N340 or N320 for 124 or 135gr no PF

[RickT]

I'm loading N320 with 115gr Acme for my wife and N340 with 147gr Bayou for myself.  They all go bang and are soft enough for SC with a 9mm 1911.  The only reason I'm shooting my particular combination is the inadvertent presence of 16 lbs. of N340 in my cabinet and a bunch of 147gr bullets.  I'll leave my wife's load as-is; it's "sacred", but I'm going to standardize on either 124gr or 135gr for everything else.  I need the three colors available from Bayou since I'm loading for 4+ different 9mm and 115gr Bayou's don't work well in my Mr. BF.

 

I'll do a bunch of test loads of course and if I can't tell the difference I'll go with 124gr RN with N320 (probably softer than N340), but I'd like to hear of others' experience.  Yes, there are cheaper powders, but I'm used to VV.  It meters well, I've go very accurate calibration curves for my Uniquetek micrometers, etc.  OTOH, my hearing isn't super and the 147gr bullets do seem to make more of a clang.

[Hi-Power Jack]

If you're not going for a particular Power Factor, it doesn't matter what you

use for a powder, in my experience.

 

I load 9mm minor down to PF 110 with light bullets, and they work very well

with very little recoil.   

 

I wouldn't use the N320 for plinking loads - that's an expensive powder,

 

Since you have 16 lbs N340, I'd use that up and save your N320 for serious

loads where you want a soft shooting load to PF 135 or so.

 

 

[lgh]

29 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

I wouldn't use the N320 for plinking loads - that's an expensive powder,

 

Since you have 16 lbs N340, I'd use that up and save your N320 for serious

loads where you want a soft shooting load to PF 135 or so.

 

 

 

Ditto.

 

Plus, "...the inadvertent presence of 16 lbs. of N340 in my cabinet " Hillarious!  I wonder how many of us are sitting with 10+ lbs of a powder we "found ourselves with". I have 16# of Titegroup I'm using up. I did the math and it's something like 30+k rounds before I can justify changing loads.

[RickT]

1 hour ago, lgh said:

 

Ditto.

 

Plus, "...the inadvertent presence of 16 lbs. of N340 in my cabinet " Hillarious!  I wonder how many of us are sitting with 10+ lbs of a powder we "found ourselves with". I have 16# of Titegroup I'm using up. I did the math and it's something like 30+k rounds before I can justify changing loads.

The N340 is the tip of the iceberg.  I have "tons" of WSF bought when little else was available and a few big jugs of HP-38.  After I use up the N340 I may go with the HP-38.  I know it will work well for light loads, but it's  a big commitment to open up 8 lbs.  I just order powder and primers; should have add a couple of pounds of W231 (if it's still available).

 

While we don't "plink" we could use a less expensive powder for Steel Challenge practice and matches.  I think I would save about $.005/round or about 4%.  I'd have to switch my wife's powder without her finding out:).

[Hi-Power Jack]

Sounds like you're sitting on a ton of powder   

 

So, it's all "FREE" for you - won't cost you a penny for

powder for many years to come.

 

Congratulations.     

[ChuckS]

I am burning off some leftover 340 from my .40 open days. I added about 0.6 great to my 320 minor PCC 124 load and it works well. Sorry, but I won't get a chance to chrono them.

[muncie21]

I've loaded the Bayou 124 TCG, 124 RN and 135 RN bullets with N320.  If you aren't worried about PF, you can make a real soft shooting load that still cycles the slide.  At the lower velocities I noticed blackening of the brass, from what I believe to be incomplete sealing of the brass against the barrel during firing, but it didn't impact function; just didn't look great.

 

Seems like you have a bunch of powder at hand, but if you're in the mood to purchase additional powder, look into the Prima V from Vectan.  It's more than half the price of N320 ($36 vs $15) and the loads are very similar; in my experience they are the same or 0.1gr off for the same velocity as my N320 loads. 

 

I really should stop mentioning Prima V being a good replacement for N320 or it will end up being scarce or more expensive