bowenbuilt
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Posts posted by bowenbuilt
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That is a question I don't know. What I do know is they don't use cannister powder for their commercial ammo. They mix powders from different lots to achieve what they are looking for and none of it is what is offered for reloading. I also don't know if that would do any of us any good to find out. What is used in Federal and CCI ammo production has nothing to do with us as reloaders.
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You are 100% correct. When BAE won the bid they were letting ATK Alliant use part of the facility for their commercial products. When NG won the bid over BAE they not only showed BAE the door but ATK right behind them. As of today there is exactly zero production of any ATK products being made there and they have laid off all of the ATK personnel and revoked their passes onto the property. NG had updated the facility and moved most of the operation to a new location on the property in a new building they have been working on for the past 2 years. There is some hope that they will allow ATK to resume some operations in the distant future once everything is moved into the new facilities and out of the old outdated part of the plant. Some hope is better than nothing but knowing NG like I do, I wouldn't hold my breath.
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Sad to say I received an email tonight from one of my employees who frequently visits with the armory that produces most of Alliant commercial powders. He also states who to blame for the stoppage. Thought I would pass it along.
Per an ex commercial powder employee production has halted completely. That includes all flake and most of the spherical varieties. Northrup Grumman has deemed the operation not profitable enough to take nitro cellulose from other operations. Perhaps when the new facility reaches maximum capacity it could resume but usually when a conglomerate such as Northrup shuts down an operation that's it.
Good times
K'bone
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Old Frank,
As you know, what they show is normally not even close to what you will actually get. Every gun is a rule unto its self. I would start with 4.1 and go from there. You will probably be surprised at what you get as opposed to what is printed. Any chorographical material is a certain gun at a certain date using a particular bullet and a particular lot of powder at a certain temperature at a certain elevation. A loading manual and certainly a burn rate chart (totally useless) is just a good starting point. Your pistol will determine the top or bottom load which may or probably may not be anywhere close to what is in print. A good chronograph is hard to beat when searching for the desired load and case head expansion is really the only high pressure sign I look for. Good luck on your search and have a great weekend.
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Plain lead is roughly 30 to 40 FPS quicker than plated or coated. You can take it from there and come up with the load you are looking for.
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Not the best metering powder in the world because of the huge flakes and not the cleanest burning but does fill the case and very versatile and soft shooting. I used it a lot during the last powder shortage and found it to be a good alternative as long as I was dumping 4 grains or more. Works great in the 2 calibers you mentioned and will clean up at the top of the loads.
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I have Wolff 4.5 springs in all of mine and have never had a reset or a light strike issue.
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Are you asking about the 124 grn. TC Match Winner?
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Yes, in short order.
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No issues. N320 is somewhat slower than it used to be out of all my guns.
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On 2/6/2024 at 2:49 PM, ES13Raven said:
Curious, have you tried Precision Delta 124gr JHP? I had great results with those.
Yes, I used to buy them in bulk until I tried the RMR bullet. They are excellent.
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After trying every "gun oil" on the market I have settled on Amzoil 75W-90 weight synthetic gear oil. It does not thicken when in very cold conditions, it stays where you put it, it does not evaporate in heat or in time. It provides a superior lubrication in all climates for all things firearms related. A quart of it used with a needle oiler will last for many years and so far it has shown me less wear and better lubrication than anything else I have tried.
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If it's the same diameter above and below the crimp line and the bullet does not move forward under recoil go with it.
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I'd give it another half a turn just to make sure. LOL!
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Since the edges of the primers are still nice and round that is not a high pressure sign. Flattened and cratered primers would be a different story. As others have said, it's the hole in the breach face causing this. Just shoot um.
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Be very careful not to over crimp plated bullets. This is 99% of the people who hate them because over crimping them reduces their diameter resulting in bad accuracy and or tumbling. You can get away with over crimping jacketed bullets because the jacket will spring back considerably but the plating will not. Over crimping will produce a bullet that is under sized in the forward portion of the bullet so only the tail end of the bullet catches the rifling properly and the bullet will simply rattle down the bore. This will result in terrible accuracy and in the worst case tumbling. You only want to straighten the case, any further and you will have a bad experience. Pull a bullet, if there is a ring around it formed at the case mouth you went too far. I use them with great success but it took me a while to figure this out. I get match accuracy out of Everglades and X-treme bullets but you will need to work at it to find the magic spot on the crimping die.
My load consists of 3.3 of N-320 @ 1.080 OAL for a velocity of 880 FPS with these flat nosed bullets. Using the STI you will be able to load longer. I choose the short OAL so they work in all of my guns.
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Yep, this is normal.
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The safety plunger hole was the culprit on mine. They sent me a replacement slide but it had the same issue. I reamed and polished the plunger hole and that cured the issue.
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I use them because they are THE most accurate bullets I have tried in the last 45 years in all of my CZ competition guns. They are reasonably priced, quickly shipped, make a clear round hole and provide match grade accuracy. They are also available when most others are in back order and the customer service is A-1.
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Plated bullets of the same weight will always be faster than the copper jacketed RMR Match Winners. Plated bullets offer much less resistance to the rifling than the much tougher copper jacket.
Deeper seating produces more pressure therefore a higher power factor.
I use 124 RMR Match Winners exclusively in my CZ's and get the same results as you do with N320 or SP.
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Plated bullets of the same weight will always be faster than the copper jacketed RMR Match Winners. Plated bullets offer much less resistance to the rifling than the much tougher copper jacket.
Deeper seating produces more pressure therefore a higher power factor.
I use 124 RMR Match Winners exclusively in my CZ's and get the same results as you do with N320 or SP.
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4.2 with an OAL of 1.250 for FMJ works well for me. If you follow the load data for original Clays you won't go wrong with e3.
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I find plated to be the cleaner shooting of the 2. Both are equally as fragile and you have to be very careful not to over crimp them. If i could only pick one it would be plated just because of the clean shooting characteristics but either will do the job if they are treated correctly.
Jacketed might have a slight edge in accuracy, HP's are less smokey and cleaner shooting than coated but usually come at a higher price and also take more powder to equal velocity of plated or coated. If price is not an object these would be my overall choice.
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My favorite light practice load is a 200 grain Everglades plated flat nose with 4.2 of Clays, 1.226 OAL. Light recoil, clean shooting and match grade accurate.
2nd is a 230 grain ACME coated round nose with 3.9 of Clays loaded to 1.240 OAL.
ALLIANT CALLS IT QUITS FOR RELOADERS
in 9mm/38 Caliber
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I made a phone call tonight to ask the question where are manufacturers getting their powder. I have to admit the answer was surprising. Federal, CCI, Remington ect., ect all buy their powder from one source, why? because right now it's the only source available, General Dynamics provides all US made powder through Saint Marks to all US ammunition manufacturers. None of the name brand ammo producers make their own powder and haven't for years. They all purchase lots of powders and mix them to get the pressures and velocities for each caliber they produce. So hopefully that helps with a question we have all wondered about.