.40 MG 180 JHP N320 at 5.4g, 1.2 OAL not making major

[ktm300]

The gun is an SV 5"

using Federal SR primers. Temp was in the mid 50's and elevation was 1200ft.

I had been loading TG for my .40 major load. 4.8g at 1.2 made 168pf

Wanted to try N320 so I did some searching and it seems like 5.2g at 1.18 to 1.2 was the common load. At this point I am up to 5.45 (avg over 10) and my average is about 913fps so I am not making major. My guess is I am going to have to get to 5.6+- to get me back to feeling comfortable that I am going to make major.

Has anyone else needed to go that high to make major with N320 and a MG 180g JHP?

The good stuff is the gun just won't get dirty, stays a lot cooler, shoots great groups, feels soft, and the lack of flip is very nice. Shooting minor at the Florida Open would suck.

[tohm]

I have an STI Edge and here are some numbers i cam up with using the VV N320 and the MG 180 JHP, CED Chronograph

Temp = 90 deg, Elevation ~ 518'

this is a 15 round string average

Random Brass, Magtech 7 1/2, OAL (1.174 to 1.179), 5.2gr N-320, MG 180 JHP

Hi = 1029, Lo = 983.4, Avg = 1009.4, SD = 13.5, 95% were plus or minus 7.7 fps

1 week latter,

95 deg

Hi = 1019, Lo = 982.8, Avg = 1003.9, SD = 11.7, 95 % = plus or minus 7.4

Tom

[RH45]

I don't know if I would go any higher with the VV load. I don't remember anyone going that high to make major, in .40.

Is there any chance you can lay your hands on some Zero, 180 grain jhps? They chrono faster out of every gun I've tried, compared to MGs.

[dcalvert]

I have a SV barrel in my SVI single Stack. This is the only one of my 4 SV- .40s that need 5.3 to 5.4 to make a solid major at 172.This is also the barrel

has the least rounds down the barrel only 3000. My primers are showing no signs of pressure.

It seems each barrel has its own speed. I have loaded and shot over 100 pounds of 320 in .40 mostly out here in AZ temps from 40 to 110 never had problems

with pressure. oal around 1.215. This is the reason you need to chrono often.

dcalvert

[honda01]

I use that load, and make major at 1.18 in both my single stack (Kart Barrel) and my STI Edge.

[blue edge]

I don't know if I would go any higher with the VV load. I don't remember anyone going that high to make major, in .40.

Is there any chance you can lay your hands on some Zero, 180 grain jhps? They chrono faster out of every gun I've tried, compared to MGs.

+1 Zeros seem to need .2 to .3 less powder

Edited January 20, 2013 by blue edge

[ktm300]

I own a lot of MG's so I am going to have to make it work. I had no trouble making PF with Tightgroup so if anything I will change powder.

I am going to do three things.

1. Shorten the load a little and shoot them back to back with the longer ones and see if there is a speed diference. If so I may try to solve the issue with length rather than powder. All the while checking for signs of too much pressure.

2. Try a different chrono back to back with mine to see if there is a significant speed difference between the two. We did about 6 loads at the match yesterday and all of them came up a little slow. I am starting to think it may be my chrono. Wishfull thinking to be sure.

3. Order 500 rounds of match ammo from Manny to be sure I will make chrono at the Florida Open.

Thanks for the help

[alfaDude]

Do you have the correct crimp?

Too little crimp will result in pretty low speeds.

[ktm300]

It seems each barrel has its own speed. I have loaded and shot over 100 pounds of 320 in .40 mostly out here in AZ temps from 40 to 110 never had problems

with pressure. oal around 1.215. This is the reason you need to chrono often.

dcalvert

We have a winner. Just loaded up 10 rounds at 1.19 no significant change in the SV still just pushing close to 165.

Took the 1.2 rounds and ran them through my backup gun and PF of almost 180.

Now do I just keep pushing the load for the SV knowing that I can't run them in the backup gun? I am pretty sure if I get them to 170 in the SV they will be well over 180 in the backup gun. I could sure feel the difference in the two one shot at a time. My guess is when the buzzer goes off it wouldn't be a big deal but.........

[blaster113]

How about dropping the oal a little more, to 1.180 or 1.170? that should increase the pressure a little more and drive up velocity.

[Crydaddy]

How about dropping the oal a little more, to 1.180 or 1.170? that should increase the pressure a little more and drive up velocity.

this is what I did with my bar sto barrel. 5.2 @ 1.180 with 168 PF average for 10 shots.

[ktm300]

I am going to load up some at 5.5 @1.2 and some at 5.3 @ 1.8 just to see what it will do.

I have 2 weekends left before I have to load my match ammo so I should be able to figure it out.

[pjb45]

I have loaded a boat load of rounds using VV320. I have used Kart, Nowlin, and Schuemann barrels. Schuemann of which SV is modeled after is the slowest.

I get major out of all of them 1.18 VV320 - 4.8 grains with 180 JHP (Zero and MG)

I get major with 4.45 grains with 200 gr JHP.

Personally, I think your barrel is incredibly slow or there is a problem in your reloading process.

I use a Lee FCD in my last station.

I would call Brandon and ask his opinion.

[ktm300]

Personally, I think your barrel is incredibly slow or there is a problem in your reloading process.

I would call Brandon and ask his opinion.

I think my process is OK because I can take the load and put it in another limited gun I have and what is barely making 164 in the SV is making 180 in the other one.

That leaves me with the barrel being incredibly slow.

[blaster113]

another thing to consider and its something I should've mentioned earlier; if you're going to load at 1.180 and plan to use the load at a major match, it would be good if you were able to shoot a large quantity of rounds at the shorter oal to make sure the gun runs as each is different. Have had three limited .40's and all ran at 1.180. Only one gun could even take the 1.20 length rounds.

When I shot at the 09 Nationals I ran an Edge with 180 gr MG jhps at 1.180 with 5.2 grains of N320. pf was 179 haha, a little warm.

[ktm300]

I have some time to get this worked out with this gun and I am commited to figure it out. I don't want to switch guns this close to a major match.

I will shoot at least 500 rounds with any load that I am going to take down there.

[Jaxshooter]

I live in Florida so weather even in winter is warm. I load 4.8 gr N-320 with a Zero 180 gr JHP @ 1.170 oal and it makes 170 PF out of my Brazos 5" Limited gun.

[Corey]

My load for the last year has been 5.2 of 320 with a 180 MG JHP. Makes 178PF from my 6" Cheely. Made a ton of them last year and it shot fairly well for me, so I didn't mess with it. I'm going to drop it a bit to see if how something closer to 170 feels with it. Im sure the extra barrel length helps me there.

You can drop the OAL but certainly make sure the gun will run it ok. Making major wont help if you are clearing jams every stage.

[ktm300]

5.4g @ 1.185 gives an average of 955 with the lowest of the group making 940. I will play some more and see if I can get back to 1.19 and feel comfortable that I am going to make PF.

I ran 20 through it at 1.185 and it ran well. I will shoot a match with it this weekend to be sure.

Thanks for all the ideas guys.

[prebancolt]

5.4g @ 1.185 gives an average of 955 with the lowest of the group making 940. I will play some more and see if I can get back to 1.19 and feel comfortable that I am going to make PF.

I ran 20 through it at 1.185 and it ran well. I will shoot a match with it this weekend to be sure.

Thanks for all the ideas guys.

Something else to consider is whether your scale is accurately dropping 5.2-5.4 gr of powder. I know this because i had a SWEET load worked up for my long range 308 only to shoot all of the ammo and begin using a Chargemaster 1500 to dispense and weigh my loads. They obviously WERE NOT the same and i couldn't weigh an old round to get the "new" weight right.

The first scale was a balance beam 505.