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Had a little time to spend so went to one of my reloading
stores I drop into from time to time to try and secure some
of that elusive pistol powder. As always pickings were a little slim.
I did, mostly because it was available, purchase some CFE Pistol.

What little I've read seems to be promising but has anyone actually
used this powder and what was your experience?

Thanks.

I've worked up loads for my 9mm IDPA 125PF 147gr Montana Gold CMJ round.

Shot in my Walther PPQ 5", Glock 34 and Wilson Classic 5" 1911.

I started with 3.6 gr and 1.135-1.138 OAL and only was able to get 808/833/817 or 119/122/120 PF.
Bumped to 4.0 and 1.135-1.138 OAL and in my Glock 34 BARELY made PF on 2 of 3 strings. 862/857/846 or 127/126/124 PF.

So I loaded some more with 4.0 and reduced OAL to 1.130 and I need to chrony to see if it's better.

Hodgon only has 147gr load data for Hornady XTP and they claim 3.7 gets 864 and 4.2 MAX gets 963. Their load data is very conservative from what I've found.

I'm going to work up a .45ACP load to use in CDP and will be starting with 5.0 grains since they say starting is 5.4 at 816fps. I'm only looking to get 750fps for 165 Power Factor.

Some other experiences are on Brian Eno's forum.

James

I've loaded quite a bit with it - both 9mm and 45, lead and plated. I haven't chrono'd it yet, but I was having low pressures at the lower ends of Hodgdon's load range. I'm now loading at their max (which may still be conservative), with no pressure problems. It is smokey though, and seems a bit dirtier than other powders.

Wasn't happy with my 147gr loads I cooked up so I went back to 124gr loads and am MUCH happier with the results. The golden load is 5.0gr of CFE under 124gr Montana Gold CMJ bullets at 1.15. 4 in one hole at 15yds and around 135 PF.

PPQ5 5.0 CFE 124gr XTR J88 Lot @ 1.15 1100 1097 1101 1103 1101 1100 6/2 !!! 136.4
M&P9L 5.0 CFE 124gr XTR J88 Lot @ 1.15 1065 1075 1095 1140 1067 1088 75/31 134.912
G34 5.0 CFE 124gr XTR J88 Lot @ 1.15 1065 1056 1050 1050 1042 1052 23/8 130.448
PPQ5 5.0 CFE 124gr XTR 485 Lot @ 1.15 1115 1118 1112 1106 1092 1108 26/10 137.392
M&P9L 5.0 CFE 124gr XTR 485 Lot @ 1.15 1064 1080 1074 1046 1085 1069 39/15 132.556
G34 5.0 CFE 124gr XTR 485 Lot @ 1.15 1084 1064 1088 1079 1069 1075 24/10 133.3
PPQ5 5.0 CFE 124gr CMJRN @ 1.15 1095 1092 1091 1099 1076 1090 23/8 135.16 Most Accurate
M&P9L 5.0 CFE 124gr CMJRN @ 1.15 1070 1087 1092 1099 1087 1087 29/10 134.788 Most Accurate
G34 5.0 CFE 124gr CMJRN @ 1.15 1096 1112 1093 1108 1105 1102 19/8 136.648
PPQ5 5.0 CFE 124gr TMJ @ 1.15 1093 1119 1099 1112 1087 1102 32/13 136.648
M&P9L 5.0 CFE 124gr TMJ @ 1.15 1078 1066 1059 1070 1064 1067 19/7 132.308 Very Accurate

James

Bought some recently because can't find Titegroup. Loaded my first 13 and chrono'd a few days ago.

147gr Bayou Bullets
M&P Pro (5")
3.7 gr
Ave velocity - 869 fps
Std dev - 10
Power factor - 128

Bumped to 3.8 and loaded about 90 tonight. Plan to chrono a dozen and shoot the rest with a focus on accuracy when I get a chance.

I have been extremely pleased with CFE Pistol.

PROs
1st Meters well for me in a Dillon 550
2nd Very Clean in the Bore and Barrel
3rd My pistol (XDM 5.25 in 9mm) seems to really like it, If I do my part and have the powder measured correctly.

Cons
1st Seems smokey to me, but I have nothing to compare it to (Plated Bullets)
2nd Accuracy drops severely if you underload it by as much as .1 grain. My groups opened up by more than a foot.
3rd Now that everyone is finding out about it, it will soon be hard to get as well.

my load (9mm):
3.7 grains CFE Pistol
147 Grain Everglades Plated RN
COL 1.125
Chronos right at 900 fps for me with a St Dev of a little over 8 fps.

Thank you for all your replies.

I got real busy with life this summer and have not
been able to shoot very much.

I have loaded CFE Pistol in 9 124gr, 40 155gr,
45 230gr and 38spc 158 gr. I just have not been able to
put them down range and through the chronograph.
I am hopeful that will happen next week. I will let you
know how things turn out.
It looks like it may be a good powder

Sorry for taking so long in getting back to you on the CFE pistol
loads that I had worked up for the different calibers.
It was a much busier summer than I had planned.

I used a Competition Pro chronograph and distance to graph was
fifteen feet. These are all CFE pistol powder. Order is round, load, and barrel
o.a.l. and fps. CP is copper plated. All CP were X-Treme bullets.
Three rounds per string. All CCI 500 primers.

38sp 158gr LSWCP 4.8 grains 3.75inch 1.431 691, 678, 669FPS
38sp 158gr LSW (Speer) 4.8 grains 3.75” 1.435 787, 783, 744

40s&w 155gr. LRNFPCP 6.6 grains 3.1” 1.027 938, 896, 873
6.9 grains 3.1” 1.125 1004, 981, 953
7.1 grains 3.1” 1.127 1020, 996, 978

45acp 230gr LRNCP 5.6 grains 4” 1.265 675, 661, 657
6.0 grains 4” 1.265 732, 719, 713

9mm 124gr LRNCP 5.2 grains 3.5” 1.145 989, 981, 979
4” 1085, 1077, 1062
3.1” 1010, 998, 977

I think overall I like this powder. It did not seem that dirty and accuracy was
pretty good across the board.

These loads are not intended to be specified loads. Always work from a manual
and work up your own loads. Your results may vary. Always be careful.

I got a lb and I would like to start loading

Bullet: Xtreme 115gr Plated RN.
load: 5.5gr of CFE Pistol
COAL: 1.125"
Primer: Federal SP.

Main Pistol: PX4 FS 4.0"
Alternate Pistol: HK P30 3.8"