40 Major Question(s)

[jsg]

STI Trojan, 200 Xtreme plated, Winchester SP primers, mixed brass, and Wilson 40 cal mags.

So far I have tinkered with 231, Bullseye and Titegroup loaded to 1.180 OAL. I have made Major with 231 and Bullseye without going beyond published loads. I cannot hit Major with TG while staying under the published max.

Hodgdon says the max is 3.8 grains for a 200 XTP at 1.125 OAL. At 3.8 I am getting a PF of approx. 160 (38 degrees, overcast). Since I am loading a good bit longer than their example and I am shooting a different bullet, I am not sure how to interpret my results. Generally I do not stray from published loads so I am hesitant to bump the charge any higher.

Since I am loading .055 longer and shooting a plated bullet, what impact should it have on max loads and pressures? I would like to find a SAFE, reliable, and accurate 40 Major load using TG since I have about 8 pounds of it available.

I am going to call Hodgdon but I doubt their lawyers will allow them to say much other than follow the published guidelines. What are common 40 major loads using TG and 200 grain bullets? Do you have to go to the bleeding edge to load TG under a 200 grain bullet to 40 Major?

EDIT: I have conducted a few searches but not found anything answering my questions.

Edited December 31, 2014 by jsg

[ironman5669]

I ran 4.1 titegroup and 200 extremes but they toumbled like crazy out of my 5 inch sight tracker. recoil was manageable but brisk

no pressure signs what so ever. loaded to 1.185 COL winchester and CCI primers made major 170 ish PF

I went back to moly coated and bayous much softer shooting at major PF and no tumblers

[littlehendrick]

As you pointed out, you are loading 0.055" longer than the Hodgdon data. Having a larger volume in the case will (in general) reduce pressures. This will give you a larger safety margin. A friend of mine once pointed out to me that manuals have listed data. It was tested with a certain chamber, brass, primers, crimp, and all other sorts of tiny variables that affect the data. Just because it was towards the high end in one chamber/gun does not mean it will be "too much" for your gun. This is why many manuals state "reduce load by 10% then work up." As you said, it keeps the lawyers happy, and helps reduce the risk/variables through different firearms.

I have five loading manuals at my house, and the numbers vary in each. One big example (in rifle, 308) was the Max load in the Hornady manual was BELOW the "minimum/starting" load provided by the powder manufacture.

Work up slowly, and if you are worried, do individual charges, going up by 0.1 gr. I typically go with 0.2gr increments for pistol, but to each their own.

[SilverBolt]

If you can find some VV N320 it is very easy to make major and soft shooting. I run 4.8gr behind a 180gr X-Treme plated bullet. Runs about 172 PF.

[Steffes]

Add more powder! Use a chrono and stop when you reach the desired speed. Watch for pressure signs if you are worried, but you shouldn't be since you're using a completely different OAL. Use 10mm data and reduce slightly for shorter OAL if you like. You're loading somewhere between 40 and 10mm length so the charges will land between the two appropriately. Plated bullets act more like jacketed bullets than lead bullets in my experience. So much so that I just use jacketed data without thinking twice.