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gypsy

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Everything posted by gypsy

  1. Thanks for those words, you succinctly summed up my rambling thoughts and scrambled efforts. What you described is essentially what led me to choose using the Lyman load for a few test rounds today (plus the fact that it's also the lightest). One of my biggest doubts about it all was (is) not knowing how different the TMJ bullet is from the JHP, I'm guessing the TMJ extends into the case more but I don't know since i don't have one to see or measure. I'm not sure about OAL limits for the magazines. Where do you find that information, or do I load some dummy rounds and develop it myself? I did notice that the HK chamber happily swallows once-fired and unsized brass, but I can't push it into the XDm. Thanks, Steve
  2. It's great to see someone more experienced than me with the same question - hijack all you want
  3. That makes a lot of sense, and is basically what I'm trying to do. Except I don't follow why your rounds are a bit longer than the recommended 1.135? What really threw me off was the difference in min/max powder for 180 grain bullets in the Lyman and Speer book. Lyman min/max is 5.4 / 6.0 and Speer is 6.2 /6.9. Speer's minimum load being larger than Lyman's maximum made me wonder what the @#$@% was going on. I guess if I'd just had one book I'd have happily followed it and been on my way....that's what I get for reading! But seriously, why such a variation when the only difference is Lyman's load is for a JHP at 1.115 OAL and Speer's is for a TMJ at 1.120? Is there that much difference in the bullet size, or case volume? I did end up using the Lyman load and it worked well for a starting point for me. I might be trying to think too hard but I figured the FMJ I have leaves the base of the bullet uncovered like the JHP so mine would have the most similar case volume to the Lyman vs. the Speer. Lacking a chrono, I shot 5 rounds of S&B 180 grain, 5 rounds of old 180 grain Winchester subsonic that I got a long time ago when I was young because the "law enforcement ammunition" label on the box was "cool" and 5 rounds of my load. I figured that would give me a subjective comparison of hot & light loads with mine. My rounds were so light, they basically moseyed down to the target and fell through the paper. I'm 99% sure I can increase the powder a bit, but I'm definitely seeing the utility of a chronograph and am off to research those. Do you ever stop spending money after you start reloading?!
  4. I'm new to this so be gentle I'm having a hard time finding a load recipe for this combination. I gather from my reading here and elsewhere that I ought to move to N320, but this powder is what I've got for now. I'm not looking for a major/minor yet, hopefully I'll work up to competing later, this is just for practice to try and improve. The data I have is Lyman's 49th which has: 180gr JHP, 1.115 OAL and a start of 5.4 grains N350 (6.0 max) and I have Speer's 12th which has: 180gr TMJ, 1.120 OAL, and a start of 6.2 grains N350 (6.9 max) I also found the Vihtavuori reloading guides for 2011 and 2013 but the only 180 grain load they have for N350 is for a HP (1.126 OAL, 5.9 - 6.2 grains N350) None of those bullets match the flat point Montana gold bullets I have and I'm too new to be comfortable extrapolating on my own. I'm also a little puzzled about the wide difference in powder for the Lyman and Speer loads. The JHP and TMJ bullets are going to be different sizes with different case capacities, but isn't that a dramatic difference in powder used between Lyman & Speer? I'm also surprised at the dearth of information, I thought a 180 FMJ-FP was practically standard for 40? Can anyone get me started with a decent low-power recipe for practice? I'll be shooting out of an XDm and a HK USP. Thanks, Steve
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