Dan Hefta Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 (edited) I didn't make major last weekend at a big local match, this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I shoot a Glock 24, BBI 180gr bullets, 4.4gr Universal Clays, Federal primers and mixed brass. I didn't have one round go over 900 fps??? I usually am at around 940-945 fps, this was a real buzz kill and confused me a lot. I managed to squeeze off a real tight win in Lim 10 but this has really sent chills down my spine about my reloading. I got home and my SDB was still right on the money at 4.4grs. Should I just blow this off and blame it on the crono? I wasn't the only guy that had slower bullet speeds. Edited June 15, 2011 by danscrapbags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 weather conditions can play a big role as well, depending on the powder. I went 167.x at Single Stack Nationals and 172.x at the Ohio state match, 1 week apart. Same load, same gun. SSN was cold and rainy, OH was warm and sunny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperman Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 A 169 PF is closer than I like. I shoot for a minimum of 172 over my chrono so I have plenty of wiggle room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hefta Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 A 169 PF is closer than I like. I shoot for a minimum of 172 over my chrono so I have plenty of wiggle room. I hear what you are saying, I just never had this happen before! I did bump my future loads up a tenth for insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gng4life Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Did you run them over your chrono again? What the temp/weather like there versus when you are at home testing your rounds? What chrono were they using and what do you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Dan, The published data from Hodgdon does 'indicate' you are light of fuel. Even using a quicker OEM G24 barrel you're significantly below margin. The data I have shows 5 grains as just getting close...YMMV Sorry to hear about yer bump to minor. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hefta Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 Did you run them over your chrono again? What the temp/weather like there versus when you are at home testing your rounds? What chrono were they using and what do you use? I shot the same load with the same crono (our section crono) the week before and was at 940+ fps and this last match I couldn't get over 900 fps with the same crono??? The weather was nice, but now that I think about it they may have had the crono setup too close... I was kind of frustrated about not making major so I didn't think about that until now. I am sure it was a fluke, I will check my loads out this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hefta Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 Dan, The published data from Hodgdon does 'indicate' you are light of fuel. Even using a quicker OEM G24 barrel you're significantly below margin. The data I have shows 5 grains as just getting close...YMMV Sorry to hear about yer bump to minor. Jim I know but it has allways worked out fine in the past, the six inch barrel is the key...IMHO... like I said, this is the first time I didn't make major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckfarris Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 That sucks man, I am sorry to hear that. I like to run Solo 1000 which I hear is inverse temperature sensitive. At my home chrono I was running 935-945fps out of my 5" 2011 with a 180gr BBI. I took that to Double Tap recently and averaged 928 giving me a PF of 166 something. Of course it was 102 degrees at double tap. Still a little closer that I would have liked. I am thinking about bumping it up a tenth but then again, I can't imagine shooting anyplace hoter that 102 degrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Have you ever shot 10-20 rounds at a time across the chrono ? What is your SD and extreme spread? When I tried it for bowling pin loads in 40 I was getting 80+ fps spreads, I just didnt think it burned consistent in 40 and quit using it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 I shot the same load with the same crono (our section crono) the week before and was at 940+ fps and this last match I couldn't get over 900 fps with the same crono??? The weather was nice, but now that I think about it they may have had the crono setup too close... I was kind of frustrated about not making major so I didn't think about that until now. I am sure it was a fluke, I will check my loads out this weekend. If the Chrono was too close it would have picked up muzzle blast and read too high. Voodoo sez I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) The powder you're using is too slow for this game. Consistent loads come from high pressure and thus reliable, repeatable combustion. You can crank the load up a bit if you want more cushion, but the solution is using a faster burning powder, which will achieve a higher pressure and thus more complete burn of the powder. I've seen single digit SDs from Solo 1000. BTW, you're not the first person I've ever heard going minor with Universal in .40. In fact, I know a person who went minor at two major matches with it. Edited June 18, 2011 by twodownzero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gng4life Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 I shot the same load with the same crono (our section crono) the week before and was at 940+ fps and this last match I couldn't get over 900 fps with the same crono??? The weather was nice, but now that I think about it they may have had the crono setup too close... I was kind of frustrated about not making major so I didn't think about that until now. I am sure it was a fluke, I will check my loads out this weekend. If the Chrono was too close it would have picked up muzzle blast and read too high. Voodoo sez I. I've also seen where the reading was very low but high is the norm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 I know a person who went minor at two major matches with it. So uh Maj. Minor went minor at the major, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Dan, The published data from Hodgdon does 'indicate' you are light of fuel. Even using a quicker OEM G24 barrel you're significantly below margin. The data I have shows 5 grains as just getting close...YMMV Sorry to hear about yer bump to minor. Jim I know but it has allways worked out fine in the past, the six inch barrel is the key...IMHO... like I said, this is the first time I didn't make major. i've used the same powder for years out of my 24 and found that 4.4 didn't give me enough margin of error for my liking. by taking it up to 4.6 i'd get 960 fps and a 173 pf. although it is really weird that at 4.4 you didn't even break 900 fps. with 4.4 i'd get 930 to 940 fps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Interesting, I worked up a load with Universal that went 171 pf at sea level here, then used it in the last L10 Nats and the load went 170.6 pf; right on the money. The SD's I was getting werent single digit but the velocities were pretty close to each other. OAL was 1.180, 5.1 grains charge. Universal burns clean but recoil is a little sharp. Bumping the load up .1 grains is a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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