. BTW, all of the above is for Limited loads. For 40 Open, powders faster than Autocomp do not produce enough gas to work the comp, and powders slower than HS-6 produce too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1gcountry Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 So even with the small e3 drops, it meters very well? I've been interested in it, I just haven't had the need to mess with another powder. How does price compare with WST, etc? Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 The last 8lb jug of e3 cost me $138 plus tax. My buddy just bought 4lb of WST for $140. He got ripped. e3 meters just fine in my SDB. If it didn't, I could not get SDs as low as 4. WST is more dense than e3, not less. For example, a micrometer setting of .100 on my powder measure drops 3.0gr e3, but 3.7gr WST. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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