Win 231 vs Bullseye

C

Cactus

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Location
Thunder Bay ON
Hi guys,

I am shooting indoors this winter and have always used Bullseye n my .38sp and 9mm because with the fast powder you use less of it and get more rounds per pound with decent groups at 10 to 15 yards.

The problem that I have is the amount of smoke from Bullseye. It was fine outside but I would like to find a less smoky powder. A friend suggested 231 since it is also a faster powder and very little is used. I shoot mid range loads with 124gr lead and jacketed in 9mm.

What are your opinions of 231 for 9mm and .38sp loads?

Thanks,
Cactus
 
Win 231 will work fine for both cartridges, if you are shooting cast bullets some of the smoke may be coming from the bullet lube.
 
Silverback said:
Win 231 will work fine for both cartridges, if you are shooting cast bullets some of the smoke may be coming from the bullet lube.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I shoot cast tumble lubed with Alox, but I find the jacketed rounds smoky as well shooting at the indoor range. Maybe I'm too used to shooting outside, but it is a nice change not freezing LOL.

I'll have to grab a pound of 231 and try it.

Cactus
 
231 is a good all-purpose pistil powder. So is Unique, but it does not meter well in some throwers. Anotehr real good powder is IMR SR7625. Similar in speed to Unique, but meters very well. Bulky enough that is less prone to accidental double charges.
 
I use 4.3gr of 231 for my 9mm with Berry's or Campro 124gr plated rounds, and 2.2gr in my .38 S&W with OmaProducts 38 Super lead RN. Apart from being a rather dirty powder, it works fine.
 
WW231 is a very dirty, smoky powder, IMO. I don't know how bad Bullseye is, but a few rounds of my light target load (245gr Keith SWC/8.0gr of 231) from my Redhawk in .44Mag will fog the line in solid like I was shooting black powder. I am in the process of trying Red Dot for my light loads so I can shoot the .44 indoors without major smoke production, but won't get out to test any for the next few weeks at most.

On the plus side, 231 meters extremely well and has produced superb consistency and accuracy for me in the Redhawk. It is just limited to outdoor shooting from my experiences with it.


Mark
 
Both are really good powders to use and like previously mentioned, a lot of the smoke will be the bullet lube. I liked 231 better for mid to higher velocity rounds and it seems to clean up much better. Bullseye seems to be a lot tougher in terms of cleaning the powder residue off of the cylinder. Bullseye was always the good ol standby when it came to low power/accuracy loads for PPC and Bullseye style competition(2.7gr behind 148 wadcutters).
 
tight group is a little less dirty than be or 231 but if your shooting cast it won't make any big diff. i find 231 a good choice for 32,9,38,357,40, &45acp
 
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