mrdon Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Happy 4th to all.I have settled on a 45 230 Gr. TMJ load that cycles good and seems to shoot and eject OK. I ordered a Chrono and want see what its doing compared with a couple of different factory loads. I went with the Speer manual but started at 4.9 of BE instead of 5.2 it reccomended which listed as 779 FPS. My OAL of 1.260 is as reccomended.Any ideas what I should be looking for in FPS? I'm new at all this and am trying to get a handle on it so any schooling on this would be appreciated. Also at what distance should I be shooting to determine bullet accuracy? Shooting Xd 5" and Kimber 41/2" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 what I should be looking for in FPS? at what distance should I be shooting to determine bullet accuracy? MRDON, really no way to determine what velocity You will get with Your gun - you'll have to test it yourself - try shooting it about 12 feet away from the chrono. To determine accuracy, depends on what you're doing with the gun - I like to try about 20 yards - but some like 15, 25 or 50 yards. By adjusting OAL, powder and powder charges, and bullets, you should be able to eventually find a load that is a lot more accurate and easier to shoot than factory loads - save some money, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLSlim Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 What Hi-Power said, but this link could let you generate a rough idea of velocity: http://www.handloads.com/calc/reduced.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdon Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 (edited) what I should be looking for in FPS? at what distance should I be shooting to determine bullet accuracy? MRDON, really no way to determine what velocity You will get with Your gun - you'll have to test it yourself - try shooting it about 12 feet away from the chrono. To determine accuracy, depends on what you're doing with the gun - I like to try about 20 yards - but some like 15, 25 or 50 yards. By adjusting OAL, powder and powder charges, and bullets, you should be able to eventually find a load that is a lot more accurate and easier to shoot than factory loads - save some money, too. Took my new Pro Chrono to the range today in 101 Temp.to test the aforementioned load.I compared my load to factory Magtek and UMC in same bullet and weight. Shooting a 5 inch XD. 8 shot strings each. My load average was 746 fps, Magtek 831 and UMC 834. I also compared accuracy at 40' freehand and my loads seemed low and not as consistant as the other 2. Granted it wasn't from a rest but I tend to think the results were fairly reliable.Could I be messing something up or should I try another 100 Rds to get a better feel for how the're performing? Any thoughts on all this? Edited July 7, 2012 by mrdon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superdude Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Are you concerned about it shooting too low, or the accuracy issue? Accuracy is highly variable and could be a function of bullet, velocity, gunpowder, and charge weight = 4 variables. Also, some folks find that plated bullets don't shoot as straight as jacket bullets. But this varies too. Shooting from a rest is always recommended when testing for accuracy to help reduce the chance that the shooter is responsible for the difference in group size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdon Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 Are you concerned about it shooting too low, or the accuracy issue? Accuracy is highly variable and could be a function of bullet, velocity, gunpowder, and charge weight = 4 variables. Also, some folks find that plated bullets don't shoot as straight as jacket bullets. But this varies too. Shooting from a rest is always recommended when testing for accuracy to help reduce the chance that the shooter is responsible for the difference in group size. I bumped it .up to 5.2 grains which is the start load in the Speer manual tested 100 Rds. and accuracy improved and low shots went away.I suppose I'll try another batch to get a better idea and go from there.My guns did'nt seem to like the lighter loads.The quest has officially begun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcurrin Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Did you try another batch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdon Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 Did you try another batch? Yes I did another 50 Rds. I did chrono and accuracy comparison to Speer Lawman.The reloads shot slightly slower but not as consistantly accurate as the Lawman.Not sure what to do to improve consistancy and accuracy. Going to try another 100 rds. just to better understand whats going on. The Kimber seems to like them better than the XD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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