Bullet hardness needed for 10mm?

[Warhammer4k]

What bullet hardness is required to prevent or at least minimize leading in 10mm?

I seem to have trouble finding a cast lead bullet that is hard enough. Yesterday I tested some loads with Missouri Bullet Co's 180 gr. offering (item IDP #5), in the following combinations:

Mixed 10mm brass, Winchester large pistol primer, COAL 1.250"-1.260"

Alliant Bullseye: 6.0 gr., 6.2 gr., 6.4 gr.

I only fired 30 rounds (10 of each level of powder charge), but the Lone Wolf barrel in my Glock 20 is now heavily leaded. Not quite "looks like a smoothbore," but there is obvious buildup in all grooves, almost the entire length of the barrel. I saw much the same thing in my S&W 610 revolver. While it's easy to clean up lead afterwards, the lead accumulated so quickly that I probably would have seen keyholing and reduced accuracy by the end of a typical match.

These bullets are stated to have a hardness rating of 18 BHN. Muzzle velocities averaged from 1125 ft/s (6.0 gr. Bullseye) to 1174 ft/s (6.4 gr. Bullseye) from the Glock 20. No flattened primers or other signs of excessive pressure.

Do I need harder bullets? A different powder? It is easy to imagine how excessive velocity could cause bore leading, but the effect of powder choice is less clear.

I also considered Oregon Trail's Lasercast bullets, which are stated to have a rating of 24 BHN. They are more expensive accordingly, but maybe the extra money is necessary for 10mm loads.

[MarkCO]

Oregon Trail bullets are what I use for lead in my 10mms. I do shoot a lot more jacketed than lead.

Powder burn temp is an issue to some degree, but skidding is what is causing the heavy leading. 18 BHN is just not hard enough for 10mm. I'd try to OT before you change powders. I like 800X and Power Pistol for the 10mm.

[Warhammer4k]

I suppose I'll use the Missouri bullets for .40 S&W. Perhaps they are hard enough for the lower velocities (900-1000 ft/s).

[leas327]

Bullet hardness isn't a cure all with lead. You should slug the bore and measure the largest diameter of the slug. Then use a lead bullet .001 larger than that diameter. I am no expert on 40/10mm but my Glock slugged .4015 and my friends Para slugged .401. Thats no good if the bullets are sized .401. The bullets won't seal the bore and the gasses will leak past the bullet and cause leading. You can find lead sized at .402 but thet are usually sold in small quantities and are not any cheaper than jacketed.

I am not a fan of bullseye for heavy loads with lead in .40. Too much pressure, too fast of powder. It works great in a slow caliber like .45 that keeps the pressure below 20k. I am a fan of Power Pistol for getting velocity out of a short caliber. I also use a lot of unique in my lead bullet loads. I know neither one is what all the cool kids use and a lot of people run down unique but it works and you can keep the loads to what is listed in a loading manual.

How many rounds have been down the pipe of the lone wolf barrel? I ask because with my guns I like to shoot about 500 jacketed down the bores of my guns before I try any lead. I am a believer in that the edge of the rifling has a small edge or bur that is left when it is cut that needs smoothed out with some jacketed. Lead no matter how hard won't be hard enough to smooth this edge.

[leas327]

If I remember right, when my friend got the para he got in a panic to break it in and shot 1500 rounds out of it in two days to see if it would run for a local match. After we shot the match he was talking about how his .40 seemed a lot more snappy and had a lot more recoil than his .45. I asked if he chrono'd any ammo and he said no. So loaded up and checked some. His load was 180gr missouri and power pistol. They chrono'd right around 1100 fps. He had shot around 1000 of those loads in two days and had a dirty gun but not any signifigant lead build up.

I think you have a bigger issue than the hardness of the bullet.

[noylj]

Almost any cast bullet company will be happy to make 0.402" cast bullets for you. They will also be happy to sell you as-cast (unsized and unlubed) bullets at a discount and you can size and lube or just tumble-lube them yourself.

I stopped sizing my cast bullets back around 1985 or so.

[Big Bore]

Bullseye is probably no the best choice for lead. I moved away from lead in my 10mm and either shoot jacketed or copper plated due to the leading.

[noylj]

I cannot imagine NOT shooting lead in the 10mm. A 155-175gn L-SWC, sized at least 0.001" over groove diameter is great.

I get a group of less than 1" at 25 yards in my Colt Gold Cup Delta Elite with a commercial 170gn L-SWC and 8.6gn Silhouette.

Leading was never a problem.

Leading is NOT a concern unless the accuracy drops. Many barrels lead to a point and no further.

As I said before, slug your barrel and get a slightly larger bullet. You don't need a hard alloy, but the leading over the full length of your barrel does indicate that the alloy is too soft, the bullet too small or the velocity is too high for that bullet and lube combination.

You probably won't like this, but take the bullets and lightly tumble lube them in Lee Liquid Alox or White Label Lube Xlox or Rooster Jacket wax emulsion. When I have a commercial cast bullet that gives me a problem, I dump about 500 bullets in a casserole pan, lay all the bullets on their side, squite a little warm LLA on the bullets, and shuffle and roll the bullets around until they are all shiny/wet looking. The bullets should not be amber/brown (too much LLA). Pour out the bullets onto wax paper or aluminum foil and let dry for 12-24 hours. If the bullets are tacky, don't worry about it. This has worked even with bullet that were about 0.001" smaller than ideal.

[Warhammer4k]

So I loaded up some .40 S&W rounds with the discussed Missouri bullets. Shot 45 of them yesterday in a S&W M&P. Velocity at ~10 ft (standard Chrony distance) was about 1020 ft/s. That's a little on the "hot" side, and although the primers were nice and rounded, I believe I'll dial the powder back for the next batch.

More importantly, leading was not too bad. Light to moderate at worst, and mostly in the first third of the barrel. I checked leading after firing 10 rounds for chronographing, then shot the next 30 or so into a fresh paper target. No keyholes at ~10 yards, so the leading apparently wasn't enough to affect accuracy, at least not at that point.

Today, I slugged a couple of bores. Slugging of the Lone Wolf 10mm barrel went smoothly - suspiciously so! - but I have no useful data yet. I believe my dial caliper is worn out, and is no longer giving consistently accurate answers. Will have to get a new set of calipers before I can measure anything & draw conclusions.

Lone Wolf claims "Tighter than factory spec dimensions" for their replacement Glock barrels. We'll see whether that applies to bore diameter.

update:

Got a new dial caliper. Brand is Lyman but it is almost identical to the dial caliper I replaced. Except of course that the new one works.

They are $26 Chinamart calipers, so I checked them against both a dial caliper of a different brand, and an old US-made micrometer. Looks like the Lone Wolf barrel has a minimum groove diameter of 0.401". I guess that explains the severe leading.

The Missouri bullets aren't quite spot-on either. The 4th decimal place is mostly guesswork, but it looks like they're somewhere between 0.401" and 0.402" diameter.

It's not worth the hassle to either try to locate 0.402" bullets, or wax the existing stock. I will probably bite the bullet (so to speak) and pay up for FMJ bullets for 10mm (e.g. Montana Gold). They only cost a fraction of a penny more per bullet than Lasercast, and eliminate the possibility of leading.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Warhammer4k

[freakshow10mm]

You need to use WSF in 10mm lead. Oregon Trail bullets are stupid hard and there is not one single application that needs a cast bullet over 18BHN and even that's a stretch.

Put 6.0-6.5grgr WSF behind anything 170-180gr in the 10mm set to 1.250" with a standard primer and call it a day.

[Sal1950]

I think the guys are on to something when they recommend a different powder, Bullseye is just to fast and hot a burning powder for 10mm & lead.

I load my 10mm with the Missouri IDP #2 170g SWC over 6.2-6.4g of Hodgdon Universal and Federal Mag primers to 1.250 OAL. This load shows very little to no leading in my Witness Match.

On the other hand you can put the issue totally aside and use a FMJ bullet. Precision delta can get you real (not plated) 180g FMJs for $115 a thousand SHIPPED, 2K minimum total per order but may be combined with other caliper.

http://www.precisiondelta.com/product.php?indx=5

Sal

[Warhammer4k]

Loaded up some Missouri bullets with Blue Dot and got to the range yesterday.

The good news: Charges from 9.2 to 10.2 grains appear to be safe. Even at the top end, the primers remained nice and round-looking. No signs of excessive pressure. Again, Blue Dot is a nice 10mm powder.

The bad news: I still got leading down the whole length of the barrel. However...I'm not sure, but I think perhaps the amount of lead deposited was less than with Bullseye. Will have to shoot some more of both (Bullseye and Blue Dot) loads and photograph the bore to be sure.

More bad news: It was too late in the day, so my Chrony only worked for the first few shots. The 9.2 gr. Blue Dot loads were producing at least 1100 ft/s, so I'm sure the hotter loads (9.6 and 10.2 gr.) were doing well also. But I'm pretty sure the readings I got at that point (>1500 ft/s!) were erroneous.

Still more bad news: None of the Missouri Bullets loads w/Blue Dot cycled my Glock 20 consistently. Lots of failures to feed. It almost looked like the slide was either not opening all the way, or by the same token closing on the rounds before they could feed up out of the magazine.

Possible complicating factor: I was using a 22 lb. recoil spring. Going to try it again with the Blue Dot loads and the original (17#) recoil spring.

Note that through all of this testing, I use a Lone Wolf replacement barrel. I clean it between sessions with a Tetra lead remover cloth, which works remarkably well in getting the lead out. A few strokes with that and the bore is nearly pristine again.

[DWFAN]

Personally, I have never been able to get Missouri bullets to not lead. 9mm, 45, 38. More crimp, less crimp, slower velocity, faster velocity, slow powder, fast powder.. They all leaded. More severely so with a Lee Factory Crimp die.

Went to BBI bullets and montana gold and never looked back to straight lead..

[twodownzero]

Changing to a higher velocity load is just going to make the problem worse.

The solution is to switch to moly coated bullets. They will not lead your bore at higher velocity and they're almost as cheap as lead.

If you're going to shoot lead, you're going to have to back the load off quite a bit to get velocity below 1000 fps or so.

[freakshow10mm]

Loaded up some Missouri bullets with Blue Dot and got to the range yesterday.

The good news: Charges from 9.2 to 10.2 grains appear to be safe. Even at the top end, the primers remained nice and round-looking. No signs of excessive pressure. Again, Blue Dot is a nice 10mm powder.

The bad news: I still got leading down the whole length of the barrel. However...I'm not sure, but I think perhaps the amount of lead deposited was less than with Bullseye. Will have to shoot some more of both (Bullseye and Blue Dot) loads and photograph the bore to be sure.

More bad news: It was too late in the day, so my Chrony only worked for the first few shots. The 9.2 gr. Blue Dot loads were producing at least 1100 ft/s, so I'm sure the hotter loads (9.6 and 10.2 gr.) were doing well also. But I'm pretty sure the readings I got at that point (>1500 ft/s!) were erroneous.

Still more bad news: None of the Missouri Bullets loads w/Blue Dot cycled my Glock 20 consistently. Lots of failures to feed. It almost looked like the slide was either not opening all the way, or by the same token closing on the rounds before they could feed up out of the magazine.

Possible complicating factor: I was using a 22 lb. recoil spring. Going to try it again with the Blue Dot loads and the original (17#) recoil spring.

Note that through all of this testing, I use a Lone Wolf replacement barrel. I clean it between sessions with a Tetra lead remover cloth, which works remarkably well in getting the lead out. A few strokes with that and the bore is nearly pristine again.

Seriously, get rid of Blue Dot for lead. I can't say it more clearly. Use WSF.

[Warhammer4k]

Seriously, get rid of Blue Dot for lead. I can't say it more clearly. Use WSF.

Seriously, you haven't presented any reason that powder selection has anything to do with anything. Nor should it, the powder has no way of "knowing" what kind of bullet it's propelling.

I'm not going to "get rid of" two powders that have always worked well for me - including with cast lead, just not these particular bullets.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Warhammer4k

[freakshow10mm]

Seriously, get rid of Blue Dot for lead. I can't say it more clearly. Use WSF.

Seriously, you haven't presented any reason that powder selection has anything to do with anything. Nor should it, the powder has no way of "knowing" what kind of bullet it's propelling.

I'm not going to "get rid of" two powders that have always worked well for me - including with cast lead, just not these particular bullets.

Powder selection has a lot to do with lead bullets. Lasc.us is a good resource and explains it better than a single forum post would.

WSF burns at a cooler temperature than Blue Dot. This doesn't heat up the base of the bullet as much, eliminating leading.

WSF burns more consistently than Blue Dot. This gives a more complete burn of powder so the energy is transferred to bullet propulsion longer in the barrel than powder burning.

WSF is more economical to achieve the same pressure.

WSF meters much better than Blue Dot resulting in more consistent ammunition.

WSF has a burn rate that is a better balance for lead bullets. Too fast or too slow will have negative effects on leading. HP38/W231 to Silhouette/WAP is the ideal burn rate range for pistol cartridges using lead bullets. Faster or slower than that and you will have issues such as excessive smoke and leading.

WSF is better for this application than Blue Dot and Bullseye.

It is my opinion based on years of experience loading the 10mm from 100-245gr jacketed and cast bullets both personally and professionally that Blue Dot should remain for jacketed bullet high velocity in the 10mm only. Furthermore, Bullseye has no practical application in the 10mm, lead, jacketed, or otherwise. I'm not telling you to get rid of any powders, I'm telling you the way to fix this problem you are having is to NOT use what powders you are using and use WSF.

[noylj]

People have put thermo-paint on the base of bullets and NOT seen any sign of high temp. The Time of exposure compared to the heat content of lead just doesn't allow the base to heat up.

However, high temps will make any gas cutting much worse.

You might need 0.402" bullets. Even if your groove diameter is 0.400", you still may need a larger bullet. Also, the velocity may be more than the lube can handle. I have found that if I have leading with commercial bullets, a quick tumble lube in LLA or White Label Lube's Xlox takes care of it.

RE: bullets

See attached. Prices may be a bit dated, but they should still be close.

I have tried the 200gn L-SWCs from mastercastbullets.com and they are excellent. The 14BHN bulelts are perfect for low velocity target rounds and the 20BHN are great for action pistol.

I have been using Precision's moly-koted 200gn swaged L-SWC, but they are priced too high for me now. BBI is at least holding the price down.

As much as I like the moly-koted bullets (and MasterBlaster has still not been beat), I would much rather spend less than $80, if I can.

Well, I tried to attach my list.

9mm/.38 Super

Penn Bullets

9mm 115 Grain H&G 68 Semi Wad Cutter Bevel Base

$70.00/1000

Excellent bullet, but pricey

9mm 120 Grain Truncated Cone Bevel Base

$65.00/1000

Boothill Bullets

9mm 122gn L-TC

$57.00/1000

9mm 125gn L-FP

$57.00/1000

TwoAlphaBullets.com

9 mm 122GR. T.C

$58/1000

Black Bullets International

9mm 130gn TC 0.3555 or 0.3585

$70/1000, $190/3000

Precision Bullets

9mm 125gn FP

$70/1000

MasterCast Bullets (Carbondale, Il)

9MM 125gn TCN 0.3565

$48.21/1000

Bullet Barn

38 Super SWC FB 140gn 0.358

$51/500 ($99/1000)

Meister Bullets

09mm 122GR .357-SIG

$93.71/1000 (shipping included)

09mm 150GR SWC .356 SPECIAL ORDER - 1000 count

$91.63/1000 (shipping included)

BulletWorks

.38 130gn SWC

$64.00/1000

Dardas Bullets

9mm 122gn CFPBB

$52.75/1000

Oregon Trail Bullets

.38 140gn CFP

$103.50/1000

SNS Cast Bullets

.38 100 Gr RNFP

$57.50/1000

.38 105 Gr FP

$55.50/1000

9MM 125 GR RN

$59.00/1000

Magnus Bullets

9mm-122GR-FPBB-NO.401 hard cast

$33.17/500 $66/1000?

38/357-130-SWC-NO.509 hard cast

$35.83/500 $72/1000?

Widener’s

HCB9MM122 9MM 122GR TC SEMI WADCUTTER #377

$46.00 / 1000

Berry’s Bullets (plated)

9mm 124gr FP

$86.45/1000

9mm 124gr HP

$87.65/1000

Montana Gold

9mm 124gn JHP

$303/3750 ($80.80/1000)

Excellent price. Bullet of choice

Zero Bullets (Roze Distribution)

9MM (.355) Diameter) - 115 GR FMJ

$79.67/1000 (available on-line)

9MM (.355) Diameter) - 115 GR JHP

$82.23/1000

$102/1000 @ czcustom.com

9MM (.355) Diameter) - 125 GR FPFMJ

$80.48/1000 (available on-line)

38 Super (.356 Diameter) - 121 GR JHP

$83.92/1000 (available on-line)

$54/500, $100/100, $282/3000 ($94/1000) (Powder Valley)

38 Super (.356 Diameter) - 125 GR JHP

$83.92/1000

$59/500, $110/1000, $309/3000 ($103/1000)

Excellent choice for 9mm and .38 Super

Shop.topgunss.com

Montana Gold

9MM 115gr FMJ

$90.00/1000

9MM 115GR JHP

$93.00/1000

9MM 124GR FMJ

$95.00/1000l

9MM 124GR JHP

$96.50/1000

Bulk purchase from MG is much better deal

Precision Delta

9mm 124gn JHP – enclosed base

$84/1000

Midway USA

Remington Bullets 9mm (355 Diameter) 115 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point

$114.99/1000, $201.99/2000

Remington Golden Saber Bullets 38 Special (357 Diameter) 125 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point

$138.99/1000, $242.99/2000

Remington Bullets 9mm (355 Diameter) 124 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point

$117.99/1000, $207.99/2000

Widener’s

REMINGTON 38 CAL 130GR FMJ BULLETS (.357 DIA. )

No picture

Price:

1 to 4 - $13.25

5 to 9 - $12.90

10 to 19 - $12.70

20 and up - $12.30

Rocky Mountain Reloading (RMR)

9mm 124gn JHP

$111/1000, $227/2000

.38/.357 125gn JHP

$110/1000, $216/2000

.40 S&W/10mm

Penn Bullets

.40 Caliber / 10mm 155 Grain H&G 68 Semi Wad Cutter Bevel Base

$72/1000

.40 Caliber / 10mm 165 Grain Truncated Cone Bevel Base

$76/1000

Boothill Bullets

.40 155gn L-SWC

$68.00/1000

TwoAlphaBullets.com

.40/10mm 155 GR. S.W.C.

$65/1000

.40/10mm 175 GR. S.W.C.

$74/1000

Missouri Bullets

IDP #9

#401155M

.401 Diameter

155 Grain SWC

Brinell 18

$35.00/500 $70/1000?

IDP #2

#401170M

.401 Diameter

170 Grain SWC

Brinell 18

$33/500 $66/1000?

Precision Bullets

.40 155gn RNF

$83/1000

.40 170gn RNF

$92/1000

.40 185gn RNF

$98/1000

MasterCast (Enon Valley,PA)

.40 180gn FP

$70.29/1000

MasterCast Bullets (Carbondale, Il)

.40 155gn SWC 0.401

BHN20

$59.78/1000

.40 180gn TC

BHN20

$69.42/1000

Bullet Barn

10 mm 175gn SWC BB 0.401

$60/500 ($117/1000)

Meister Bullets

10/40 155GR SWC .401

Product Code: MB-10-155SWC

$90.05/1000 (shipping included)

10/40 175GR SWC .401

Product Code: MB-10-175SWC

$99.97/1000 (shipping included)

BulletWorks

.40 155gn SWC

$68.00/1000

.40 175gn SWC

$70.00/1000

Dardas Bullets

10mm 155gn SWCBB

$66/1000

10mm 180gn CFPBB

$76/1000

Oregon Trails Bullets

40 Cal./10mm 170g SWC .401

$111.50/1000

40 Cal./10mm 180g TC .401

$114/1000

SNS Cast Bullets

40 SW 140 Gr FP

$62.50/1000

40 SW 175 Gr SWC

$74.00/1000

Magnus Bullets

.40 CAL 175-SWC BB-NO.105 hard cast

$47.79/500 $96/1000?

Widener’s

HCB40C155 40CAL 155GR SEMI WADCUTTER #040 CAST BULLET

$64.00 / 1000

HCB40C170 40 CAL 170GR TRUN. SEMI WADCUTTER # 043 CAST BULLET

$61.00 PER 1000

Montana Gold

.40 155gn JHP

$137/1000, $315/3000

.40 165gn JHP

$138/1000, $311/2700 ($115.19/1000)

40 180gn JHP

$141/1000, $308/2250 ($136.89/1000)

Zero Bullets (Roze Distribution)

40 S&W (.400 Diameter) - 165 GR JHP

$119.44/1000

$118/1000 @ czcustom.com

40 S&W (.400 Diameter) - 165 GR TCFM

$116.06/1000

$115/1000 @ czcustom.com

40 S&W (.400 Diameter) - 180 GR JHP

$119.44/1000

$123/1000 @ czcustom

40 S&W (.400 Diameter) - 180 GR TCFM

$116.06/1000 (available on-line)

Shop.topgunss.com

Montana Gold

40/10MM 155GR. FMJ-Shipping included

$118.00/1000

40/10MM 180GR JHP-Shipping included

$138.00/1000

40/10MM FMJ 180GR-Shipping included

$134.00/1000

Precision Delta

40 S&W 165gr FMJ - FN - Copper Jacket

$108/1000

40 S&W 180gr FMJ - FNose - Copper Jacket

$114/1000

.45

Penn Bullets

.45 Caliber 200 Grain H&G 68 Semi-Wadcutter

(Match Grade) $80/1000--hard

(Target Grade) $75/1000--soft

Boothill Bullets

.45 200gn L-SWC

$81.00/1000

Missouri Bullets

Bullseye #1

#452200S

.452 Diameter

200 Grain SWC

Brinell 12

$36.00/500, $72.00/1000?

IDP #1

#452200M

.452 Diameter

200 Grain SWC

Brinell 18

$36.00/500, $72.00/1000

Precision Bullets

.45 200gn SWC

$105/1000

Master Cast (Enon Valley,PA)

.45 200gn SWC

$77.70/1000

MasterCast Bullets (Carbondale, Il)

.45 200gn SWC 0.452

BHN14

$55.71/1000

.45 200gn SWC (H&G 68) 0.452

BHN20

$77.14/1000

Excellent accuracy in my guns

Bullet Barn

.45 200gn SWC BB 0.452

$66/500 ($129/1000)

Meister Bullets

45 cal. 200GR .452 SWC

Product Code: MB-45-200SWC

.45 SWC 200 GR .452 DIAM.

$112.69/1000 (shipping included

BulletWorks

.45 200gn SWC

$74.00/1000

Black Bullets International

.45 200gn SWC 0.4515

$102/1000, $195/2000

Dardas Bullets

.45 200gn SWCBB

$84/1000

Oregon Trail Bullets

45 Cal. 200g SWC .452

$117.50/1000

SNS Cast Bullets

45 ACP 200 Gr SWC

$79.00/1000

Shop.topgunss.com

Lead Bullets 45ACP 200GR SWC-Shipping included

$52.00/500 $104.00/1000?

Magnus Bullets

45ACP-185-SWCHP-SWAGED LEAD-N0 814-low stock swaged

$51.36/500 $102/1000?

ACP-200-SWC SWAGED LEAD-NO 812-low stock swaged

$53.07/500 $106/1000?

45 Caliber-185 gr-SWCBB-NO. 808

$49.10/500 $98/1000?

.45-200 gr-SWC-NO. 802

$53.07/500 $106/1000?

Precision Delta

45 Auto 185gn L-HP SWC – Swaged – Match Lube

$101/1000

45 Auto 200gn L-SWC – swaged

$101/1000

Widener’s

HCB45C200 45 CAL 200GR SEMI WADCUTTER CAST BULLET #068

$85.00 PER 1000, $190.00/2000 PREPAID

Zero Bullets

Czcustom.com

45 185gn JHP

$131/1000

Montana Gold

.45 200gn JFP

$149/1000, $306/2300 ($133.04/1000)

Zero Bullets (Roze Distribution)

45 Acp (.451 Diameter) - 185 GR JHP

$129.95/1000

Shop.topgunss.com

Montana Gold

45ACP 185 JHP-Shipping included

$146.50/1000

200GR JFP Bullets-Shipping included

$147.50/1000

Edited August 4, 2011 by noylj

[Warhammer4k]

Happy news: The leading isn't as bad as I feared, and I found another load that makes my Glock 20 run like the well-oiled machine that it is.

I made 150 rounds with the 180 gr. Missouri bullets, 6.3-6.4 gr. Bullseye (the powder measure does throw + or - 0.1, near as I can tell), and a combination of Winchester Large Pistol and Federal Magnum Large Pistol (#155) primers. COAL was, as usual, 1.250"-1.260" with typical rounds at 1.253" (COAL tolerance in progressive reloading probably deserves its own thread somewhere!).

I lost count because I was having so much fun, but I think I fired at least half of them - figure 5 magazines full. Not a single malfunction. Used the original recoil spring, as it was evident from earlier testing that the 22 lb. aftermarket spring was too much.

I'm flattered by the obvious amount of research & effort you guys have put into this thread. Thanks especially for the explanation of the reasoning behind WSF being better for lead than some powders. As well as Blue Dot being better for FMJ. I find that Blue Dot is pretty darn good for plated bullets as well, although my Glock 20 doesn't like any loads with Blue Dot (so far).

More later, going to shoot some sporting clays now.

Edited August 11, 2011 by Warhammer4k

[rupie]

That is a nice list of bullets