Blue Dot Warning
 

Attached is a letter I rec'd through e-mail regarding Blue Dot powder useage in 357 & 41 mag.
<img src="http://glocktalk.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=154332&d=1217032669"/>

I have always known Blue Dot was a crappy powder with a wicked fast pressure spike. I tried it in 38 Super way back. Never again.

I appreciate the head's up!

I just bought some Blue Dot (never tried it before) to load some .357 mag (never loaded those before)... I used a 140 grain JHP, so according to this I should be alright, but I'll keep an eye on it and work up a little slower than normal.

Thanks again.

Blue Dot has been a supeb powder for me. I use it in 12 ga., 38 spl/357 mag, 44 spl/44 mag, 9mm, 40S&W, 10mm and some rifle rounds.

I have used it for the 125 gr loads in 357 mag, maybe I'm lucky! I have loaded 14.0 grains under the 122 gr. cast LEE TC 9mm bullet sized to 357" they were some of the most accurate rounds from my S&W mod. 19, 6" barrel.

Now the powder I have been loading is the Hercules stock from 80's. I also have 5 lbs of the newer Alliant plastic jug...I'll be a little more cautious and rework up the loads to check for changes from the newer lot# Dec of 2002.

Be safe!

I have fired almost 2000 rounds of Sig 357 using Blue Dot. Hmmmm, was just about to buy some more Blue Dot, maybe I'll rethink this. SPECIAL NOTE: Alliant's reload data page is down for "maintenance"

Same here, although the only powder I have used was in 5# kegs in the early 90's.

Funny. Blue Dot has been my main powder in 357 magnum, with loads from the older Speer 11 manual. I love those 125 jhp's with 14.5 - 15.0 grains of BD. Just DO NOT use magnum primers. I've loaded everything from 125's - 168 Keith style SWC's with Blue Dot.

Also have used BD in 44 mag, 45 Colt, 9mm, 9x23 Win, 38 Super and 12 gauge. I guess I'll use up the powder I have and be more careful working up new loads.... I have thinking of switching to AA9 for some loads anyway....

They are updating the webpage load data. The new data is already available for download if you download the 2008 load guide in PDF. It has the new data.


http://www.alliantpowder.com/

http://glarp.atk.com/2008/2008_Catal...derCatalog.pdf

Its just bizarre... in 357 mag they show data for 110, 140, 158 and 170 grain GDHP's... but NOT the 125??? If they say so....

Bluedot is My Favorite .357 Mag powder and use data from the old Speer #9. The Speer 10 didn't have any data for Blue in 357 as they had some sort of problem. Then the Speer 11 came out. The 357 Bluedot data was over the top for all bullet weights. In Speers 12 and 13 the 357 Bluedot data has been lowered for a reason. If I was shooting 357 Bluedot loads built from Speer 11, I would not shoot them in a pistol I liked.

My loads have been safe in my guns with my older kegs of powder that were purchased before Speer 12, 13, and 14 came out. If I had newer batches of BD, I would definitely use the newer data in Speer 14. I have never worked up to a MAX published load with BD/357 mag with the Speer 11 data.... my load development stopped at 15.2/125 jhp, 13.6/140 jhp, 12.5/158 jhp, and 10.0/168 hardcast Keith SWC.

The only real problem I ever had with BD was once when I absentmindedly substituted magnum primers in a max load with Sierra 140 jhp that had been worked up with standard primers... I had sticky case extraction and flattened primers. Other than that, I didn't like the results I got when working up loads in 9x23 Winchester. AA7 proved to be a better powder in that caliber.

I'm on the last of my keg of Bluedot which was also purchased before Speer 11 came out. I did not go as high as you have. The 140 is my favorite bullet in 357.

I ended up using a lot more 140's after a few years of loading, too. I liked the Sierra 140 jhc because back then the price was better, they were incredibly accurate and i liked the way they tore up anything they hit. Coincidentally, the 13.6 gr BD under the Sierra 140 jhc is listed as a max load in the Sierra data I have.

Even though I worked up to 15.2 grains BD with the 125 jhp, my usual load was 14.5 grains. And I rarely loaded 158 grain jhp's. As I got into loading heavier slugs at that weight, I tended to go to the Keith style 168 SWC's I got from a local caster. Very accurate and with the 10.0 grains of BD it looked like I had room to move up if I wanted it (relatively light recoil and no pressure signs at all)... but I never did because that load used to bowl over the 200 meter rams in IHMSA matches if I did my part, and that was from a 4" GP100, lol.

Just a quick :bump: in case anyone missed it.

this is a great post ty for putting it up i use 2400 in my .357 but i have used BD before when i run out of 2400.

Good to find out. I loaded and fired about 100 rounds with 210gr XTP in .41 Mag. I also bought it for 10MM. No problems.

Blue Dot Warning
 

I called them yesterday, and they confirmed the warning. I told them I had used BD up to 12.5gr in and OM .41 Mag. B'hawk with a 5.5" barrel with no problems. They said to limit the powder to 10 gr. They said that would be 1100 fps. Not what I was looking for. They said to go to 2400 for more speed. There are some pressures spikes with BD. They are going to work up some new recipes and publish them on their site. Anybody want to buy a # of BD?

I have used a great many canisters of BD in 357 and 41. No problems and some pretty good velocities.

Well....

First I have heard of this...I bought a pound late last March and worked up two groups of load for .357 using Remington 110gr JHP and 158gr JHP.

This pic is one of the 110's going off in a 686 for a night shot. I did notice an ever so slight flattening of primers (nothing alarming) and the load is below the listed max in (IIRC) the Sierra manual I drew from.

Anyway, now I'm on a .45 Colt kick, so the .357 BD loads are shelved for time being.

http://highspeedlane.net/milforum/ga...2/IMG_3160.JPG

I've used Blue Dot for 110 grain and 125 grain .357 Magnum JHP loads for 20+ years, and will continue to do so

Yeah, what do those guys at Alliant know anyway? :whistling:

Highspeedlane,
You may want to check that 158 grain bullet loading over what you are recalling...16 grains of Blue Dot is a pile in the 357 magnum. I would think give or take a little, 10 or 11 grains to be near the maximum in that bullet weight.

I would hate to see someone jump on that load you listed!

Great night shot Highspeed. Been shooting new Glock 20 and wifes 29 with Blue Dot. Powder makes the guns perform quite well and the spent cases have no visable issues.:cool:

I've used blue dot for years. I got a good deal on it originally, and used it until it ran out...then got a good deal on high score 700X and used that. I'm not married to a powder or a load.

My first handloading experience used Blue Dot in a .41 Magnum (price of ammo forced me to get into reloading). I've never had a problem with BD loads except for the excessive muzzle flash.

There are too many other fine powders out there to continue to mess with BD. Once my current Lb. of BD is used up, I'm through with it.