Chronographed 45 ACP loads

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  • Last Post 13 July 2014
Bull Shoals posted this 10 July 2014

Took my 2 45's to the range for chrono work. Guns used were a Colt 1911 series 80 5” bbl and a S&W E1911sc Commander size. Load #1 Win case, Win primer, Lyman 452630 cast sized 452 5.0 gr Bullseye Load #2 As above except 5.0 gr PB Load #3 As above except 5.6 gr HP38 Results Smith, Load 1...858 fps, load 2... 843 fps, load 3...790 fps Results Colt, Load 1...908 fps, load 2...884 fps, load 3...839 fps I decided to up the charge of HP38 from 5.6 to 5.8 gr hoping for a little more vel from the Smith...SUCCESS! Results Smith, avg vel 852 fps, ES...27,SD...11, AD...5 Results Colt, Avg vel 871 fps, ES...28, SD...11, AD...8 I think this is “The Load” for my guns with HP38. Primers were fine, slightly rounded edges with no signs of excessive pressure. Accuracy was acceptable for my 72 YO eyes...all rounds in the black on a 25 yard pistol target. All above loads were 7 rds fired each load.  

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Chargar posted this 11 July 2014

Why did you settled on HP38 over the other powders?

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Ed Harris posted this 11 July 2014

These all 5 grains of Bullseye, nominal by volume, measured with RCBS Little Dandy, Comparing Arsenal and handloaded FMJ vs. cast lead 230-grain Cowboy bullets, CCI Large vs. Small pistol primers, and"Old” Hercules Bullseye powder vs. current Aliant product, and velocities in 20” carbine vs. 4-5/8” revolver.

In previous testing velocities with the Ruger revolver were not significantly different than those obtained firing an M1911A1 National Match hardball gun.   .45 ACP Ammunition_H&R Bunny Gun 20” Ruger Blackhawk 4-5/8"
230-grain FMJ ___Avg. Sd ES__ Avg. Sd ES TW55 Ball REF __957 31 78__ 858 28 72

Old Herc. Lot 571 Large Pmr886 24 58__823 12 45 Small Pmr____ 824 30 97__793 4 11 LPVgain____+62_____+30

Alliant Large Pmr__935 33 83__842 11 29  Small Pmr____891 35 88__811 18 49 LPVgain____+44____+31

Saeco #954 230 LFN

Old Herc. Lot 571 Large Pmr990 8 20___874 11 30 Small Pmr____ 972 13 30__846 15 35 LPVgain____+18_____+28

Alliant Large Pmr__1040 6 18__908 14 38 Small Pmr____1027 15 38__887 11 29 LPVgain_____+13___+21

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 11 July 2014

i notice that with fmj, the longer barrel got more goodie out of the large primers than the short barrel. that makes common sense.

oh oh, with lead bullets, the shorter barrel got more goodie from the large primer.

aaaargh ... the story of my life ... common sense isn't common enough ..

ken

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Ed Harris posted this 11 July 2014

Bore drag.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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RicinYakima posted this 12 July 2014

Am I mis-reading this, or is the Alliant “hotter” or “faster” than the old Hercules stuff you were using?

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Ed Harris posted this 12 July 2014

The Alliant gave higher velocities. Large primers gave higher velocities. Both factors in combination significant, but taken singly less so.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Ed Harris posted this 12 July 2014

Ric, also notice charges were metered by equal volume, not by weight.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Bull Shoals posted this 12 July 2014

Charger, I am running out of Bullseye and PB. Less than 1/2 pound of each. I have loaded quite a few rounds with each of those powders but never chronographed them. However recently I came across a deal on 7 one pound cans of HP38. and decided to try to develop a load with the HP38 if I could find one. It's just a matter of using what powder I can get.

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RicinYakima posted this 12 July 2014

Ed,

I over looked that issue in what you were using to measure with. My experience is that the Alliant powder is denser than the Hercules, but slower by weight.

Ric

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Ed Harris posted this 13 July 2014

RicinYakima wrote: Ed,

I over looked that issue in what you were using to measure with. My experience is that the Alliant powder is denser than the Hercules, but slower by weight.

Ric That indeed appears to be the case. A few years ago discussing “new” vs. “old” Bullseye with one of the techs at ATK Radford, I was told that a concern in making the canister-grade pistol powders is that the charge/volume to pressure relationship repeat, this being necessary for the large commercial reloaders who measure by volume and desire minimum lot-to-lot variation which would otherwise necessitate frequent powder dispensing machine resets.   In rifle powders and others having a larger particle size, which are less likely to be machine loaded, the charge weight to pressure repeatability is deemed more importrant.  This makes sense. 

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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