FingerBlaster Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) i'm going to be doing some extensive night shooting and want to do some loads with low muzzle flash. I'm not needing to make power factor this will just be a 6 day night training class, but i don't want powder puff loads either. I'd be bringing a 9mm and 45 with me and shooting 124 gr and 230 gr pills. I'm thinking be86 or ramshot silhouette? What would you use? thoughts? Edited March 21, 2017 by FingerBlaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustygun Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 I load HS-6 in 9mm and have experienced very little flash at a wide range of powder charges. By that I mean I started at a powder puff load and worked up to near max load in my books and was surprised to see very little flash at any charge. I have not loaded HS-6 in .45 so can't offer any experience there. I am sure others have better options as I am a novice reloader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Neill Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 I don;t recall all the powders I tried some time back, with photos in the dark, but my experience with HS-6 was like a flash bulb going off in front of my face. If I'm remembering right, the Vihtavuori powders were fairly low flash, and I don't recall 231 being too bad. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Phil Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 I shoot a lot of 231 and it doesn't flash nearly as much as some others. We do quite a bit of night shooting, BTW. I believe that I read that the Accurate powders are flash suppressed, but, that may be only the A9. Worth checking into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustybayonet Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 BE-86 has a lower flash, but this is compared to unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeEB Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Silhouette! It's my goto powder for 9, even in minor PF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signcutter Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 +1 on Silhouette. Works quite well as a low flash powder in 9mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDA Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) I did a four day night class and used 9mm ammunition I loaded with VV N320 (around a 125 pf) shot from a stock Glock 19. Multiple instructors asked what I was shooting as there was such little flash. Edited March 22, 2017 by RDA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) My thought was that if you use a faster powder, you have a better chance of all the powder burning before the bullet leaves the barrel compared to a slower powder where you may still have a little remainder of powder making a little fireball behind the bullet as it leaves the barrel. My specific experience has been between powders like Power Pistol (big fireball and slow) and powders like WST, N320, or Titegroup (faster powders and less muzzle flash). WW231 could also be grouped with the faster powders, though not quite as fast as the other I mentioned. Edited March 22, 2017 by EngineerEli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeEB Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 47 minutes ago, EngineerEli said: My thought was that if you use a faster powder, you have a better chance of all the powder burning before the bullet leaves the barrel compared to a slower powder where you may still have a little remainder of powder making a little fireball behind the bullet as it leaves the barrel. My specific experience has been between powders like Power Pistol (big fireball and slow) and powders like WST, N320, or Titegroup (faster powders and less muzzle flash). WW231 could also be grouped with the faster powders, though not quite as fast as the other I mentioned. Bullet crimp and barrel length will also play a part in powder burn. Silhouette is designed to have low flash as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v1911 Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 I've worked up several low light SD rounds for 9mm, .45 and 10mm. Each had a favorite as far as muzzle flash was concerned. For 9mm it turned out to be Silhouette. For .45 it was BE-86. N350 was also tested and performed well but the other 2 powders met more of the criterias that I was looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeEB Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 12 hours ago, v1911 said: I've worked up several low light SD rounds for 9mm, .45 and 10mm. Each had a favorite as far as muzzle flash was concerned. For 9mm it turned out to be Silhouette. For .45 it was BE-86. N350 was also tested and performed well but the other 2 powders met more of the criterias that I was looking for. what powder was it for 10mm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v1911 Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 3 hours ago, DukeEB said: what powder was it for 10mm? I haven't had the chance to shoot under low light conditions yet. I'll be looking to do that by the end of next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeEB Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 29 minutes ago, v1911 said: I haven't had the chance to shoot under low light conditions yet. I'll be looking to do that by the end of next month. I look forward to your results!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thompsoncustom Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 N310, e3, titewad i would go for the fastest powders on the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v1911 Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 I have a low light match next Wednesday. Will be testing which powder will be best for low flash for my 10mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v1911 Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 So I ran several powders using bayou's 180gr bullet in last week's low light match. So.... coated bullets and upper end powder charges seem to not be conducive to low light shooting. Thank goodness there want anything more than 2 shots per target because things get real smokey really quick. Other than that, I was able to get a real good idea of what kind of muzzle flash I could expect from each powder at their respective charge. N350 took 1st place. Muzzle flash was nearly non-existent. Second was too close to tell without a slo-mo cam. Silhouette and BE-86 both had very minimal flash but it was more than N350. With that being said, N350 also had the lightest charge of the 3 so that may have considerable impact on the results. If I had to choose a powder for HD purposes, I'd probably select N350. BE-86 and silhouette were also great, but geared more towards the 1300fps, really required complete focus and a fierce grip on the gun. Meaning I could probably get away with a 1hd shot using N350. The other 2 powders would induce a malfunction if not handled with the respect they demanded. Or maybe that's just my wimpy wrists fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeEB Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 That's great info v1911! Thanks for posting it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 I suggest vv n310 or vv n320 for both the 9 and 45. Low flash and clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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