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Switched powders


jfrey

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I have been loading Unique for quite a while and recently wanted to try something else that wouldn't fill the case quite so much and fly out as rounds circulated during the loading process on my SDB press. After doing some research on this forum and consulting loading manuals, I settled on WSF for my 9mm loads. I loaded 100 rounds with 5.0 grns under a 115 gr. Berry's rnds bullet with an OAL of 1.140 and ran them through my G19. I noticed two things right off. Recoil sensation was less and accuracy seemed to improve.

What say you experts here, did I make a good choice? Are my observations characteristic of WSF?

I'm going to function test this load in several pistols and see what happens. So far the G19 and I would expect my Hi-Power will be fine but I have a couple of heavy slide S&W's that may need to load bumped up slightly.

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If you want to use as little powder as possible, TiteGroup works quite well. Because so little goes into the case, the tiny bits of "spillage" you'll find on your press will be from the flecks of powder that stick to the funnel and the case mouth. You'll also find TiteGroup is infinitely cleaner burning than Unique, and cleaner than WSF. If you go with 147gn bullets you can go down to 3.1-3.2 gns powder and still make minor PF out of most Glocks.

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To me WSF is kinda slow for a "gamer". It's great for a "factory duplicate" type of powder. WST, TiteGroup, Solo1000, 231 are great powders that are a little faster and will feel like they recoil even less.

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Low bulk powders significantly increase the chance of an overcharged case, its easy to see why, just try this little experiment, intentionally throw 2 charges of a powder like Bullseye or a similar low bulk powder into an empty case, there's a 99% chance you won't notice any difference by looking at the charge, the only way to tell the difference is by weighing the powder. The next step is to put that powder back in the container to make sure you don't accidentally put a bullet in that case!

Most rifle charges will overflow the case if you tried to double charge them, but its easy to do with many pistol powders, that's one reason I've switched over to Trail Boss in my 38 special loads, it pretty much fills the case and makes it impossible to double charge that case. I'm not sure how it would work out in a cartridge like a 9mm, that's a completely different animal than a revolver cartridge.

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I haven't used Unique for quite a while. I used to use it in 38 spl and 357 mag loads, when I just started loading. In the 38 loads it didn't burn well, left a lot of unburnt powder, and had inconsistent velocities. In the 357 mag loads it left a lot of soot behind, but had good consistent velocities. I later found out that Unique has a lot of graphite in it as a filler My conclusion was that if somebody gave me some, I'd use it up. But I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it.

Winchester powders seem to burn a bit hot. Leaving my gun warm to the touch with very few rounds down range. But burned clean and consistent.

My favorite, for a long time, has been Solo 1000. Consistent velocities, low charge to velocity rate, cool burning, and very clean. But it has it's place too. I certainly wouldn't use it for magnum loads.

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I haven't used Unique for quite a while. I used to use it in 38 spl and 357 mag loads, when I just started loading. In the 38 loads it didn't burn well, left a lot of unburnt powder, and had inconsistent velocities.

That's usually a dead giveaway that you need to increase your crimp, giving the powder a little more time to burn and stabilize. I ran into this on Trail Boss, and increasing the crimp completely cured it.

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I'm a fan of Solo 1000 for 9mm minor also. The last batch I bought took more powder to make power factor. It works great with heavy bullets 147gn. It took 4.6gns to make minor with a 124gn bullet and fills the case. I don't think I could get enough powder in the case to make minor with a 115gn bullet.

Same problem jfrey was having with Unique.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is all good information. I've tried Bullseye and Unique and have found soot on one side of my brass more than another. I'm assuming the crimp or cup is off. I have used Vihtavuori powder 3n37 and like it's results but I never hear of anyone else using it.

I'll keep my eyes open for TiteGroup or WSF and report back my results.

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TRY IMR SR7625.

My load is 4.6 grains behind a Montana Gold 124gr CMJ OAL 1.150 out of a XDM 4.5 inch 9mm. Power factor is 131.4 on a hot day. It meters consistently. It fills the case well (good for safety reasons). It is readily available. It is my back up to N320. I like the soft recoil. I have a few friends that use WST. I haven't tried it yet and there is very little WST 9mm Load data out there...that I could find. Anyway, it seems a little smokey when I watch them shoot. :closedeyes:

Edited by Red Ryder
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TRY IMR SR7625.

My load is 4.6 grains behind a Montana Gold 124gr CMJ OAL 1.150 out of a XDM 4.5 inch 9mm. Power factor is 131.4 on a hot day. It meters consistently. It fills the case well (good for safety reasons). It is readily available. It is my back up to N320. I like the soft recoil. I have a few friends that use WST. I haven't tried it yet and there is very little WST 9mm Load data out there...that I could find. Anyway, it seems a little smokey when I watch them shoot. :closedeyes:

I tried the RedRyder's load and it is a nice shooting load. Now Ryder, let me tell you about WST, it is not for jacketed 9 mm. To get 132-134 pf you need to load 4.7gr behind a 124gr MTG, the ES and SD are ugly and the gun will be snappy, primers will show slight pressure signs, bad as I hate to admit it TG is a better choice in 124gr jacketed, but N320 rules and IMR7625 is better than TG all round. For Moly, and Bayou bullets you can't beat WST, except maybe with N320, my current Open Gun minor 9 mm load is 4.0gr of WST behind a 135gr Bayou, it is for steel so no crono has been done it feels good and slams falling steel to the ground, big Poppers and 45 yards go down like a rock. When you can't find WST load data use 231 Loaddata just drop .1gr and you will be real close.

Why IMR7625 works, it is a bit faster than WSF but a bit slower than the fast crowd, I call it an inbetween powder but it works well in 9 mm minor. It sucks in 9 major. I think most of what we have taken as truth about uncompensated competition pistol loading has filtered down from 45 and 40, limited shooters. 9 mm is a different animal I don't think that we can apply all of the same "findings" across the board. DIfferences in platform (tupperware versus heavy steel guns) and preference, the desk jockey vs the diesel mechanic account for a wide variety of best loads. Trick is to find what works for you and then shoot the snot out of it.

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try hodgdon clays. 2.6 grs w/ a 125 cast gives around 860'ish out of my 9mm limited. fills the case 'bout 1/3 and you can see it in the case on my rl550. tried the titegroup thing but was uncomfortable w/ the miniscule charge and burned way too hot and smoked more w/ bayou bullet greens. solo 1000 is a good powder but comes 12 ozs as opposed to a full pound w/ clays = more bang 4 $. very clean also. 150 rounds leaves a little smudge around muzzle and bore looks as tho it has not been fired. great 12 ga powder as well for target loads. very pleased, vic

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This is all good information. I've tried Bullseye and Unique and have found soot on one side of my brass more than another. I'm assuming the crimp or cup is off. I have used Vihtavuori powder 3n37 and like it's results but I never hear of anyone else using it.

I'll keep my eyes open for TiteGroup or WSF and report back my results.

I use Bullseye in my loads, 4.0gr with 124gr Xtreme bullet. I get the same one sided soot on my cases also. They clean up fine but it does look a little odd. Anyone have any ideas?

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The 4.7 load for WSF is interesting. My #13 Speer book shows 5.0 for a start and 5.6 max. That is for 115 gr. bullets. I run the 115 gr Berry's at 5.0 grns. and it shoots very well for me. What bullet weight are you looking at?

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