185 grain lead, which powder charge

[colbyjack]

Im going to be loading some lead bullets in my 5 inch sti bull barell. My sierra manual has load data for 180 and 190 grain bullets. My lead bullets softer lead so there heavier, weighs 185 grain.

Im trying to figure out which data to use. I want a really light load for steel challenge. And im going to work up a load for major.

I want to use clays on this. I got a good deal on 4 pounds. Im going to seat to 1.180"-1.195" and use like a .420" crimp.

My friend said try 3.9 of clays for minor with a 180gr bullet. Can i go lighter? Im running a 12.5 pound recoil spring in my 5 inch sti.

My manual says 4.6 of clays is the accuracy load at 1.125" . But ill he loading long. But going by the 190gr data the 4.6 is prettu much max. So what should i use or go by for a 185 gr lead bullet. I want to make some up and chronno this Saturday. Whats your clays and 180/185 load data with clays.

May even buy a can of wst to try next week whe i get paid.

[leas327]

Is the 190 data for jacketed or lead? Lead 185gr will be faster than jacketed 185 with the same charge. If the max load for 190 data is 4.6 I would start at 3.6 and make 20-30 in .2gr increments up to 4.6 gr. I would find which one is most accurate. I might run some through my chrono. If it is stuff for steel challenge then PF doesn't matter. If it looks good on paper and feels good/tracks the way you want I would say you have a winner.

[Mark R]

I use 4.0 grain of Clays with a moly 185 bullet at 1.180 OAL and I get 170 PF. I run a 12# spring in a Para P-16 with this load. SD=5.

I found no difference between lead or moly velocities...well, enough to change load.

DO NOT LOAD CLAYS TO SHORT OAL (as in Glock 1.120-1.125 length)...you will get case head separation.

If you want a good minor load...try 2.8-3.0 grains Clays with 185. Almost like cheating.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Mark R

[colbyjack]

Just looked up the data in my sierra manual heres the data.

180 jhp start 3.4 (800fps) max 5.0 (1000 fps) 4.6 being accuracy load

190 fp jacketed 3.2 (750fps) start, and max 4.7 (950fps)

And my bullets weigh 185gr . Above data was clays out of the fifth addition.

So in general if my bullets weigh in the middle. Do i use the heavy or light data? Or stay middle of the road?

Edited August 29, 2012 by colbyjack

[Mark R]

Start low and work up using a chronograph...watch for signs of pressure as .40 is unforgiving...it will max out fast, especially in short OAL.

[colbyjack]

Ok. But im going to load everything long for my sti 5 inch. Ramped bull barell. Some one told me and not sure if correct. But 140 load to 1.140 170load to 1.170, 180 1.180 and 200 to 1.120" for those sti guns. Does that sound right or just load all long at 1.180"-1.120"?

[Mark R]

Glocks will not take a longer OAL than 1.120-1.125 due to magazine limitations...whereas the S*I/Paras will take a longer OAL. The 140 to 1.140, 170 to 1.170, etc sounds like BS. Use no less than 1.180-1.200 OAL if they will stack in your magazine from front to back, but no shorter using Clays.

Edited to add:

I think you meant to say 1.180 to 1.200 instead of 1.180 to 1.120...big difference in the last two numbers.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Mark R

[colbyjack]

Thank you, yeah i had a brain fart. And everytime i type a number in on this phone it adds things and letters. I end up typing numbers like 3a times (see just did it lol) thank you for the correction. Im appreciate you guys giving me tips and help on this load. Im going to work some loads up tonight. May not get to shoot till the weekend though. Im going to try the real light load maybe i can get the kid or wife shooting too. Just dont want to light, because im not sure what i can do with that 12.5 recoil spring.

Also besides clays i may buy a can of wst alot of good info on here on the search feature. The tightgroup with my lead was like blackpowder smoke. So i think clays and wst are worth a try. Cant find solo but i want to try that and 231.

What do yoy guys think of those powders far as cleaner and less smoke than tightgroup. Some one told me clays is the cleanest but ive never shot it so i dont know. And the same guy told me wst is as clean as vita n320 with a tad more felt recoil. He said for a c class shooter like mr i should buy the wst and not waste money on the n320..... what do you guys think?

[Steve RA]

Try 6 grs of 4756, works quite well in a Glock with a KKM barrel.

[Croomrider]

For a good minor Clays load, use 3.0-3.2 grains behind your 185gr lead bullets. That should be in the 130-140 PF range, and be real pleasant to shoot. I don't use Clays for major, so can't give a recommendation there. However, I find N-320 to be a good bit cleaner than WST for my major loads. Enough so that I don't mind spending the extra $7/1000 to NOT have to clean my gun as often!

Mike