Tom5587

Regarding the reason to push to 940 - Goal is to get as much energy as is reasonably possible into the projectile for bowling pin matches. I realize that a flat nose or hollow point would be a better choice - but have a bunch of the round nose so thought that I would use them for a while. At the never exceed loads in the Lee manual, lead and FMJ velocities are 934 and 942with resulting pressures of 20,100 and 19,800 respectively. The Saami spec is 21,000 psi Maximum Average Pressure. In the data sent from Speer, the velocity using accurate #5, which is very close to CFE Pistol on the burn rate chart is 982. The theory then is that if the plated bullet does not result in higher pressure to achieve the same velocity with the same powder and OAL as lead or FMJ, then I should be able to push safely to about 940 fps. The other data point is that the Speer data shows about a 5% higher velocity from a powder that is close to CFE Pistol on the burn rate chart. Not sure whether this should give some level of confidence that pushing to 940 is a good idea. By the way, how do you determine the relative pressures of different loads? Thank You

With a box of Speer 230g plated projectiles and a bottle of CFE Pistol, I am setting out to make loads for bowling pin matches. Load data in my manuals shows a never exceed load of 6.2 gr for lead, delivering 942 fps and 6.8 gr for a jacket projectile delivering 934 fps. Both are with OAL of 1.20". Cannot find a published load for plated round nose. I contacted Speer and they sent data including loads for 12 powders - but not including CFE Pistol. The question is: Given constant OAL, and choice of primer, if I chrono rounds and work up to about 940 fps, how will the resulting pressure compare with the published data for lead and FMJ. My assumption is that it would be lower - but we all know what it means to assume! Thanks in advance for any insight.

Understanding that there are a number of variables impacting pressure, would anyone have a have insight on how to evaluate seating depth vs charge? The problem that I am trying to solve is: Loading 115g 9mm hollow points with Tite Group. Two load manuals show starting load of 4.5g, max load at 4.8g and tested at 1.125" OAL. The problem is that anything longer than about 1.080" leaves the bullet touching the lands in one pistol. If I did the math correctly, this reduces the combustion volume by about 12%. Any thoughts on how much the starting load should be reduced to ensure safe pressures with the reduced combustion volume? If the charge is reduced by something more than 12%, would that ensure a safe load?