Hodgdon
Hodgdon Titegroup
A high-volume target and action-shooting handgun powder, widely used for Cowboy Action, Bullseye and practical pistol loads.
Fast, dense, energetic and cheap — the high-volume practical-pistol powder, and very good in 9mm. Its real virtue is position insensitivity: powder lying anywhere in a .45 Colt or .357 Magnum case gives much the same result, which is unusual and genuinely useful. Its real vice is the flip side of the same density — charge volume is small in a big case, a double charge in .38 Special or .45 Colt will not look obviously wrong, and it is unforgiving near the top. Cleanliness is genuinely disputed because it depends on how hard you run it, and nobody serious calls it temperature stable.
- 9mm practice ammo
- 38 Special target loads
- 45 ACP
- cowboy action loads
Who has Hodgdon Titegroup today
Checked October 10In stock at 2 stores — lowest in hand $43.18/lb (8 lb at Graf & Sons)
| Store | Size | Shelf | In hand /lb | Stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graf & Sons$23.50 hazmat per package | 8 lb | $307.99 | $43.18 | In stock ↗ |
| Hodgdon (direct)Terms not published | 8 lb | $321.99 | $44.18 est. | In stock ↗ |
| Graf & Sons$23.50 hazmat per package | 4 lb | $156.99 | $48.61 | In stock ↗ |
| Graf & Sons$23.50 hazmat per package | 1 lb | $40.99 | $78.44 | In stock ↗ |
| Lohman ArmsHazmat charged, amount not published | 8 lb | $280.95 | $39.05 est. | Out |
| Bruno Shooters Supply$26.95 hazmat + $19.95 ship | 8 lb | $277.99 | $40.61 | Out |
| Lohman ArmsHazmat charged, amount not published | 4 lb | $142.95 | $43.60 est. | Out |
| Bruno Shooters Supply$26.95 hazmat + $19.95 ship | 4 lb | $141.99 | $47.22 | Out |
| Hodgdon (direct)Terms not published | 4 lb | $170.99 | $50.61 est. | Out |
| Lohman ArmsHazmat charged, amount not published | 1 lb | $35.00 | $66.44 est. | Out |
| Hodgdon (direct)Terms not published | 1 lb | $44.99 | $76.43 est. | Out |
| Bruno Shooters Supply$26.95 hazmat + $19.95 ship | 1 lb | $36.99 | $83.89 | 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, shotshell |
| Grain form | spherical |
| Lee VMD (bulk density) | 0.0848 cc per grain · 0.76 g/cc |
| Composition | double-base |
| Temperature stable | Not marketed as temperature-stable |
| Burn-rate position | 19 of 198 (fastest = 1) — what this means |
| Typical cartridges | 9mm Luger, 38 Special, 45 ACP, 45 Colt, 357 Magnum |
Grain shape
Small dense spherical grains, degressive — surface falls as they burn, so the energy arrives early and hard. The same density that makes it meter and ignite consistently is what leaves so much airspace in a large revolver case.
Why geometry decides burn rate more than chemistry does: Shape Is the Product.
Hodgdon's key claims are position insensitivity — powder position in large cases such as 45 Colt and 357 Magnum has virtually no effect on results — plus reliable ignition with all primer types including lead-free, low charge weight, clean burning and mild report. Low charge weight in a big case means small metering errors are proportionally large, so charge checking matters.
Burn rate
Fast pistol, between Hodgdon High Gun and Alliant American Select.
Chart agreement: consistent across charts - listed in the same relative neighbourhood by every publisher that carries it Ranked by: Hodgdon, Vihtavuori, Shooters World, Wolfe/LoadData.
Powders charted near it — neighbours on the chart are not substitutes, and adjacency tells you nothing about what charge either one takes:
- Alliant Bullseye (position 16)
- Alliant Sport Pistol (position 17)
- Hodgdon High Gun (position 18)
- Alliant American Select (position 20)
- Accurate Solo 1000 (position 21)
- Alliant Green Dot (position 22)
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.
Titegroup is the community's cheap-and-cheerful pistol powder and it splits opinion sharply. Some users find it acceptably clean and use it by the keg; others find it dirty and less consistent through a measure than alternatives. It is also repeatedly flagged as a small-volume, dense powder — which is why several posters prefer a bulkier powder for double-charge visibility.
- cheap and widely available
- cleanliness is genuinely disputed — reports go both ways, often tied to how hard the load is run
- small charge volume in a large case; users raise double-charge detection as a concern
- described by one competition shooter as the antithesis of temperature stability
- metering consistency reported as merely acceptable, not excellent
Availability: Consistently reported as one of the easier pistol powders to actually find, and among the cheapest.
Reported cautions:
- A widely upvoted safety post warns specifically against using it in titanium revolver cylinders. Treat that as a community warning to check with the firearm manufacturer, not as guidance from us.
- Users caution that its low charge volume relative to case capacity makes visual double-charge detection harder than with bulkier powders.
Consensus level: widely held. Drawn from thread 1, thread 2, thread 3.
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.