Talk to me about underpowered loads...

[Jeffrey Bromberger]

Let's say that a load is borderline in terms of accuracy.  It is riding the razor's edge of just enough vs. just too little oomph to make it out of the barrel and hit the target reliably.

Of course, the stuff that falls on the "just enough" side of the cutoff (due to the reloading press and it's ability to throw consistent load charges) will group.  But what about the loads that, due to the mechanical tolerances of the loading process, fall on the just underpowered side?  Will all of those loads group (just not in the center)?  Or will they be totally random around the main group?

I am trying to debug something and I'm looking at this for now...

j

[R Dan Pauley]

The short answer is to change powder types to get more volume consistency. Something fluffy like trailboss. I had a similar issue on 32 S&W long light loads. Bullseye or HTG was too small a volume to create consistent pressure. I might add a note about case length, crimp, and bullet lube. My best results were using wax lube AND tumbled with Lee Liquid Alox. It seemed to "glue" the bullets in for better consistency. 

Let me also add the terminal results especially at the long line were never as good as .45 ACP.

Didn't keep me from spending a bunch trying.

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[Steve L]

Does hot and cold weather factor into your “oomph” calculations?   I ask because reliability and cycling the action is always a concern.    

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[Jeffrey Bromberger]

>>> This got bounced - don't know why, but here it is again... <<<

My problem is in the standard 45 "Marine Load" that I have used forever.  I've got 4.3 grains of N310 underneath the Zero 185 JHP.  I know that I've seen this as hot as 4.7 or 4.8 grains, but when I started, it seemed that I could get away with the lighter stuff...  I even remember when Atlanta Arms had two load configurations and marked them with different colored lot tags!

I am halfway through a 4 pound can of 310 - it's taken me 5 years so far to do so (which is longer than usual for me, but I stopped shooting for quite a while). I swear to John Browning that for some reason, the load feels light.  She always cycles the pistol, but it just doesn't feel right.  Not every recoil is the same.  And the ones that feel the "not the same-est" are the ones that are flying way the heck off call.  Part of me wonders if it's just that the canister has been open so long - that it's picked up a microscopic amount of atmospheric moisture and that means the load by weight is now considered light.

In regards to FLUFFY.  I haveTrail Boss - a big can of it.  It's as useless to me as just stuffing Cheerios in there.  Never seems to work for me.  I love using the last of my Solo 1000, but I am almost out.  It used to look like shaved coconut, so it filled everything really well.  I have loads for S1K in both my 45 LSWC and 38LRN.  When I run out, I am screwed...  I also love using the N310, but it is so energy dense, I use barely a grain of it on my 32s, so I am concerned about filling that case.

Oh well.

j

[Bruce Martindale]

I had a similar experience a couple years ago…Jim Hitt and I were using the same WST load…mine were light at 550 fps and inconsistent, his at 730. The only difference was primers. My batch had degraded and tarnished. It wasn’t the guns or loading equipment.

Sent from my iPad

On May 9, 2024, at 4:42 PM, Jeffrey Bromberger <jbrom...@gmail.com> wrote:

>>> This got bounced - don't know why, but here it is again... <<<

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[Jeffrey Bromberger]

Due to the torrential downpours today, I went to my local indoor range to play with the new loads.  Now, I have 4.5 grains of N310 underneath the Zero 185 JHP.

Didn't feel all that much hotter, truth be told.  But the big difference was downrange.  I had groups with 4 or 5 shots touching.  Every shot was on call.  Not a single flyer.  So I am happy.

Oh, and something I noticed (and used to put 2 and 2 together).  If you believe the date code on the VV bottle/label, then this jug of N310 was manufactured 15 years ago, and opened 13 years ago.  Yeah, as I said, I stopped shooting Pistol for a while.  So I suspect that this keg is probably getting towards it's "past due" date.  I'm down to maybe three quarters of a pound before I open up a new jug...

j