700X Load Information

I have quite a bit of 700X left over from trap shooting and am looking for guidance using it in my Salyer wadgun.  My questions are:
1) 700X.  Is it a good powder for .45 bullseye loads?
2) Reloading Manual.  What manual, if any, is the best source of load information?
3) Inconsistent Metering.  I've heard that some experience metering problems when loading 700X in pistol cartridges.   I load .45s on a Dillon 550b.  I'm able to throw very consistent charges with 700X on my MEC Grabber. 
4) Load Information.  I currently use 200 gr. Magnus bullets, over 4.0 gr. Bullseye, WW primers, and Starline cases.  What would be an equivalent load using 700X or a good starting point? 
Thanks,  Tom

700X is a good 45 powder, it is what Zero bullets use for there match grade 185 fmj-hp ammo, ive heard its metering was not as good as bullseye and others but only testing thru your loader will tell. 700X has the same burn rate of these other powders, WST is the one ive used and for a 200 lswc  4.2 -4.5 seem to work good, you might start there or use the chart to find equivalent loads to cross from these others.

AS50N

International

Green Dot

700X

WST

AA 5

Thank you David.

700x  is not as good as Bullseye powder  for me. Expect about 2/10 variation in a Dillon RL 450 measure. Tried with home cast 185 & 200 gr bullets from 4 gr to 5  gr.  For 25 yards the 4.3 gr 185 cast lswc seemed best. At 50 yds  4.6 gr with Lyman 200 gr swc  BB cast seemed ok. Starline brass & WLP.  My  8 lbs  700X is left over from trap shooting also.

I use 4.4 grains of 700x with a Zero 185 JHP.  No it does not meter as good as Bullseye but it doesn't seem to matter.  I have had excellent groups with it.

I just went to 700-X solely because W-231 has not graced the shelves of any LGS for more than a year now.

3.9-ish works fine with 200-gr LSWCs in the .45, and duplicating the classic BE load of 2.8 gr Bullseye using the same charge of 700-X in .38 Special...but under a 145-gr SWC which is suitable with its crimp groove only in .38 (in .357 you gotta crimp over the shoulder like you do on a FWC).

I posted a thread here or on CastBoolits.com about how "fluffy" 700-X is. My conclusion after weighing a bunch of throws is that it needs a larger-diameter charge hole than, say, the Lil' Dandy has in the charge rotors smaller than #8.

Last night it was +/- 0.1 gr on the 2.8 gr load, using an old Dillon measure and the skinny pistol charge bar.

IME, 700-X is VERY tolerant of charge weight variations.

I resurrected this thread because of a discussion of 700X with Bullseye powder availability. I have used 700X and had great results. I have also had squibs. The powder is clean burning and very accurate but as mentioned above it does not meter well. It likes to hang up in the powder hopper. I have a Lee 4 stage that I load with and the powder does not like the smaller collet sizes at all. Now (after the squibs)  I take the powder dispenser off and feed the cases directly from the powder scale(taking about 4 times longer). It is the only way I can feel confident about the load I am putting in the case. I am sure there are other systems out there that will meter this powder or everyone would be having this problem. But for me. I would buy just about any other pistol powder before I bought anymore 700X.

Len

I also use a Lee 4-die, a turret. Bullseye metered well with the Pro-Disk, but switching over to the Micro Charge Bar, at charges less than about .3 cc's in volume, it throws squib charges with a nasty regularity. I make a habit of weighing every charge when using new-ish equipment, even after it's been 'seasoned'. Good thing I did, because just about every 9th or 10th charge, instead of coming out to 2.8gr, would meter 1.4gr. Or less. Several times, the charge would only be a dozen or so flakes. Apparently, common problem with the Micro Charge, as adjusting the charge way down moves the hole off-center from the hopper's 'mouth'.

Fortunately, I weighed every charge instead of the first five or ten. Had I not, problems might have arisen from "annoying waste of components" to "dead Target Masterpiece" to "real bad business".

Mostly, I'm interested in the 700-X as a powder for .45. If it works in my light .38 Specials, that's great, and if it doesn't, that's alright, too, I got other powder for that. Part of what I'm interested in is trying new things and tinkering--I've only been loading for about a year, and have only worked with two or three bullet weights and a couple powders. Although it would be a little disappointing, 700-X's published load data for it looks positively mouth-watering.

Thanks for the heads-up, though! Now I don't regret skipping that 4-pound jug at the LGS!

I too had problems metering 700x with my Lee press. But I found a solution. See my post from last summer:
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t4638-metering-small-quantities-of-large-flake-powders

I've been using 3.6 - 3.7 grains of 700X to load Zero 185 grain swaged SWHP (Zero #186) for about two years and have had good results. My Dillon 550 meters this quantity with good consistency. I load to an OAL of about 1.218" and use a .469" crimp. My guns all have 10 or 11 pound recoil springs and slide mounted Ultradots.