Which powder y'all using for 147g coated flat point bullets?

[lksyotas]

Hello, with the powder shortages, I'm wondering which powder you all would recommend for SNS 147g coated flat point bullets. I have a surplus of Titegroup but I found that it leaded my barrel pretty good in my STI Trojan and I want to use these bullets in my Glocks. So I have a pound of Clays, Unniversal Clays, Unique, Promo, and Blue Dot on hand. Just looking for some advice from those who've tried one of the powders I've listed. Can't find any of the other popular ones locally or online right now.

These loads must be just above minor 125 power factor as I'll be using them in IDPA mostly. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Edited June 12, 2014 by lksyotas

[levellinebrad]

The Clays should work well. I have a buddy that loaded the 147gr coated with the blue dot and liked it.

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[stick]

Not sure if I'm any help, but I use Titegroup with 147gr Bayou's. I have a friend who uses lead in his Glock without any leading issues. I'll stick with the bayou's in my G34.

[njl]

3.4gr Universal should work well.

[jimreed1948]

I also use Titegroup and have no problems with it. I have used Clays and Universal, but I'm out of both. I found Titegroup and have been using it.

[Butterpuc]

I tried Titegroup with 147gr SNS coated bullets, it smoked like a freight train.

[dave33]

3.4gr titegroup under a 147gr SNS coated lead at 1.145OAL makes a 143 PF out of my 5.25 XDM. I use the Lee auto disks and 3.4gr is the smallest charge I can throw, you could probably get by with 3.2gr, maybe less depending on a few factors.

If you are getting leading with SNS, or any other coated lead projectile, something is wrong with your loading process. You must be damaging the coating somehow, maybe overcrimping, or under flairing the case before you seat and shaving the coating somehow. I have used 4 different kinds of coated lead projectiles and never had any leading, and I use titegroup almost exclusively.

[lksyotas]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I tried loading some last evening with the Clays I have left. I found that at least in my Trojan, when loading, they would nose dive hard into the feed ramp of the barrel and actually setback the bullet by .01-.02"! I adjusted the taper crimp and it helped but still had setback. My COL of the initial loads was 1.130. I updated the COL to 1.160 and the nose diving was reduced slightly but this is as long as I can fit in my Cobra mags.

The originals I tried were 3.2g Titegroup. They smoked badly and leaded the Trojan barrel. Didn't even try them in my Glock. So I figured it was the powder that was burning too hot. That's why I wanted to try a cooler, slower burning powder to reduce both smoke and leading.

I pulled a few samples with my puller and the coating was still in tact with no tearing of the coating. So I believe my settings on my Dillon 650 are good to go.

Perhaps my Glocks won't have the nose dive issue since the bullet is closer and more in line to the chamber when its loading vs the Trojan. But I may have to look into an alternate style bullet that has more of a traditional round tip. MG 147 bullets feed fine in both my Glocks and my Trojan but their flat point is much smaller in diameter and the ogive seems more rounded vs the SNS bullets also.

Edited June 12, 2014 by lksyotas

[njl]

I don't know if this could be an issue with the bullets you're using, but when I first started playing with coated bullets, I found that I had to load Precision .45 200gr RNFP really short (like 1.200") to basically protect the bearing surface of the bullet. Loading longer, my Glocks would damage the coating while chambering the rounds. If you have bearing surface exposed, and the Trojan barrel cuts through it while chambering, I could see that as being the source of leading.

[v1911]

.01-.02 setback isn't anything to be writing home about. You can get that kind of variation just from standard reloading. I've been loading 147gr from Bayou for a while now and found 1.145 to be a good OAL to use across all of my 9mms, 1911, 2011 and Tupperware.

Increasing the taper crimp also isn't going to do anything accept increase the size of your groupings. The taper crimp die is only there to remove any flare/bell from the case mouth. It's the case's neck tension that does the job of holding the bullet in place. Over crimping can actually work against that. Double check your crimp and see that it is between .376- .378. That seems to give a consistent crimp among the varity of brass we come across.

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

I just did some testing today with my Gen4 G34 and 147 gr. Blue Bullets (flat point) with great success (stock barrel).

1.145 OAL

3.2 grains Titegroup

.378 diameter at the rim

Chrono results: High was 964; Low was 943; Average was 954; spread was 21 ft. per sec.

Power Factor 140.

For some reason, when I go to 3.1 grains Titegroup or below (regardless of what bullet I'm using), groups start to open up and the velocity spread increases as well.

Edit: Very, very little smoke, virtually unnoticeable. In fact, I had to shoot a couple rounds into the berm just so I could see if there was smoke.

Edited June 13, 2014 by AdvocatusDiaboli