Powder suggestions for my gun and application

[KrymSIX]

Went to the local shop to pick up some powder today and the number of options was a little overwhelming. The powders they had that I rember offhand that had load data that looked promising in the Lyman book the guy showed me there were 

Win 231, WSF, AutoComp 

Alliant Unique 

Hodgon TiteGroup 

Hi Skor 800x 

They also had powders from Accurate. 

 

They did not have n320 which i see gets rave reviews. 

 

Of these powders or any others you can think of that might be at a local shop would you recommend for my gun. SVI 2011 longslide w/ 6 inch Schuemann ultimatch barrel. Looking to make 40 Major. Press to be used will be a Hornady LnL. 

 

I'm intending to use 180 gr FMJs from Precision Delta. A little nervous about messing up plated bullets. Should I consider 200 gr or just stick to 180? 

 

I'm just getting into reloading so I've got some manuals on the way to me but figure it would be good to have some idea what powders would work best for me.

As always thanks guys, 

Alex

[rishii]

I also run a 6" limited gun

W231 and titegroup both work, and as far as bullets go, I'm using blue bullets 165gr

i tried 180, 185 and 200 both jacketed and coated, with those I felt like the gun cycled kinda sluggishly,  soft shooting but I was waiting for the sights to settle

with the 165s, the recoil seems harsher, but the gun snaps back on target quicker, 

[Hi-Power Jack]

Great to ask, and I'm sure you'll get some very specific personal favorites, but

you could go back into the archives here at BE and read about a year's worth

of personal favorites in a half hour   

 

I like the WW231 for 9mm and .45 (I don't shoot a .40) - guess it should be pretty good.

 

Again, 180's or 200's is strictly a personal opinion -  as you mentioned, you do have to

be a little more careful with the plated bullets - but if you're seating and crimping in 

different stations, it's not too tough - set your OAL, make sure the empty case is

flanged enough so you're NOT scraping the bullet - and then adjust the "crimp"

so it doesn't dig into the bullet - voila - you're all set     

[Mike21STI]

I started with wsf and 200gr coated lead bullets when i started reloading.  Its a good powder and you can make major easily within the range.  I am switching to precision delta 180grs under ramshot competition.  

[mikeinctown]

N30 is highly regarded because it leaves less crap on your gun. It is also like 75% more expensive per pound. W231 and HP38 are kinda dirty as is Unique. Titegroup is somewhat cleaner than W231/HP38 in my experience. N320 is like $40 a pound for me while all the others are $22 or less a pound.

[Hi-Power Jack]

1 hour ago, mikeinctown said:

  N320 is $40 a pound vs the others are $22/ pound.

 

At 3.5 grains/cartridge, that would cost $0.020 vs $0.011 per round.    

 

Or,  45 cents/box of 50 more.     

 

And, if you use 10-30 % less powder with the N320, the difference is even less.

[blasterboy]

Best advice I can give is talk to some local successful shooters who reload.  If they're doing well at matches, they've got reloading figured out.  There's lots of great components to choose from, find out what's available in your area.  Shipping powder and primers can get pricey, it's unnecessary if you can find something else just as good locally.  As mentioned above, there's a lot of "personal favorites".  Some guys like there coated bullets, I prefer plated, because locally I get plated for only 20% than shipping in anything else; less smoke and I've had good results.  I have some N320, HP38, TG and some other stuff.  Now that I know how much powder it takes to make 175 PF in my .40 Edge, I honestly can't feel a difference with each powder.  A reloader's rule to live by "trust no one", not shooters or books.  Always start making test rounds with less powder than you think you'll need and work up using a crono.

[MikieM]

On 8/19/2017 at 3:19 PM, Mike21STI said:

I started with wsf and 200gr coated lead bullets when i started reloading.  Its a good powder and you can make major easily within the range.  I am switching to precision delta 180grs under ramshot competition.  

 

Count me in on the WSF for making Major with the 180's in 40 S&W. 

I use N320 for my match ammo, and WSF for practice ammo.

[muncie21]

My .40 major load (for a CZ) is 180gr coated (BBI or Bayou) bullet over 4.4/4.5gr of either N320 or Prima V.  This gets me a consistent 170'ish PF.

[zzt]

I like to experiment.  When I first started loading 40 I tried 16 different powders.  I long ago settled on Alliant e3 for 40 major and minor.  It is cleaned that VV, exhibits absolutely no temperature sensitivity, and meters well.  I run 172FP with a 180 plated.  I use either 3.6gr or 3.7gr depending on the bullet.  It is a specialized shotgun powder and is available in 1 and 8 lb jugs.  Last 8 lb I bought (in the middle of the shortage) cost $138.  The jug before that was $108.

 

Use old Clays data.  e3 has none of the pressure spikeyness that Clays exhibits at higher pressures.

 

Try some 200, 180, 165 and 155gr bullets to see which you prefer.  I don't care for the 200s, because the slide feels like it is moving in slomo.  I used boatloads of 180s and really liked them.  The 165s shoot great and I'm back on target faster, and the expense of a little sharper hit t the hand.  There are a lot of crappy plated bullets out there, but if you stick with Rainier (my fav), X-Treme or Berry's, you'll be fine.

 

BTW, I run 155gr in both my 2011 40s and the Rainiers are decidedly more accurate than the X-Tremes or the MG 155JHP.

Edited September 14, 2017 by zzt

[pbcaster45]

Loading long for a 2011 I prefer WST (for major).  Loading major and short (1.125 - 1.135) I prefer WSF.

 

[KrymSIX]

I ended up with WSF because it had a lot of data online as well as published. 

 

I discovered that for my gun I'm going to have to do a ladder in reverse. 

 

For data I used the Hodgdon reloading on their site (which is also published on the Eggleston Munitions site with minor changes to coincide with E.M.s coated bullets. 

 

Chrono was set up about 10 ft from the firing line. 

 

My gun SV 2011 with 6 inch Schuemann ultimatch barrel (standard type. Not aet.)

 

Anyways loaded up 180 grain Eggleston Munitions coated bullets (used .401) 

Winchester Small Pistol Primers

OAL 1.14 

WSF 5.5 grains (suggested starting load) 

Velocity through 15 shots ranged netween 1070 and 1089 with one outlier coming in at 1010. Ten came in between 1070 and 1073. 

 

I had made 20 rounds of 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8 grains but I'm going to have to pull the other bullets I think. The gun felt softer shooting than the normal factory stuff I shoot, but I was really surprised that even with the longer than Saami spec the velocity was that far over what it was 'supposed' to achieve with saami spec. (Suggested saami spec velocity for 5.5 grains was 950 fps.)

 

I didn't notice any signs of over pressure or anything. Primers were all with clear firing pin strikes. Didn't appear to be flowing or creating excess pressure ( no sign of raised primers or anything). 

 

In working down from the suggested starting load what should I be watchful for? Trying to avoid squib city. 

 

Thanks as always

Edited September 22, 2017 by KrymSIX
Fixed phrasing for clarity

[GringoBandito]

In my experience, it takes more powder to push a jacketed bullet through a barrel than it does to push a plated or coated bullet..I would recommend acme 180 GR and n320 as a starting point. My favorite load for that combo is 4.6 grains of n320..

 

[cvincent]

You're only getting a squib if don't put any powder in it. I'd try 5.2gr. See what you get.

I usually look at a some load data then guess a starting point, I'm usually really close because I know my gun runs a little faster. When I started developing a load for Bullseye, I was way off. I was at like 220 power factor. Way faster then load data suggested.


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[mlmiller1]

On 9/9/2017 at 12:33 PM, blasterboy said:

Shipping powder and primers can get pricey, it's unnecessary if you can find something else just as good locally.  

Yes & No.  After determining what you want to load, buy in bulk.  Just got an order friday from powdervalleyinc.com & total insurance, shipping, & hazmat only added $1.13/lb.  Had a 4lb v.v.n320 in order.  Total on it was $110 which made it cost $27.50/lb.  Almost as cheap as any locally bought powder of any cheap brand once you add tax.  I load 4.3 gr so powder cost/rd is about .017.  Not a bad price.  

[blasterboy]

7 hours ago, mlmiller1 said:

Yes & No.  After determining what you want to load, buy in bulk.  Just got an order friday from powdervalleyinc.com & total insurance, shipping, & hazmat only added $1.13/lb.  Had a 4lb v.v.n320 in order.  Total on it was $110 which made it cost $27.50/lb.  Almost as cheap as any locally bought powder of any cheap brand once you add tax.  I load 4.3 gr so powder cost/rd is about .017.  Not a bad price.  

That's very reasonable!  Last time I bought and shipped VV N320 the $180 (Canadian) 2 KG jug became $280 by the time it got to my door with taxes, shipping and hazmat fees.

[mlmiller1]

OUCH!

[R1_Demon]

20 hours ago, blasterboy said:

That's very reasonable!  Last time I bought and shipped VV N320 the $180 (Canadian) 2 KG jug became $280 by the time it got to my door with taxes, shipping and hazmat fees.

 

Dannnngggg!  An extra $100CAN?!  I would have died. 

 

I have to admit that so far my local guy is pretty darn reasonable when he factors in the hazmat fees and all that jazz for people to buy from him.  I think my 1# of N320 was $39.99, that's with hazmat and all that jazz included.  Normally that's about what I see it for online and then I have to add in shipping and hazmat to that.  Then I asked him to order in Sport Pistol because I wanted to try it out and I think he quoted me $21 or so for a 1 pound jug of that, again, including hazmat/delivery/etc.  So, for not buying in bulk from him, I can't complain about those "local" prices.  I'm sure if I bought in bulk from him it would be even cheaper.   

[Badluck2]

Titegroup works well!

[kalaur]

Titegroup meters well, but is dense and easy to miss a double charge. Burns a little hot for lead for me, but might be OK with coated. Looking through my reloading data, I was using 4.8-4.9gr of titegroup with a MTG FMJ at 1.19 OAL. I don't have chrono data however.

 

I prefer WST, I don't think you could get enough powder in a 40 case to cause issues (unless you have an unsupported chamber). It is reverse temp sensitive however, so take that into consideration if you're shooting in somewhat colder/warmer temps than normal. WST load for major is 5.5-5.7gr with a MTG JHP at 1.22. If you're loading shorter with less case volume, you will need to reduce charge. Also note my lot of WST is a bit slow, so you may be lower charge due to that.

 

As with any powder, or even a different jug of powder of the same brand/make, start a little low and work up .1-.2gr at a time and chrono. Watch primers and brass for pressure signs.

 

Good luck!