gordonm1

Hogdon book max charge for Clays is 4.3 for 200g bullet. You may have a barrel that won't make major with this powder. I would not load higher than you have since you are 0.2 gr over max. My 4.4" Sig 220 barely makes 165 pf with 4.3 grains. Try a different chronographing of 4.3 grains.

It's times like this when you wish you had a large frame revolver chamberd in .45 ACP to shoot the hot loads. Seriously, I'm not sure if this would be safe in any gun.

I shoot my 90's 220 in L10. I have five sig 10rd mags. I wish for a heavier gun with bigger magwell opening. I've been shopping looking at the X-5 L1 in .40 and 12 round mags. I don't shoot my XD 45 well enough to benefit much from it's hi-cap configuration but I sure like the big magwell. Gordonm1

Reread your post and will try for a better answer. Seat them as long as you like so long as they don't touch the rifling of the barrel. They are suposed to fall out of the barrel easily and a case gauge too. Try 1.250" and go shorter until they fit. My Hornady manual show COAL for 45 ACP bullets from 1.245 to 1.200" I could not find much OAL data for 200 RNFP either but needed to try them since my XD won't feed semiwadcutters. One test method I used was make a dummy round with plenty of crimp and see if it sticks in chamber. They are supposed to fall out of the barrel/chamber easily. Later I found my bullets were sticking in the chamber when the gun got dirty so I reduced OAL more and ended up at 1.2" for the XD45. The shorter OAL has improved reliability to the point I generally only have to worry about high primers now. I'm shooting Missouri Bullets (cast lead) and Precision coated bullets. They have a flat tip instead of roundnose and a corresponding reduced COAL.

5.0 grains Solo 1000. Start lower and work up. I generally shoot 5.1 grains with 200 g Precision RNFP coated bullets and found 5.0 with plain lead was more accurate. Overall length in my XD is short at about 1.2". Accuracy was very touchy so 0.1 grain made a big difference during load work-up.

I have to load at the upper ranges to burn all the powder in lead reloads. Recoil is higher than Solo 1000 or Clays but so is velocity. I will eventually shoot up the 8 lb keg I bought (maybe for .40 S&W) but have moved to Solo 1000 for my 45 ACP loads.

I bought that mower two seasons ago. It was a big improvement over my ten year old Craftsman. Two seasons later I'm not sure it is much better but it is definately faster than the old single speed mower was. I take about 50 minutes to mow my yard and at 43 yo it is good exercise and a riding mower takes more space. The extra power is minor over the old 6.5 HP mower but this depends on how thick you let your grass grow. Every five days is good in Eastern WA but I tend to let it go for 7 or 8.

My most recent manual for Hogdon powders lists the max for 200gr as 6.3 grains getting 962 fps. My older manual shows 6.7 grains max for 960 fps. I tried 6.2 grains over my chronograph and measured 820 fps avg for ten shots. I loaded 6.4 grains and avg was close to 850 and started to get some accuracy. These were fired in a 5" XD45ACP. Did the powder change and I just bought an old keg better suited to the older manual? Should I shoot the chronograph and get a new one?

I don't think we are real concerned about grass growing. But 24d does not seem to get all the problem weeds in our area. I think a mixture of sterilizer in the problem areas and roundup plus 24D or MecamineD for spot treatment will work. I really just want to sell a good weed control idea to club managers so they will get the proper materials and equipment to donate our time too the effort. My ideas involve a rotary mower behind the range tractor for large dry areas like the rifle ranges and the weed spraying we have been talking about for areas we want really clean for foot traffic and parking. They are thinking "big lawn mower" and hire out the spraying. Dust from dry ground is hell on riding mower engines so the tractor setup with the mower behind the engine should be used as much as possible. gordonm1

Thanks for the input. I'm a Roundup and 24D guy for the vacant lot next door but I am tempted by your resolve to use the sterilizer. My range has lots of other areas like the rifle ranges and parking areas that would add to the area to treat. I've got lots of questions on the Krovar. Is it too late for this year? How do you apply it? Equipment? Can we get a deal somewhere? On second thought, I think the rifle ranges could probably be mowed since they do not get foot traffic like the pistol bays and parking areas.

I'm a member of range in eastern wa where we are similar to high desert climate. We get tumble weeds and such and weeds grow every year in our pistol bays that are lined with gravel. What type of weed control is best? We have 8 or 9 bays and not don't want to spend alot on chemicals. I did a rough calculation of 55,000 SF of floor area. ADMIN feel free to move to proper forum gordonm1