In extremely cold weather BD tends to ignite slowly if at all. I'm talking about -10 degree with the wind blowing. BTW....its a wonderful powder for accurate cast bullet target loads in '06, 8mm, 303Brit, etc. 17 grs under 1 190 gr CB in the '06 is really fun and very accurate.

Blue dot is a great powder and is my mainstay for loading the 9mm Luger. I also use a lot in the 357 Magnum, and for medium power loads with cast bullets in the 44 Mag. It meters pretty well through my powder measures and fills the cases so no chance of a double charge. In the 9mm, I can safely drive a 115 grain jacketed bullet to a chronographed 1,350 fps, and in the 357 I can drive a 140 JHP to 1,400 fps. Those aren't my everyday shooting loads, but they are safe in my guns.

I have noticed that Blue Dot seems to be more sensitive to things like bullet seating depth and crimp than some of the other powders. Work up to the load you want, and if possible use a chronograph. Stop when you get the velocity you want, even if you're below the maximum load listed in the manual.

8.5 gr @ 1.21" OAL with Hornady 124 FMJFN gets me a chronographed average 1291 fps in my guns w/o any pressure signs. It has been a good performer for 20 years and accurate. Also good is 9.0 gr @ 1.22" OAL with Horhady 115 XTP for an average of 1338 fps. I do not shoot in the cold, mostly 60 to 100*. You know that you should start low and work up for your gun.

I remember many years ago reading loads for .357 mag in a manual and noting that BD had higher velocity potential than 2400. That stuck with me for a long time but I never managed to get any BD until recent history. I also remember reading that Paco (IIRC) said that this was his favorite power for .41 mag. So I bought some BD and loaded something with it. I thought it had the most vicious blast of any powder I had tried. I find it odd how that works with powders, I tried H4227 in some magnum loads and thought it had significantly less blast than other powders.

Thanks to all for the replies. I'm kinda paranoid about seating depth and bullet setback anyway, so that shouldn't be a big problem. I'll let y'all know how it works out.

seating depth, thus case capacity/expansion ratio space gets more critical the smaller the case capacity and higher performance rounds