CFE Pistol in .40 major

[CHA-LEE]

Has anyone had a chance to try the new CFE Pistol powder in .40 major loads? Its burn rate is similar to AutoComp so it may be better suited for 9mm or .38 Super major power factor loads.

I am not even sure if this powder is availible yet.

[MrVvrroomm]

I don't believe it has been released to the public yet.

[HI5-O]

I'm waiting to try this powder to see if it'll make major in 38SC.

[CHA-LEE]

I was looking at the 2014 Hodgdon Loading Guide and the velocities, powder drop weight and pressures look almost identical to Winchester AutoComp. The CFE Pistol powder should be functionally equivalent to AutoComp. Making major in .38 Super shouldn't be an issue given the case volume you have to work with. What remains to be seen is how dense the powder is from a volume vs weight perspective. If the CFE Pistol powder is really dense like AutoComp then it should work in 9 Major as well.

Its probably going to be too slow of a powder to effectively replace a faster burning powder like WST or N320 and provide the same felt recoil. But it will be interesting to give it a try and see how it works when it does come out.

[GMB]

So anyone had a chance to load this stuff up in .40 major yet. How about smoke with coated bullets??

[cguy1177]

First purchasable CFE pistol I've seen sold out on powder valley this week so we should see some real world results soon.

[GMB]

I hope so

[praetorian97]

Yeah...Powder Valley received some last week. Gone within a matter of a few minutes. But most of the stock they get in is going that fast as well.

Edited March 31, 2014 by praetorian97

[GMB]

DATA folks we need data!!!

[Rob01]

It's listed on Hodgdon's reloading center. http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

Here some 180grn and 200grn data:

Hodgdon

CFE Pistol

.401"

OAL 1.135"

180grn Berry Bullet FP

Min 5.9

1,007

25,500 PSI

Max 6.5

1,092

32,600 PSI

Hornady 180 XTP

Hodgdon

CFE Pistol

.400"

OAL 1.125"

Min 5.4

949

25,800 PSI

Max 6.0

1,051

32,200 PSI

Hornady 200grn XTP

Hodgdon

CFE Pistol

.400"

OAL 1.125"

Min 4.4

833

27,800 PSI

Max 4.8

897

33,500 PSI

[GMB]

I'm looking for data with coated bullets and reports on smoke or lack of with coated bullets. Thanks. I saw their data and figured I'd have no problem making major with a XDm 5.25 as their data is using a 4in barrel if I'm not mistaken.

[cguy1177]

some available right now for those wanting to try if you can get past the hazmat fees for the qty you want. probably be gone in a hour.

http://store.thirdgenerationshootingsupply.com/browse.cfm/4,21690.html

[cguy1177]

some available right now for those wanting to try if you can get past the hazmat fees for the qty you want. probably be gone in a hour.

http://store.thirdgenerationshootingsupply.com/browse.cfm/4,21690.html

Nevermind. there were 43 in stock when I posted. then I rechecked and it's at 0 in stock now....max of 3 whole minutes later.

Edited April 1, 2014 by cguy1177

[superdude]

Hi all,

I'm one of the fortunate few who was able to get some CFE Pistol powder. I've not shot any yet, but I will try to address the question CHA-LEE asked about density of CFE compared to AutoComp. They look more-or-less identical and appear to have about the same density, as far as I can tell, so it should be a good candidate for making Major in 38 Super and 9MM. Of course, this will have to be carefully tested. I have included a picture of the two gunpowders in 9mm cases. These charge weights fill the cases to virtually the same level. The charge weights listed are the maximum loads indicated by Hodgdon at their website for a 115 grain Speer GDHP bullet in the 9mm. The published velocities with these charge weights are: AC = 1161fps (32,500); CFE = 1185 fps (31,800 psi). It looks like there is plenty of room to work with.

[CHA-LEE]

superdude> thanks for posting up your findings about the new CFE Pistol powder. It will be interesting to see what you observe and feel while shooting it the next time you are at the range.

[Steve RA]

Graf's showed some CFE-Pistol available this afternoon in an E-Mail I received from them.

[mugenr]

Made some loads with the new Hodgdon CFE Pistol Powder. Thought this would help anyone looking for data since the only place I was able to find data was Hodgdon.

Gun - Glock 35 with KKM precision barrel.

OAL - 1.135"

Bullet - X-treme 180gr Plated HP

Powder - CFE Pistol

5.1 grains

1) 865 FPS

2) 872 FPS

3) 903 FPS

4) 877 FPS

5) 872 FPS

AVG - 877,8 FPS | PF - 158

5.4 grains

1) 918 FPS

2) 942 FPS

3) 926 FPS

4) 948 FPS

5) 943 FPS

AVG - 935.4 FPS | PF - 168.37

5.5 grains

1) 905 FPS

2) 917 FPS

3) 948 FPS

4) 913 FPS

5) 895 FPS

6) 916 FPS

7) 960 FPS

8) 927 FPS

AVG - 922.6 FPS | PF - 166.07

5.6 grains

1) 955 FPS

2) No Reading

3) 946 FPS

4) 976 FPS

5) 973 FPS

AVG - 962.5 FPS | PF - 173.25

5.9 grains

1) 1,010 FPS

2) No Reading

3) 1,005 FPS

4) 995 FPS

5) 998 FPS

AVG - 1,002 FPS | PF 180.36

The only load data I found was from Hodgdon with starting load at 5.9 grains for 1,007 FPS. Seems like a pretty consistent powder, except for 5.5 grains. not sure what happened there.

Recoil is pretty soft, more of a push than a snap. Accuracy was great as well. This powder at the lower grain levels was pretty dirty, it burned much cleaner at 5.9 grains.

Anyway, hope that helps someone.

-Andrew

[GMB]

Great info thanks. Gonna load some Bearcreek 180gr up at 5.0,5.2,5.4. Will post results this weekend. Hoping one of those will make PF in my XDM 5.25 with a little room to spare.

[mugenr]

If you're shooting for major then I bet you'll want to be around 5.4 - 5.6 grains. the XDM is pretty close to the Glock.

[GMB]

True, I'm hoping the moly bullets and my slightly shorter OAL will do the trick.

[ttolliver]

mugenr --

Thanks for posting the data -- especially for us short loading types.

I'm surprised to hear you report pretty soft shooting. If it's truly similar to AutoComp I would expect it to have significantly more kick than powders up in the N320 range I'm currently using for 40 major. I guess kick is always relative.

[mugenr]

ttolliver,

I haven't loaded anthing with N320 yet. I have quite a few of it laying around, but treat it like gold. haha.

The only powders I've shot with are Winchester 231/Hodgdon HP-38 and TiteGroup.

I'd say it's on par or better than 231/HP-38 in terms of recoil.

[cguy1177]

Thanks for the data. Seems like es and sd are pretty good!

[CHA-LEE]

Thanks for the info!!!

[NinerRider]

Just picked up 2lbs thanks for the load data I will give it a try.