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BFG9000

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Everything posted by BFG9000

  1. This is a known problem with stainless-tumbled rifle brass. Not only is it too clean but there can be a small ridge peened over on the inside of the neck, and the solution is to debur the necks afterwards and possibly dip it in something like Imperial Dry Neck Lube, as everyone wants to size only clean brass to avoid scratching their dies. For pistol carbide dies, the obvious solution is to decap and size before tumbling which provides the added bonus of letting the pins clean out the primer pockets too. The dirt, carbon and lead salts help lubricate the die and you could even spray an oil as case lube for those tougher to resize 9mm tapered cases--it'll get washed off in the tumble. I even bell the cases before tumbling to fit jacketed (if I need to load cast I'll bell them more later with an M-die) on the same trip through the progressive.
  2. Titewad works great for .45ACP and even .40 13 years since the OP, Hodgdon now lists loads for 9mm, 38 Super and .45ACP. From the charge weights, Titewad is much faster than N310 and at such low charge weights in small cases, slight variations have a much larger effect so rather than just increasing SD, things can get so downright touchy that -0.1gr can result in FTF and +0.1gr can produce signs of overpressure. Pressure can get silly very quickly so work up a load very gradually only to slightly past PF (or better yet, only to functioning for plinking)--if you can't find accuracy by then, just give up and start over with a different bullet. If you are lucky enough to find an accurate, functional and safely reproducible load then it is very soft and very cheap! I'm not really concerned about the lack of load data as it just means I have to treat it like surplus powder and start working up from lower than if there was any. Load data isn't a recipe after all (just a guide) because so many variables can affect what's the safe maximum--keep an eye on that brass and it'll tell you what you need to know!
  3. I'd suggest trying a full case of 5.2gr N32C Tin Star with the X-treme 100gr RNFP at 1.045" for a power factor of 106 with a 3" barrel. It's subsonic, fills the case to 115% (compressed) and only reaches 26k psi with as much as you can stuff in. Of the powders you listed TG probably has the sharpest recoil impulse to help operate the slide, but this also means it has the highest felt recoil for the PF, meaning another powder and more PF may serve just as well. TNSTAAFL In such a short barrel Power Pistol only burns 81% at a max load of 7.8gr (definitely makes minor PF lol!) and far less will burn in the barrel with such a severely reduced load (the rest will make an impressively loud fireball outside it that will have everyone looking for the guy shooting the Magnum). It's so inefficient even at max load that less Unique (burns 97%) is not any slower. I'd be surprised if 3.2-3.3gr PP even burned 50% (that's probably why such very reduced loads are so dirty).
  4. I did try Titewad with some success in .40 and .45ACP but had no luck getting any 9mm to reliably cycle with it except a H&K P7, even after raising the load until the primer started to flow (for a Glock though you should have no problem finding a really light recoil spring). If it just happens to be accurate with a near maximum load then it is really sweet for plinking and even softer and quieter than Clays, but seemed so touchy that I weighed every load on a Chargemaster. That got old fast. I was happy with MG, PD + Zero .40 180 RNFP @ 3.5gr or 200 @ 2.9gr loaded short at 1.120", and plated + cast .45ACP 230 RN @ 3.4gr 1.250". The brass just dribbles out of the ejection port and falls straight down, but the cases are bulged and primers flattened just like full-power factory ammo, indicating pressures are maxed, but brief (it probably burns completely within the first half inch of barrel). You may have noticed that it is really dirty at shotgun pressures but it cleans up at the high pressures you must use for a semi-auto--it's not the cleanest (and the residue is hard to scrub off unlike the greasy mess left by Titegroup) but it's cheap and you don't use much. For mouse fart loads I prefer the safer Tin Star or even N310 or Clays but if there's a powder shortage, Titewad will allow you to shoot if you take some care in reloading. It's certainly more flexible than Trail Boss which requires magnum primers in large revolver cartridges and .45ACP. It just takes up even less room in the case than Clays (hey it's more than Titegroup!). There should be nearly no difference in pressures between HBRN and plain RN as the volume below the bullet is the same, just shaped differently. If anything the flat base will have lower pressures because the bearing surface is less which reduces friction. You can compare them in Quickload and see for yourself, but note Quickload has powder data to simulate all of the powders above... except Titewad.
  5. I would've thought it was obvious that the best 9mm brass is clearly Lapua, although it is foreign as it's made in Finland. The empty brass is the same price as cheap factory loaded ammo.
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