Hodgdon
Hodgdon HP-38
A low- to mid-range target handgun powder.
Winchester 231 under a different label — one of the few equivalences the community treats as settled rather than rumour, sourced to the manufacturer. It is a clean, well-behaved fast target powder for .38 Special, .45 ACP and light 9mm, and it meters beautifully. The catch is density: charge volume is small in a large case, so a double charge in .38 Special or .44 Special does not announce itself, and cleanliness falls off if you load it very light. Old load data predates the two products converging, so do not cross-apply vintage charges between the labels.
- 38 Special target loads
- 45 ACP practice ammo
- light 9mm loads
- 44 Special
Who has Hodgdon HP-38 today
Checked October 10In stock at 2 stores — lowest in hand $44.55/lb (8 lb at Graf & Sons)
| Store | Size | Shelf | In hand /lb | Stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graf & Sons$23.50 hazmat per package | 8 lb | $318.99 | $44.55 | In stock ↗ |
| Hodgdon (direct)Terms not published | 1 lb | $47.99 | $79.43 est. | In stock ↗ |
| Graf & Sons$23.50 hazmat per package | 1 lb | $44.99 | $82.44 | In stock ↗ |
| Lohman ArmsHazmat charged, amount not published | 8 lb | $269.99 | $37.68 est. | Out |
| Bruno Shooters Supply$26.95 hazmat + $19.95 ship | 8 lb | $288.99 | $41.99 | Out |
| Hodgdon (direct)Terms not published | 8 lb | $332.99 | $45.55 est. | Out |
| Lohman ArmsHazmat charged, amount not published | 1 lb | $37.99 | $69.43 est. | Out |
| Bruno Shooters Supply$26.95 hazmat + $19.95 ship | 1 lb | $39.99 | $86.89 | Out |
“In hand” is the shelf price plus that store’s hazmat fee and shipping, spread over one container. Stock is checked once a day — confirm on the store’s page before ordering. Compare all powders →
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Hodgdon |
|---|---|
| Product family | Hodgdon |
| Status | Currently produced |
| Application | pistol |
| Grain form | spherical |
| Lee VMD (bulk density) | 0.0926 cc per grain · 0.70 g/cc |
| Composition | double-base |
| Temperature stable | Not marketed as temperature-stable |
| Burn-rate position | 31 of 198 (fastest = 1) — what this means |
| Typical cartridges | 38 Special, 44 Special, 45 ACP |
Grain shape
Small spherical grains, degressive — surface falls as they burn, energy arrives early, which is what you want under a light lead bullet at short range. They flow through a progressive measure with no cutting or bridging at all.
Why geometry decides burn rate more than chemistry does: Shape Is the Product.
Spherical, so it meters cleanly through progressive measures. Hodgdon describes it as high energy at economical charge weights, meaning low charges in large cases — worth verifying thrown charges.
Burn rate
Fast pistol, sitting immediately beside Winchester 231 on Hodgdon's chart.
Chart agreement: consistent; note Wolfe/LoadData explicitly flags Hodgdon HP-38 and Winchester 231 as the same powder under two labels, and both Hodgdon and Vihtavuori rank them adjacently. Ranked by: Hodgdon, Vihtavuori, Wolfe/LoadData.
Powders charted near it — neighbours on the chart are not substitutes, and adjacency tells you nothing about what charge either one takes:
- Vihtavuori N320 (position 28)
- Accurate No. 2 (position 29)
- Ramshot Zip (position 30)
- Winchester 231 (position 32)
- Alliant 20/28 (position 33)
- Vihtavuori N32C Tin Star (position 34)
What reloaders say about it
Unverified community anecdote. The following is a summary of what handloaders report in public forums. It is not manufacturer information, it has not been tested, it may be wrong, and it contains no load data by design. Treat it as colour, not guidance.
The community treats HP-38 and W231 as the same product under two labels, sourced to a direct statement from the manufacturer and a recorded interview — the difference being brand licensing cost. This is one of the few equivalences r/reloading treats as settled rather than rumor.
- treated as the same powder under two brand names
- practical benefit is doubling your shelf options when hunting for powder
- published data from different manuals may still differ slightly, which users attribute to lot variation
Availability: Reported as generally available; one of the two labels is often on the shelf when the other is not.
Reported cautions:
- Users specifically caution that very old load data may predate the products converging, so vintage data should not be cross-applied.
- Even for a manufacturer-confirmed equivalence, users note published data from different sources still differs — a reminder to use data for the powder in front of you.
Consensus level: widely held. Drawn from thread 1.
Sources
The specifications above come from Hodgdon's own published documentation, linked below. The two “RCM's read” sections are ours, not theirs — our assessment of what this powder is like to load, drawn from its published characteristics and from what handloaders consistently report. No manufacturer endorses them and no source below backs them. If you think we have one wrong, tell us — we would rather fix it.