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Which powder for 125 grain 38 super?


duramaxtech

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So people, I need to drag the press out and blow the dust off and reload some 38 super ammo. OK now I'll date myself and how long its been since I competed (kids are now out of the house and the wife has her degree and a good job!) I had been using 130 gr remington jacketed bullets with 9.4 grains of WW 540 & Federal 205s. So I have some 125 gr bullets and was wondering what powder would be a good choice (ya try to find WW 540 now days!)

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The one you like best will vary with your gun/comp, but any of the following would work nicely: N350, 3N37, 3N38, N105 (has a big following now), 4756, HS-6, Longshot, and Silhouette are probably the most common. I have no plans to use anything but N105 until someone manages to get SP-2 in the country! R,

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Thanks for the info so far, lots of good stuff. My gun is a dinosaur by todays standards, I run a 3 port EGW comp that I opened the rear port slightly and I have one poppet hole in the barrel (who came up with that name, we always just said we drilled a hole in the darn thing!)

I figure I'm going to run above the 165PF because this thing always ran best with a 180PF at sea level, of course I'm at 3300 feet now so it my old loads wouldn't be quite that fast. So for runing a slightly high PF which would you go with?

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Thanks for the info so far, lots of good stuff. My gun is a dinosaur by todays standards, I run a 3 port EGW comp that I opened the rear port slightly and I have one poppet hole in the barrel (who came up with that name, we always just said we drilled a hole in the darn thing!)

I figure I'm going to run above the 165PF because this thing always ran best with a 180PF at sea level, of course I'm at 3300 feet now so it my old loads wouldn't be quite that fast. So for runing a slightly high PF which would you go with?

I'd go with either N105 or AA#7, they work best with old school comps, and even some new school comps. If you plunder around on Brazos site you will find that Bob thinks these old school guns need something that takes 10gr or more to make PF. I'll get bashed for this but my Bedell Ti comp is looking old school and 10.5 gr AA7 w/125 puts it about 175 pf and it shoots nice, its got a hole in the barrel as well. It will make 169 pf with 10.2 but its a wild thing with that load, just .3 more and it is sweet. I tried some 115gr w/10.9gr and they were flatter but a little hard on the palm.

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(ya try to find WW 540 now days!)

HS-6 is WW 540... ;) It's all over the place...

I use N105, but have used several other powders for 125s... 3N37, 3N38, N350, 4756, 7625...

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(ya try to find WW 540 now days!)

HS-6 is WW 540... ;) It's all over the place...

I think I'll just have to look into that! The N105 as well.

CocoBolo,

Nothing wrong with an old school comp that works, this one isn't bad but the softest flatest thing I ever shot was a (OK showing my age again) Jet Comp ... BUT not in the way the made it. I started with a Jet Comp where it had 4 chambers and three ports, the rear chamber had three jet ports in it. Well they erode quickly! So when they started eroding I just stuck it in the vise under the mill and opened it up into a 4 port comp, the rear chamber was big so it made for a big port, but man that thing shot soft and level as you could expect!

Thank again guys.

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(ya try to find WW 540 now days!)

HS-6 is WW 540... ;) It's all over the place...

I think I'll just have to look into that! The N105 as well.

CocoBolo,

Nothing wrong with an old school comp that works, this one isn't bad but the softest flatest thing I ever shot was a (OK showing my age again) Jet Comp ... BUT not in the way the made it. I started with a Jet Comp where it had 4 chambers and three ports, the rear chamber had three jet ports in it. Well they erode quickly! So when they started eroding I just stuck it in the vise under the mill and opened it up into a 4 port comp, the rear chamber was big so it made for a big port, but man that thing shot soft and level as you could expect!

Thank again guys.

Hey, old school comp, easy money Lots O Gas. In the 4 port I like the Dawson Awesome.

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Right now I'm using 10.0 gr of 3N38 behind a 124 bullet with a Wolf SRP.

I have one lb of N105 to try, where to start? Powder is from 1999, but should be ok. It's been in a cool, dry place.

9.5 gr? I just want to limit my iterations of attempts.

It's a Bedell Shorty, with his Comp on it, no popple holes.

Sorry for the highjack. :ph34r:

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Right now I'm using 10.0 gr of 3N38 behind a 124 bullet with a Wolf SRP.

I have one lb of N105 to try, where to start? Powder is from 1999, but should be ok. It's been in a cool, dry place.

9.5 gr? I just want to limit my iterations of attempts.

It's a Bedell Shorty, with his Comp on it, no popple holes.

Sorry for the highjack. :ph34r:

9.5 is a very safe place to start with that combo. The older lots like yours seem to be a bit hotter than the current ones, and I'm at 10.7gr with a 115 through a Bedell shorty (for 171PF give or take). The good thing is that VV lists a load as high as 11gr with a 124, so you're nowhere near the danger zone. R,

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Thanks for the info so far, lots of good stuff. My gun is a dinosaur by todays standards, I run a 3 port EGW comp that I opened the rear port slightly and I have one poppet hole in the barrel (who came up with that name, we always just said we drilled a hole in the darn thing!)

I figure I'm going to run above the 165PF because this thing always ran best with a 180PF at sea level, of course I'm at 3300 feet now so it my old loads wouldn't be quite that fast. So for runing a slightly high PF which would you go with?

I'll get bashed for this but my Bedell Ti comp is looking old school and 10.5 gr AA7 w/125 puts it about 175 pf and it shoots nice, its got a hole in the barrel as well.

Only because a week or so ago you were saying you hated that comp :roflol:

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Right now I'm using 10.0 gr of 3N38 behind a 124 bullet with a Wolf SRP.

I have one lb of N105 to try, where to start? Powder is from 1999, but should be ok. It's been in a cool, dry place.

I've found that it takes an additional .1 or .2 grains to get the same pf with n105 compared to 3n38.

I'd start at 9.8 grains and go up to 10.4 for the test rounds. Like Bart said, you can fill 105 to the case rim and you really don't have to worry about too much pressure.

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Right now I'm using 10.0 gr of 3N38 behind a 124 bullet with a Wolf SRP.

I have one lb of N105 to try, where to start? Powder is from 1999, but should be ok. It's been in a cool, dry place.

I've found that it takes an additional .1 or .2 grains to get the same pf with n105 compared to 3n38.

I'd start at 9.8 grains and go up to 10.4 for the test rounds. Like Bart said, you can fill 105 to the case rim and you really don't have to worry about too much pressure.

I was closer to .5 difference between 3N38 and N105 with the same bullet. I haven't shot any of the older N105 in quite a while (not even sure if I ever had any as old as 99), but I recall it being about .3gr or so less for the same PF as the new lots. R,

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i too was a WW 540 fan, but a longtime ago switched to VV 3n37 and have never looked back

i loved the post aboutthe ti jet comp and erosion, a friend had one that used to shoot an indoor league, it was constantly throwing showers of sparks, and we mic'd the ports one day...yep lots of erosion goin on there

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Thanks for the info so far, lots of good stuff. My gun is a dinosaur by todays standards, I run a 3 port EGW comp that I opened the rear port slightly and I have one poppet hole in the barrel (who came up with that name, we always just said we drilled a hole in the darn thing!)

I figure I'm going to run above the 165PF because this thing always ran best with a 180PF at sea level, of course I'm at 3300 feet now so it my old loads wouldn't be quite that fast. So for runing a slightly high PF which would you go with?

I'll get bashed for this but my Bedell Ti comp is looking old school and 10.5 gr AA7 w/125 puts it about 175 pf and it shoots nice, its got a hole in the barrel as well.

Only because a week or so ago you were saying you hated that comp :roflol:

G-man Its not my favorite, but you are gonna love this. I loaned the gun to Mr. Rudy his is broke, he shot the match with it, he don't like it either but he shot 94%, and he has not shot that well in a long time, go figure. So I'm thinking it is a darn good gun after all. He was shooting a load with Silhouette now if he had been shooting N105 maybe he would have won the match?

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G-man Its not my favorite, but you are gonna love this. I loaned the gun to Mr. Rudy his is broke, he shot the match with it, he don't like it either but he shot 94%, and he has not shot that well in a long time, go figure. So I'm thinking it is a darn good gun after all. He was shooting a load with Silhouette now if he had been shooting N105 maybe he would have won the match?

Any time you suddenly change something (like borrowing a gun), initially it's not going to feel or work as well for you, and most folks will think "I hate it". I've seen seemingly minor things make an obvious difference (for the worse) in how the gun feels, tracks etc, but after a short while it's better than it was prior...I plan on at least 2-300 rounds to get a general idea and probably several times that to really know. I pulled the thumb rests off my two main guns based on a suggestion from Manny Bragg and it took a couple of weeks, but I've seen a decrease in split times on longer targets, and the dot path is more consistent. I bet if Mr. Rudy shot that gun a bit more it would start to feel normal pretty quickly, but I wouldn't advise that...he might try to talk you out of it :P

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