Low flash

[MulberryAcres]

I'm reloading again after 20+ years away from it. Bought a Lee Pro 1000 press about 4 years ago. Finally,  got it unboxed and set up this past weekend. I've got some pretty good arthritis in my hands and am wanting to load some 9mm and 38Special subsonic with low flash. Maybe around 1,000 fps for the 9mm and 850-900 for the 38 Special. 115 grain copper plated RN for the 9mm. 125 SWC or something similar for the 38 Special. Anybody have any advice on a powder that will work for both? Thanks in advance.

[ysrracer]

I've been using Sport Pistol powder with good results.

[Farmer]

I’d say Clays if you could find it but Alliant e3 would work well too. Only drawback is it’s flaky and some powder measures don’t play nice with it. The Lee auto drum works pretty good though. 

[Joe4d]

If you dont have the 9mm bullets already, go for 147's, at about 880-900 fps will recoil less, less powder less flash, and should work most basic 9mm slides.. Go to light on the 115's you might have function issues on factory springs.
 

far as low flash,,, these days it seams we have to use the powder we can find,, Go to a burn rate chart,, any of the faster powders from Clays, clay dot, cleanshot, 244, sport pistol, Accurate #2, tight group, american select should work fine.. Probably with 231 being the slowest powder I would use.

[perttime]

9mm with plated 115 gr RN.... try about 4gr of Vihtavuori N320 https://www.vihtavuori.com/reloading-data/handgun-reloading/?cartridge=89

 

.38 Special with 125gr bullets... around 5 to 5.5gr of N320. https://www.vihtavuori.com/reloading-data/handgun-reloading/?cartridge=41

 

Agreed that heavier bullets and less powder should generate less flash.

Edited December 28, 2023 by perttime

[ysrracer]

I hate 115gr bullets, too snappy, too harsh for my old hands.

[Farmer]

11 hours ago, ysrracer said:

I hate 115gr bullets, too snappy, too harsh for my old hands.

pu$$y 

[ysrracer]

58 minutes ago, Farmer said:

pu$$y 

 

Hey grumpy, please don't ban this guy. I'm a big boy, sticks and stones.

 

I can take it.

[Farmer]

2 hours ago, ysrracer said:

 

Hey grumpy, please don't ban this guy. I'm a big boy, sticks and stones.

 

I can take it.

 

[MulberryAcres]

On 12/28/2023 at 10:24 AM, perttime said:

9mm with plated 115 gr RN.... try about 4gr of Vihtavuori N320 https://www.vihtavuori.com/reloading-data/handgun-reloading/?cartridge=89

 

.38 Special with 125gr bullets... around 5 to 5.5gr of N320. https://www.vihtavuori.com/reloading-data/handgun-reloading/?cartridge=41

 

Agreed that heavier bullets and less powder should generate less flash.

 

[MulberryAcres]

I'm a big fan of N320....I think I'll give your recipe a try....IF I can find any N320... LOL 

[Farmer]

2 hours ago, MulberryAcres said:

I'm a big fan of N320....I think I'll give your recipe a try....IF I can find any N320... LOL 

Here’s some. 

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/18885
Here’s some more. 
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00178t10057/vihtavuori-n320-smokeless-pistol-powder-4-lb 

Midsouth has free shipping (not hazmat) until 1/1/24

Edited December 29, 2023 by Farmer
Added

[zzt]

Try Accurate #2.  Not position sensitive, low flash, and currently much cheaper than N320 or Sport Pistol.

[jejb]

On 12/28/2023 at 8:43 AM, Farmer said:

I’d say Clays if you could find it but Alliant e3 would work well too. Only drawback is it’s flaky and some powder measures don’t play nice with it. The Lee auto drum works pretty good though. 

Clays is great for low flash and works well with plated 115gr RN. Cycles all of our 9's with low recoil and low flash. But it does seem hard to get. I have a bunch, so the wife and I shoot it quite a bit. 

[ysrracer]

2 minutes ago, jejb said:

Clays is great for low flash and works well with plated 115gr RN. Cycles all of our 9's with low recoil and low flash. But it does seem hard to get. I have a bunch, so the wife and I shoot it quite a bit. 

 

Yeah, Clays powder is great stuff, but largely unattainable these days.

[perttime]

On 12/29/2023 at 11:15 PM, MulberryAcres said:

I'm a big fan of N320....I think I'll give your recipe a try....IF I can find any N320... LOL 

 

I'm pretty sure you could get light loads and low flash with N310 too. Vihtavuori no longer lists as many loads, though.

[zzt]

For those of you enamored of Clays but can't find any, Alliant Clay Dot is a direct replacement.  Even Hodgdon's Ballisticians admit they did a great job reverse engineering Clays.

[ysrracer]

2 hours ago, zzt said:

For those of you enamored of Clays but can't find any, Alliant Clay Dot is a direct replacement.  Even Hodgdon's Ballisticians admit they did a great job reverse engineering Clays.

 

Yeah, I can't find any of that either

 

I was able to buy four pounds of Sport Pistol powder, than an eight pounder of the same.

 

it's great powder, and basically the same as Clays in my gun.

 

Plus it meters better in my Dillon. Sport pistol is a newer powder, so you might be able to find it.