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625 loads and other hints


kf4zht

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Did some trading and ended up with a proper gun. 1989 model 625-3. Already had some trigger work done and came with an older ghost holster, houge and mickulek grips and a few moon clips. Already ordered 100 more moons from 4 wheel guns, a couple tekloks and some 1/2 aluminum rod to make a holder from.

 

Wanted to see if there were any general rules for loading these for icore. Thinking a fast powder and 185 or 200 gn bullets. Seems to be about 80% with cci primers, so I need to find some federal, or at least winchester. Possible powders I was thinking and have - titewad, Ramshot comp, trailboss, n320. No Clays on hand

 

Do I need to slug the barrel/cylinder or are these pretty predictable? I know trigger work was done but not sure what else.

 

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Get a chronograph that speaks Bluetooth to your iPhone/Android. Bench rest your barrel going for tightest groups at 15 yards using quality factory FMJ Ammo through the crono. If you have a regular flier, number your cylinders and identify the culprit. Swaging your barrel is the last step. Swage your cylinder throats first. They all must be wider than the barrel. Only if you discover an issue as described above; have a gunsmith ream the throats, cut a shallow edge on the mouth of each cylinder (to improve feeding), trim the forcing cone, check the timing and reface the crown.
Unless you can do it yourself have him install a competition extended firing pin from Apex. This eliminates FTF's from light strikes caused by a super small warp of the moon clip. Only after all of the above has been addressed, thereby eliminating any gun related issues, should you consider using reloaded ammo.
Testing your reloading recipes with the chronograph will ensure you make your power factor, accuracy as well as acquiring the softest recoil. Heavy and slow bullets seems to be the trend. The most used load at the USPSA Revolver Nationals had a 160 grain bullet on top of a 9mm brass. That's a big projectile for a 9mm. Eight shot S&W 929's are now the majority on the line; all shooting minor. Just got mine and am prepping it. I still love my 610 in major. I don't know if ICORE has power factor rules. Consider only stainless steel TK moon clips for competition. Pricey but absolutely priceless. They are super rugged. Here's why I only use TK in competition: I leaned hard against a barrier during a course of fire and unknowingly bent a moon clip (blue steel). When I quickly fed the cylinder and closed it the revolver froze solid. Nothing moved. The trigger was stuck, the hammer was partly moved back. The warped moon clip was jammed tight. The clock was ticking. Clearing a jam with a pistol is usually a slap up on the mag and a rack of the slide. I thought this could work? While aiming down range, my finger off the trigger, I rotated my wrist so that the grips were horizontal to the ground ( gansta style?) and gave the cylinder a hard knock with my other hand...BANG...I had an AD (accidental discharge) with a revolver. I've never heard of this happing nor did I think it was possible. Disqualified in front of 60 people. The cone of shame. If you must use them, blue steel clips should be used only for practice. Also consider: a BMT MOONER , a moon clip checker, Double Alpha magnetic moon clip holder posts (I added the extra powerful magnet because my moon clips are stainless steel), Double Alpha Revolver race holster. There are three related but different pastimes: shooting, reloading and casting. Have fun!


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  • 2 weeks later...

The moonclips for a 625 are much more forgiving, they're all about the same.  230 gr bullets are the gold standard for quick reloads.  Lots of load data for them (I use Titegroup) and Federal primers will allow you to go as low as possible on trigger pull.  The 8-shot minor rule was more or less the death of the 625, but they are great guns.  Do accuracy testing at 25 yards and see how it does.  If it's sub-par you can look in all the places Brian B mentioned, but it might shoot fine.  Different guns like different loads, so don't overlook the ammo if there are problems.  Congrats on your new revolver! 

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For ICORE loads I've had good luck with 200 and 230 gr bullets and Trail Boss.  I'd start there if you already have the powder.  My 625 had chambers on the tighter side of ACP spec but they chamber loaded .452 bullets just fine.  Most would complain if the chambers were oversized but competitive shooters tend to go the other direction.  I do miss the 625 sometimes, I'm glad ICORE started a L6 division to get some of the old USPSA guns out to play.

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I shot 230 grn Precision Delta FMJ with Hogdon clays 4.0 grn and Federal primers for years in my 625 & 25 for years.  (Made 172,000pf)

 

I suggest starting @ 3.2 and going up if you're gonna be shooting major.

 

Drop down to the 200 grn for ICORE,  OR 185 if you can find some.

 

All round nose if course !

 

Hop

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On 5/7/2017 at 10:53 PM, alecmc said:

Look into getting your Chambers reamed, those guns had alot of out of spec (tight) Chambers which might make reloading troublesome.

 

Most (not all, but most) 625-3s will have chambers that are OK.  625-2s always need reamed, and (oddly enough) most 625-8s.  Some 625-3s will need reamed--I suspect these are the earliest specimens where they installed cylinders that were still laying around from the first run of 625-2s.  

 

I've never encountered a 625-4 or 625-6 cylinder that needed reamed.  

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All I ever used in my 625s was 230 RN and Clays.  Accuracy was excellent and it burned very clean.

 

I agree with Hopalong, N310 is a great/expensive option to Clays.

 

Best advice I can give is to grab a BMT moonclip loader and always use Federal primers.

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Found some Clays, but shooting a match this weekend with a titewad load that seems decent. I've got a couple lbs of it to burn through. For now I stuck with all winchester brass, just to eliminate any variables.

Got my moon clip holder built and did some, but not enough, reloading practice



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If you're using it for ICORE try 45 GAP brass, less volume, less powder but the pressures stay up and will help.  Also there are several places that sell 45 caliber coated bullets that weigh less than 185 grains.  Also I used Hornady's 185 FMJ SWC and had very good luck with reloads, you can get that bullet style in a coated bullet also.

A 185 grain 45 bullet at 700 f/s is an old bullseye load, so they can be accurate, and good for a 129 pf.

In GAP brass I played with some IBEJ 185 Coated RN and 3.3 clays for 685 f/s and 127 pf and the 185 JSWC Hornadys with 3.1 clays for 720 f/s and 133pf, which were very accurate.  Even went down to 2.8 clays for 670 f/s and 125pf.

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