jaep1911 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I tested Ba 9.5 and found it a bit slower than N320. It needed 0.2 grains more to get a similar velocity. Burns relatively clean and meters as well as N320. I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gman57 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 At 12 bucks less per pound looks like it is worth trying after I use up the 8 lbs of N320 I have now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullets Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 On 2/19/2017 at 2:34 PM, KevinB said: I agree it will be slightly different, but if it has that much inconsistency with that much attention to detail, it will just be worse when I loosen the controls. Well no. I think you have an issue in the way you are loading. N320 is not known to be inconsistent. It is known for being soft shooting, clean, meters well, and being consistent. If you are all over the place with n320, it isn't the powder. It's something in your reloading process. N320 wouldnt be as popular as it is at the price it is if it wasn't good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 On 2/22/2017 at 8:03 PM, Bullets said: Well no. I think you have an issue in the way you are loading. N320 is not known to be inconsistent. It is known for being soft shooting, clean, meters well, and being consistent. If you are all over the place with n320, it isn't the powder. It's something in your reloading process. N320 wouldnt be as popular as it is at the price it is if it wasn't good. My technique is solid. Been reloading 20+ years and have an eye for detail. That being said, I lengthened it out a bit and added a tenth of a grain of powder and the magic did happen. My ES went to 20 and it's bouncing between 926 and 946 and has the same felt recoil (to me) as Titegroup going 875. There is magic in that bottle, it just took some chanting to make it happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlmiller1 Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 On 2/16/2017 at 9:55 AM, KevinB said: I am using Xtreme's 180 grain heavy plated bullets with Winchester primers. Kevin, have you measured the diameter of those extremes? Results like youve had could be explained by diameter variations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I didn't, but Xtreme is a great bullet and I'd really surprised if they were out of spec. All I can say is "gremlins." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muncie21 Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 On 2/21/2017 at 8:03 PM, jaep1911 said: I tested Ba 9.5 and found it a bit slower than N320. It needed 0.2 grains more to get a similar velocity. Burns relatively clean and meters as well as N320. I like it. I found this to be true when testing Ba9.5 & N320 for 9 minor. Prima V at 9 minor, is closer to N320 than Ba 9.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muncie21 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 On 2/15/2017 at 4:03 PM, KevinB said: This week I'm in the middle of trying out N320 after about 10-12 years of shooting Titegroup. With an OAL of 1.125 and 4.8 grains of N320 I was getting about 950fps avg with an unacceptable extreme spread of 65 (978/913) out of my G35 with the KKM barrel and was starting to flatten some primers on the faster rounds. Has me concerned a bit, but I'm going to load to 1.130 and go again to see if I can eliminate the overpressure symptoms and stay major. I need it to work. I went a bit overboard when I saw the N320 for sale. Hi Kevin, Did you get this worked out? I just tested a BBI 180g over 4.5g of N320 and shot it from my factory G35 barrel. This put me at ~170PF. I didn't see any flattened primers using this load. Looking to work up a load for BBI 165's and N320 next. Average: 944.3 FPS SD: 14.9 FPS Min: 912 FPS Max: 961 FPS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gman57 Posted March 25, 2017 Author Share Posted March 25, 2017 (edited) This was my experience with the load I worked up for my new limited gun.... with 5.1 gr N320, OAL @ 1.180 and 180 gr Montana Gold I would say N320 for this load it very consistent Edited March 25, 2017 by Gman57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 I'm shooting a Glock 35, so loading long isn't an option. I was posting on two threads about this so I may have missed one with the resolution, but I've been loading to 1.130 (which in actual practice gives me 1.128-1.132) with 4.8 grains of N320 which puts me at 914 - 944 (30 extreme spread) with my 180 grain XTreme bullets. Shoots really soft! I'm using a past-its-prime KKM barrel which needs replacing for now, but the problem got solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattleDude Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 On 2/20/2017 at 5:28 PM, Religious Shooter said: I think for some, practicing is a normal condition. When I used to practice and used TG I've broken a Dawson front sight or two (the actual sight). Also the light pipes did get kind of burnt up. I think it was because of the heat that's generated with the amount of fast shooting and relatively lack of down time during practice. But don't really practice anymore. 8lbs of TG is $128 vs. $227 for 8 lbs for N320 at Powder Valley. Even given the heat damage I still think TG is still more economical than N320. This is funny to me when I see argument about price of pistol powder. Because powder is the least expensive component in pistol reloading. You can save MUCH more by changing the bullet type if you are so inclined to do so or even primers. 8lb of powder will roughly make 11200 rounds at $128 for TG cost is $0.011 that is one cent per round. At $227 for N320 cost is $0.020 ... so its ONE cent more expensive but you get WAY better powder. Now if we were talking rifle here.... thats whole different story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Whatever. Back in the day it wasn't unheard of to shoot 80K pistol rounds per year. Using your #'s that $720 a year in savings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimm609 Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I had to send my 2011 to STI for repair and they recommended not running titegroup and to run N320 instead. He said they have seen problems with titegroup in the STIs. He didn't indicate what the specific problems were but he recommended N320. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 You're seriously going to drop a line that one of the most popular manufacturers of guns for USPSA recommends not using one of the most popular powders in our sport and not look into it further and update us? I have shot titegroup for a decade with no issue, unless there was an issue I missed. I did crack a slide on my STI, but the guru conducting the autopsy said it was due to someone jacking up the hard chroming process. I'm already calling Bowen today on a sight issue, so I may throw in a web search on it or a call to STI. BTW, went through training in Charleston for a few months. Great food around there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 On 3/30/2017 at 7:37 PM, Religious Shooter said: Whatever. Back in the day it wasn't unheard of to shoot 80K pistol rounds per year. Using your #'s that $720 a year in savings. But if you could afford 80,000 bullets and primers certainly $720 in powder was nothing. Besides, " back in the day", powder was much cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 You guys are like car salesman. Oh for only 3% more per month you can have this and that. But when you look at the final #'s that's going to be $100's if not $1000's more being added to the total. The bottom line is $720 is $720. If a shooter thinks it's worth it... great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Talked to STI's guys just now, and they contradicted the Titegroup claim, as does my years of experience with that powder in those guns. I would love to hear what the recurring problems are with the Titegroup/STI mix. Man, I'm creeping up on 100 posts. I need to slack off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Postal Bob Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I don't know of any specific issue involving STI guns, but in my 6" limited gun, the FO tends to melt and shrink after about 3 matches. Especially during hot summer weather. Titegroup does burn hotter. I can only guess that there may be an issue with the slides getting heat hardened and developing cracks from high heat produced by titegroup powder. My gun does get very hot when shooting titegroup during the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hceuterpe Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 HP-38 for me was all over the place for .40 major. Good enough for 9mm minor. But still dirty. On the other hand this was my N320 results. I was sold after I saw the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hceuterpe Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Here we go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 On 4/3/2017 at 1:52 PM, Postal Bob said: I don't know of any specific issue involving STI guns, but in my 6" limited gun, the FO tends to melt and shrink after about 3 matches. Especially during hot summer weather. Titegroup does burn hotter. I can only guess that there may be an issue with the slides getting heat hardened and developing cracks from high heat produced by titegroup powder. My gun does get very hot when shooting titegroup during the summer. My knifemaking buddies say that in order for the metal to get hot enough to have that effect it would be melting the holster. That was my concern as well a while back (there's even a thread around here on it) and one of the forum members here recommended using aluminum plates to suck the heat out. That's what I do now and it works like a charm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealsack Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Another STI shooter here that has lost two light tubes to TG. Made the switch to 320 and wow is it clean! The difference in feel is pretty remarkable as well. I switched mags in practice from VV to TG and the TG was considerably harsher to shoot. For me? Worth the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Smith Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 320 if the budget allow for it. Agree, clean and less heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R1_Demon Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Of course I see this forum and post after I just purchased a pound of TG. LOL I was looking at N320 originally, but when I looked at the VV website, it did not show any load data for .40 180gr HP bullets that I had purchased. So, that kind of threw me off as a brand new reloader. However, I did see the reloading data on the Hodgedon (spelling?) website, so I felt a bit more comfortable knowing that the data was out there. However, after reading all this, now I'm wondering if I made a wrong choice. I am running an XDM 5.25" Competition with an FO front site. I really don't feel like melting it off. However, I might have to check around to find out if anyone local carries N320 because ordering it online is insane. You get nailed with shipping and then at LEAST a $20-$30 hazmat charge on top of it. So, it kind of sucks. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Mitch Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Titegroup is just fine. It's the gold standard pistol powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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