Gun Powder (type) Powder (gn) Orientation Average fps
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.3 Down
334​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.5 Down
555​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.8 Down
678​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 7.0 Down
697​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.3 Flat
711​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.5 Flat
725​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.8 Flat
739​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.3 Up
847​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 7.0 Flat
899​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.5 Up
927​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 6.8 Up
935​
Rossi RP63 (3" barrel) Hodgdon Longshot 7.0 Up
972​

As you can see Longshot is VERY position sensitive in a 38 Special case.

Sorry the formatting of the paste sucks.

Pretty good stuff for actual magnum rounds (25K PSI or above) in my experience, not so much so for lower pressures.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/thread ... 38.552363/

Isn’t it true that being highly position sensitive implies it is actually the wrong powder for the load or application?

That's why I like Titegroup so much for both .45 Colt and .44 Special. Its position-insensitivity means I don't have to be concerned with, say, pointing the gun down at a 45-degree angle at the range or having it in the holster.

Bullseye seems to do nearly as well in those big cases, which I found somewhat surprising. But it proved true with my loads.

In .38 Special, including +P loadings, Bullseye and TG are my choices as well, with W231/HP38 also being most excellent. And there are other very good and popular choices, too; I just haven't gotten to them yet.

Yeah, I would consider switching from Longshot and saving it for another application where it might be better suited. The ol' standbys still work as well as they always have. But it's also good to try out other powders, so you certainly didn't do wrong by giving it a shot...um, so to speak. :-) Thanks for posting your results.

My goal was to duplicate a load that used Universal and shot to the sights on my Rossi 92. I thought I still had part of a bottle of Universal but I must have used it up and forgot (or there's a 1/4# of gunpowder SOMEWHERE in my house or garage that I can't locate, which is worrisome). Had I had the sense to look at a burn rate chart, I'd have seen that Power Pistol is much closer to the burn rate of Universal, and I have a bit over a pound of it which I should have used for this.

Oh well, as long as these all come out of the muzzle...

I fired the first three rounds to verify function and POI in my GP100 (fixed sights), both of which seemed fine, then turned these over to my young understudies, who burned the rest with no complaints and good success in hitting the target at 50 feet. I stole one more cylinder-full mid-session for a string of "rapid" (not very rapid) double-action, which was fun.

This might not be the ideal powder choice, but it wasn't a disaster.

Dang, one thing about this powder is that it left a hell of a crust around the muzzle of the Ruger unless the few rounds of H110 fired at the end of the session could be blamed. I'm not usually a clean-gun fetishist, but this was unusual. I probably didn't clean it after the last range trip, which also involved mostly rounds stoked with Longshot, variously at 20K or 25K PSI according to Quickload (and lead bullets, so the lube could also have been a factor). I scrubbed the muzzle with a patch soaked in Ballistol for at least five minutes last night and didn't get it all off, so I left it a bit wet and will go back in a day or three to try again, and brush the chambers which didn't appear at first glance to have too much of a fouling ring..
.

Buck13 wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 11:35 am Dang, one thing about this powder is that it left a hell of a crust around the muzzle of the Ruger unless the few rounds of H110 fired at the end of the session could be blamed. I'm not usually a clean-gun fetishist, but this was unusual. I probably didn't clean it after the last range trip, which also involved mostly rounds stoked with Longshot, variously at 20K or 25K PSI according to Quickload (and lead bullets, so the lube could also have been a factor). I scrubbed the muzzle with a patch soaked in Ballistol for at least five minutes last night and didn't get it all off, so I left it a bit wet and will go back in a day or three to try again, and brush the chambers which didn't appear at first glance to have too much of a fouling ring..
.

Anything on the forcing cone? I use Longshot for a 327 FM load, and suspect it is at the root of fouling there.

wooglin wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 11:48 am

Buck13 wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2024 11:35 am Dang, one thing about this powder is that it left a hell of a crust around the muzzle of the Ruger unless the few rounds of H110 fired at the end of the session could be blamed. I'm not usually a clean-gun fetishist, but this was unusual. I probably didn't clean it after the last range trip, which also involved mostly rounds stoked with Longshot, variously at 20K or 25K PSI according to Quickload (and lead bullets, so the lube could also have been a factor). I scrubbed the muzzle with a patch soaked in Ballistol for at least five minutes last night and didn't get it all off, so I left it a bit wet and will go back in a day or three to try again, and brush the chambers which didn't appear at first glance to have too much of a fouling ring..
.

Anything on the forcing cone? I use Longshot for a 327 FM load, and suspect it is at the root of fouling there.

Good question. I haven't done any work on the barrel yet, although I did scrub the face of the rear end of the barrel with a patch. Hopefully I will remember to look when I return to the gun cleaning chores, in the next few days if not tonight.

What load are you using in the FedMag? Is it a download or near max? I'd have guessed Longshot would burn cleaner at really high pressure, but I can't genuinely confirm that. Some of the .43 Mag ammo we shot lately was near-max with Longshot, so when I get to the Redhawk we'll see if it has as much muzzle spooge.

Longshot is definitly not the right powder for that load, especially noticeable shooting it out of a revolver. Enough unburned powder is being expelled out the muzzle to cause that gunk to form at the crown, likely made a mess around the forcing cone as well.

Hell, I’ve had my share of reloading failures using the wrong (severely position sensitive) powder in .357, shooting from a revolver. Hilarity ensued.

Bisbee wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2024 3:14 pm Isn’t it true that being highly position sensitive implies it is actually the wrong powder for the load or application?

Yes, it is.

But the main, central reason to reload is to do things your way, and a lot of people think results are secondary to that.

In addition, folks learned with ABC-123 powder, and don't want to go through the testing process to change their loads to something better. That's why there are so many Unique, 231 and Bullseye folks out there, when there are demonstrably "better" powders available, for various meanings of "better".

Once upon a time, there was only charcoal (mixed with brimstone and monk urine).

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2019/ ... nking-man/

If it shoots, someone ought to try it, just for kicks. Most of the newfangled stuff I've never tried, and most likely never will due to overabundance of stock and not so much of time. Keep experimenting, keep sharing.

Bisbee wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 5:51 pm Longshot is definitly not the right powder for that load, especially noticeable shooting it out of a revolver. Enough unburned powder is being expelled out the muzzle to cause that gunk to form at the crown, likely made a mess around the forcing cone as well.

Hell, I’ve had my share of reloading failures using the wrong (severely position sensitive) powder in .357, shooting from a revolver. Hilarity ensued.

Well, I don't consider these a failure. All went bang and none went PFFFT. My kid put a shit-ton of them into a 12" target at 50 feet, and I enjoyed cranking off a six-shot string DA that hit about where I expected, at a pace you'd probably call "steady" rather than "rapid." Had we chronoed them, it's likely the variation would have been more than you want to see, but it wasn't perceptible as one fired them.

Next time, I'll almost certainly use a different powder for this application, either Power Pistol or a slightly +P+ load of HP-38 (I only have .357s, so I can get away with this with a fairly clear conscience). I regularly take advantage of the fact that my MkIIs run fine when they're as dirty as a sewer, so when even a notorious slob like myself thinks the gun might be too dirty, that's significant.

OTOH, we shot a hundred of these out of a revolver with typical tolerances without tying up the gun. If someone told me they "needed" to use Longshot for .38 +P, I wouldn't try too hard to dissuade them.

Buck13 wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 11:15 am What load are you using in the FedMag? Is it a download or near max? I'd have guessed Longshot would burn cleaner at really high pressure, but I can't genuinely confirm that. Some of the .43 Mag ammo we shot lately was near-max with Longshot, so when I get to the Redhawk we'll see if it has as much muzzle spooge.

Downloaded. Can't recall the specifics off the top of my head, but definitely light. Good info to hear Longshot doesn't do well when there's too much extra room in the casing.

Ylatkit wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 7:07 pm

Bisbee wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2024 3:14 pm Isn’t it true that being highly position sensitive implies it is actually the wrong powder for the load or application?

Yes, it is.

But the main, central reason to reload is to do things your way, and a lot of people think results are secondary to that.

In addition, folks learned with ABC-123 powder, and don't want to go through the testing process to change their loads to something better. That's why there are so many Unique, 231 and Bullseye folks out there, when there are demonstrably "better" powders available, for various meanings of "better".

Well, I'm one of those Bullseye folks. :-) And I am because 1.) Bullseye works very well for my chosen applications for it, and 2.) I've got plenty of it.

That emphatically does not mean that we should not experiment. I would not have my Superformance .30-06 load had I not decided to give the powder a go. Turns out Superformance really earns its name in the .30-06 cartridge, especially with 150-180 grain bullets.

I also tried H-322 out in the .308 Winchester for reduced, especially cast bullet, loads. BL-C(2), Varget, and CFE-223 are the optimal burn rates for .308 Win. H-322's a little fast-burning normally, but it's great for these reduced, lower-recoil loads. It's a lot like shooting .30-30, which if one has a .308 Win and not a .30-30, is kinda nice. Deer fall just as reliably to a BHN 12 cast bullet in this .308 load as they do the .30-30 loads. Same goes for the Mosin with 160gr cast bullets. Thanks to the "Book of Lee" a.k.a. Modern Reloading, 2nd Edition, for the inspiration to try this.

It really amazes me that I didn't get started with Unique early on, given its long-timer status, especially since I do enjoy .45 Colt. But that's how it turned out. I will when I can make some time...promise. :-)

BTW, speaking of experimentation, you all really should try out that new Accurate 11FS for "magnum-style" handgun loads. I have come to quite like it. Don't get me wrong; I'm not about to stop using 2400 any time soon if I can help it, given how well it performs in my loads that use it. But 11FS is also darn good stuff and well worth consideration.

CowboyT wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2024 3:42 pm Don't get me wrong; I'm not about to stop using 2400 any time soon if I can help it, given how well it performs in my loads that use it.

I love 2400 for recreational magnums. Meters pretty well, can be downloaded safely (unlike H110) and the abundant muzzle flash never fails to break the ice at the indoor range. Also amusing for historical reasons as "the one that started it all" in the magnum revolver department.

Only problem is I haven't been able to buy any for years. IIRC I saw some for mail order maybe a year ago, but I haven't seen it on a store shelf in something like five years. I kept hoping that stopping at the relatively out-of-the-way Sportsmans Warehouse in Kelso WA while driving from Seattle to Portland might be lucky, but never hit the jackpot. Has Alliant stopped making it?