ChuckB

Steve, thanks for posting that. What OAL are you using?

I'm not quite ready to give up on the Clays just yet... That and I have 4 lbs of it. According to the Hodgdon load data I should get 888 fps out of a 5" barrel with 4.3 grains and a 1.225 OAL. I just didn't expect that little of a deviation in the OAL to make that big of a difference. It sounds like I have some testing to do. I'm thinking of testing 1.22 and 1.2 OAL with 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 grains. Any better suggestions?

I'm using a Dillon Electronic scale and I am zeroing it before each weigh. When I check it with the 50g weight it is 49.96g. I don't know what the chrono is, it's currently the only one I have access to. I did check some factory Federal Champion 230gr on the chrono which averaged 806 FPS. The specs on the box are as follows: Muzzle - 830 50 yrds - 794 100 yrds - 760 So the 12ish plus feet I was checking seems right. I've been doing some google searches and I'm seeing OALs of 1.225 down to 1.175. It looks like I got my original length base on what should have been round nose. Where do I start trying to determine the OAL? I originally started the other direction trying to find what would fit in the gun correctly. Should I start with a 1.225, check feed and FPS down until it doesn't feed properly or is there a more educated starting point? The Lyman manual lists two 200gr FN rounds but I'm not sure which one is closest to the Rainier. 452630 - 1.235 OAL 452460 - 1.161 OAL

XDM 5.25"

I'm new to reloading and I'm struggling to make power factor with a 45 200gr Rainier's FN and Clays. For OAL I'm shooting for 1.25 and the actual rounds are coming out between 1.25 and 1.26 and some change. 68 Degreesss 5000 Feet above see level My average FPS out of 10 rounds: 4.1 Grains = 706 FPS 4.2 Grains = 723 FPS 4.3 Grains = 765 FPS The FPS listed are averages, each round was all over the place in regards to speed (again new to reloading) but I have weighed every throw individually and not a single one hit the required 825 FPS to make Power Factor. Any help would be very appreciated. Do I bump up to the weight of the load? Do I load shorter? Is there something else I'm missing?