dave33

I just shot a steel challenge match today with 147 gr Blue Bullets over 3.4 gr titegroup. That makes about a 143PF out of my XDM 5.25 but it's really soft and accurate.

SR 7625 is one of my favorite 9mm powders. My favorite 9mm load is 3.4gr under a 147 gr lead projectile. I actually use coated lead now but the same charge. Very soft and accurate out of my XDM 5.25. I use to shoot 124 gr plated at 4.1 gr which is a good load also but I switched to 147 gr about a year ago and like them better.

I cant imagine they will be anything less than perfect. Ive never had any issues at all after the tons of them I have shot through my XDM.

I believe it is some kind of powder coating, it's definately not the Hi-Tek coating. Projectiles coated with the Hi-Tek stuff are much slicker feeling than powder coated in your hand.

I also use 3.4 under 147gr lead or coated in my XDM 5.25. Very soft and very accurate.

I ordered one from Graf & Sons, a few bucks less than midway and free shipping. I downloaded the app on my iPhone and it looks pretty slick. Going to try it out this weekend hopefully.

I have recently, personally shot SNS 200gr SWC coated rounds under 5gr of titegroup and it doesnt smoke any more than anything else I tried them with, and that includes SR7625, E3, and Solo 1000. I have shot titegroup under Bayou coated and the powder coated Blue Bullets and they both run virtually smoke free. In fact my new go to 9mm load is titegroup under a 147gr Blue Bullet, and the last match I shot with this load had less visible smoke than factory FMJ loads others were shooting. I think titegroups reputation for smoke comes from people shooting straight lead, mixed with a little internet rumor. Regardless, most of my load development and target practice is done at an indoor range and titegroup doesnt smoke any more than anything else I use, if anything it is less smoky.

Sounds like you had a couple high/not fully seated primers. The first hit of the striker finished seating them, the second hit set them off. Same thing happened to me when I first started reloading, I was a little too easy on the primer seating handle, concerned hitting them too hard would set them off. It's ok to really apply plenty of force to get them seated. I run reduced striker springs on my XDM and don't have any problems with ignition with CCI primers but I have switched to Winchester or federals since they seat so easy.

Is yours set up to flair the case mouth or just drop powder? I have been thinking about one of these but the cost of the powder measure plus the case activated linkage plus the pistol drum plus the case expander has me holding off. I would want to be real sure before I did that.

I have shot a few thousand of the blue bullets, in both 9mm and 45, and I do get some blue residue on my fingers when reloading. Makes sense about it being overspray dust and not the actual coating. Its not like you can use them like they were crayons. After shooting a few hundred there does seem to be a little residue in my barrel but nothing a couple passes with a patch wont knock out. Nothing like straight lead, I will not be going back to that.

I would like to see a picture of this. My auto disks are pretty good if you like the charge they throw but there are some 'tweeners I wish I could adjust it to. And yes I have the adjustable charge bar but it is useless with small charges.

Cant help much on holster advice as I use the factory one that came with the gun for IDPA, NRA action pistol, and steel challenge matches, and dont feel like Im at any real disadvantage. That being said I do plan to get some type of offset holster for the steel and action pistol matches. As far as the trigger goes, I have the drop in PRP kit, and with the supplied blue competition springs my trigger breaks right at 3lbs, with little take up and virtually no overtravel. Im sure the competition kit is real nice, I just dont see how it can be much better than the drop in kit. The extreme sounds good, but Im not sure a 2.5lb pull is right for me.

Definately an enjoyable hobby for me, I do enjoying shooting more but I also enjoy tinkering around with different loads to see what my guns like the most.

My favorites are the Blue Bullets and Bayous, both are accurate, shoot clean and run by good people.

Made it to the range yesterday before the ice storm hit and did a little more shooting with e3. I'm switching from traditional lead to coated lead projectiles and have it narrowed down to either thebluebullets or bayous in 147 gr most likely. With 147 gr I have found 3.36 gr of e3 to be the cleanest and most accurate, today I tried that as well as 3.58 gr of e3, didn't see any improvement, if anything accuracy may have been slightly less. Spent primers didn't look bad, but I'm not taking it any further. Interestingly the recoil is virtually the same from 2.9 gr to 3.5. All rounds shot out of an XDM 5.25.When you say you didn't notice any IMPROVEMENT and then mention accuracy I assume that is what you were looking for. I would be interested in any velocity differences at that point since I acquired some e3 last fall but the weather here turned on me and shooting outdoors has become unpleasant. What I am looking for, data wise, is LINEARITY of e3 at different pressure/velocity ranges to see where it might be turning "squirrely" or less linear... that is, at what point does an increase in powder NOT produce a more or less expected increase in velocity. So if you can post your velocity results from the last test at nearly 3.6grns of e3 in comparison with those obtained with it at 3.36grns that would be helpful to me.Thanks. I was shooting at an indoor range, so no chrono data. I was looking for the best combo for accuracy for my particular pistol for some of the competitions I shoot. Everything I have ever seen about e3 has it being a very well behaved powder. I do plan to chrono as soon as I can though.

With Win primers I get virtually no resistance, very little with CCI. No issues though.

I tried some Tula primers back when nothing else was available and found them to work good. I get the occasional failure with my XDM 5.25 that has a reduced striker spring but that's only maybe 1 in 2 or 3 hundred, I haven't really tracked it. I still prefer CCI or Winchester and don't mind paying a slight premium for them but for practice ammo they are fine.

Made it to the range yesterday before the ice storm hit and did a little more shooting with e3. I'm switching from traditional lead to coated lead projectiles and have it narrowed down to either thebluebullets or bayous in 147 gr most likely. With 147 gr I have found 3.36 gr of e3 to be the cleanest and most accurate, today I tried that as well as 3.58 gr of e3, didn't see any improvement, if anything accuracy may have been slightly less. Spent primers didn't look bad, but I'm not taking it any further. Interestingly the recoil is virtually the same from 2.9 gr to 3.5. All rounds shot out of an XDM 5.25.

I just shot some bayou 135's yesterday, I have been shooting 147 gr lead up to that point. I'm switching over to coated lead and trying to decide on the exact one. The 135's have a tad more snap to them vs more of a push with the 147's but I honestly don't think it's enough to make any difference. They were both equally accurate. I shoot some falling plate matches so the extra mass of the 147's may help with that but I'm sure only slightly. The lower cost of the 135's may help me decide.

It's a double based flake powder. Based on info here it's not temp sensitive at all.

After firing I was able to walk downrange and wait for the impact.

Yes. There is no published load data for pistols from the manufacturer, but it has a bit of a following here. If you are very new to reloading E3 may not be for you.

I just got my sample packs of Bayou's in 135, 147, and 150 gr 9mm and will be doing some load development with E3 and SR7625. Interestingly I weighed a few from each batch, the 135's and 147's were pretty consistent but the 150gr SWC all came in about 147gr's. I doubt it makes a difference on the load though, just an obervation.

Check out mikesreloadingbench.com. This guy has designed a bunch of little things for the loadmaster press that make it way better. I currently load on a pro 1000 and this guy has me wanting to buy a loadmaster and do all his mods, they look to make the loadmaster as good as it ever will be. Oh yeah, definately get the pro auto disc powder measure. It's not perfect but works really well and is very consistent.

I load on a progressive (Lee Pro 1000) and I look in every case before I put a projectile on top. Loading with E3 in .45 I have never had a problem with the pro auto disc's not being consistent but when I first tried E3 in 9mm I started with 2.9 gr under a 147gr boolit and if I didnt tap the side of the powder hopper on every round I often got a mostly empty case. That loading shot ok but wasnt anything special so I quit E3 for 9mm since the actual loading was more iffy. Fast forward a few weeks, decided to give E3 another chance in 9mm. Loaded up 20 each starting at 2.9 gr, 3.1 gr, and 3.3 gr. By the time I got to the 3.3 gr load, the powder measure seemed to be far more consistent. Best part is how they shot, virtually the same light recoil but the groups tightened up quite a bit, and the cases were cleaner. Am going to tweak a little more but I can see where E3 may become the only powder I need.