[My camera must have been set to "slow-mo" :)]

It was a cold and blustery day at Route 66 Shooting Range in San Berdo CA.

 

62 pistol boys, and 1 revo geezer

 

First stage from yesterday. It was cold and I was slow

 

 

 

[I haven't "miked" a target all year !!]

2 hours ago, Batmo said:

That's great....what was your hit factor.

 

I'll let you know Saturday night

[I haven't "miked" a target all year !!]

7 hours ago, IVC said:

If that's what she said... 

 

Be careful here, you'll get banned for the slightest thing. Nobody has a sense of Yuma any more.

[I haven't "miked" a target all year !!]

Too soon?

[The Blue Bullet .38/.357 160g Round Nose]

Name: .38 Short Colt: 160gr Bayou RN: Clays 3.05gr: Starline Case: OAL 1.2
Notes: S&W 627 / Current powder setting
Shots: 5
Average: 811 ft/s
SD: 10 ft/s
Min: 802 ft/s
Max: 828 ft/s
Spread: 26 ft/s
Power Factor Average: 129
Power Factor Low: 128
Power Factor High: 132
Barometric Pressure: 29 in Hg
Temperature: 90 F
Bullet Weight: 160
Powder/Wt: Clays/3.05gr
Bullet/Wt: Bayou 160gr RN
Primer: Fed SPP
Case: Starline
OAL: 1.2
Gun: S&W 627

[Low flash]

2 hours ago, zzt said:

For those of you enamored of Clays but can't find any, Alliant Clay Dot is a direct replacement.  Even Hodgdon's Ballisticians admit they did a great job reverse engineering Clays.

 

Yeah, I can't find any of that either

 

I was able to buy four pounds of Sport Pistol powder, than an eight pounder of the same.

 

it's great powder, and basically the same as Clays in my gun.

 

Plus it meters better in my Dillon. Sport pistol is a newer powder, so you might be able to find it.

[Low flash]

2 minutes ago, jejb said:

Clays is great for low flash and works well with plated 115gr RN. Cycles all of our 9's with low recoil and low flash. But it does seem hard to get. I have a bunch, so the wife and I shoot it quite a bit. 

 

Yeah, Clays powder is great stuff, but largely unattainable these days.

[What to do to a 929]

8 minutes ago, AzShooter said:

Anyone need .38 Short Colt brass let me know.  I think I've got 500 new cases I can let go of.  

 

Once I had my 929 working with Winchester brass I never looked back.  

 

Sure I'll take them. I'll be in AZ the end of January shooting the AZ State Revolver Championship.

[What to do to a 929]

>>What to do to a 929 

 

I'll take, what is sell it and buy a 627, for $200 Alex.

[Low flash]

58 minutes ago, Farmer said:

pu$$y 

 

Hey grumpy, please don't ban this guy. I'm a big boy, sticks and stones.

 

I can take it.

[Low flash]

I hate 115gr bullets, too snappy, too harsh for my old hands.

[What to do to a 929]

So three pages on how to get a 929 to run correctly

 

Here's what I did to get my 627 to run correctly.

 

1. Bought the gun

2. Had a trigger job by the gray ghost in Phoenix

3. Bought 1000 Starline .38 Short Colt brass

4. Bought 1000 Bayou Bullets 160gr RN. bullets 

5. Pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew, 'merica

 

Hey, I just saved you guys three pages of reading, you're welcome.

 

[Low flash]

I've been using Sport Pistol powder with good results.

[What to do to a 929]

I'll add, I never measure the crimp. I just turn down the knob, load a few, pull one of the bullets, look at the crimp.

 

I'm looking for a slight indentation all the way around.

 

This is a little too heavy.

.

[What to do to a 929]

58 minutes ago, pyrrhic3gun said:

OK, I'll add my 2 cents worth.  I just grabbed a handful of my sized 9mm brass and ran some pin gauges in them.  I'm using the U-die.  The ranged from .346" to .348" ID varying by headstamp.

I think whoever it was that cautioned about the powder funnel expanding the brass is correct.

I turn my powder funnels on a lathe to make sure they're not affecting the neck tension.

Just measured my funnel with a micrometer and came up with .343", so you can see it's not expanding my brass.  Now, the brass looks a little bulged when loaded (like the snake that just ate a mouse), but no creep to speak of, since it's really grabbing the bullet.  After a match, I measure the overall length of the rounds that are left in full-moon clips and reseat the ones that are .005" longer than I loaded them.  There aren't many, maybe 3 to 5 per 100 fired.  But definitely none that are anywhere close to disassembling themselves in the gun.

 

I bought a UniqueTek powder funnel (for my Dillon 750) that completely defeats the idea of a U die.

 

The UniqueTek powder funnel has an outside diameter of .358. It's completely useless. There was no neck tension at all.

[What to do to a 929]

24 minutes ago, IHAVEGAS said:

 

I'm wondering if the U-die actually does anything more than make resizing more difficult in this particular situation. 0.358 bullets are already oversized for 9mm brass. 

 

Have you experimented with running everything the same except using a standard sizing die? 

 

 

 

No, but my understanding is a U die is just .001 undersized.

[What to do to a 929]

3 hours ago, MikeyScuba said:

 

yrsracer has the formula. I think a u-die  is essential 

 

Think of a 929 like a racecar.

 

Most people can't just hop in a NASCAR Sprint Cup car and drive down to the grocery store.

 

Same thing with a 929. It's pretty useless out of the box.

 

Fun fact, what's "racecar" spelled backwards?

[What to do to a 929]

1 minute ago, tomjerry1 said:

Seems like I have finally reached a point of controlling bullets walking out, .357 bullet, 147gr BB, 1.15 oal, .375 crimp, win brass and good accuracy. I have been on this, and other forums for two years trying to figure this out. 

 

I not sure what you figured out, that's a standard load for a lot of us.

 

I'm not sure why you were having issues. Glad you got it handled.

[What to do to a 929]

OP, if you use 9mm Federal brass, a Lee U die, and a Bayou Bullets 160gr RN and you still get creep, it's you.

 

I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds with the above, without any creep.

 

I'm using an OAL of 1.190.

[What to do to a 929]

7 minutes ago, tomjerry1 said:

I've done all that and more, nothing short of gluing the bullets in the cases. I'm down to .375" crimp, soon to be .370", way more crimp than I could imagine.

 

Are we talking about 9mm? Where do you live?

[What to do to a 929]

19 minutes ago, warpspeed said:

Thanks for the info - very helpful

 

 

I also use a Lee U die for 9mm, and Mr Bullet Feeder powder funnel in my Dillon 750. With .358 coated bullets from either Bayou or Blue I don't get any bullet creep.

[What to do to a 929]

I've found Federal brass with TK moon clips with Federal Small Pistol Primers work best in my 929.

 

Starline .38 short colt brass  with TK moon clips with Federal Small Pistol Primers work best in my 627.

[What to do to a 929]

9 minutes ago, warpspeed said:

Please elaborate on this

From TK:

 

The extractor groove diameter on cartridge cases is the most important part of fitment into a moonclip. There is no SAAMI specifications for the extractor groove and each manufacturer makes them as they want.

 

 

[What to do to a 929]

40 minutes ago, gargoil66 said:

Guys:

 

This has been the thing that I still don't understand.  People complain about the 929 but is it mechanically different than a 627 or is it the 9mm cartridge?

 

Guys shooting minor loads out of 627's don't seem to have the same problems.

 

GG

 

 

 

9mm is a semi auto cartridge. Factory ammo isn't usually crimped.

[What to do to a 929]

15 minutes ago, tomjerry1 said:

I'm still chasing the bullets walking out of the cases, going to start crimping more, seems to be the answer for a lot of folks.

 

The technical term is, "crimp the s#!t out of them".