VV N320 and BBI moly, started smoking all of a sudden....?

[Butterpuc]

My go to load for 9mm has been 147gr BBI with VV N320, and in my opinion it has been an excellent combination. This weekend I shot some of these 9mm loads and noticed alot of smoke, sometimes completely obscuring my view of the target. I wasn't the only one who noticed, a couple of other shooters asked what powder I was using. They were shocked to here it was N320.

My typical reloading schedule goes like this:

I normally shoot 3-6k rounds per year depending on my work and family schedule. My normal reloading schedule usually consists of loading 3-5k of one load, to stock up, then switch the reloader over. For instance, I loaded ~6k rounds of this 147 BBI (moly) with 3.2gr of N320 back in 2013, then I switched over to 45 acp. I only loaded and shot mostly 45acp in 2014, I would dip into the 9mm stash as needed for different matches. So currently, I am finishing loading up ~3-4k of 45acp next month and will be switching the loader back over to 9mm for the 2015 year, which I have a stock of ~3k BBI (HiTek) & ~3k SNS (HiTek) to get loaded.

So, to get to the point. I have been slowly working through my 2013 stash of 9mm and I am down to under 1000 rounds. Do you think the age of the reload is causing the smoking? I don't ever remember having any smoking issues with this load over the past couple of years. Is my schedule of reloading potentially causing this issue? Should I quit loading in bulk?

[blairmckenzie1]

pull one, you might be cutting the coating

[Sarge]

Age of loads has nothing to do with it. Either your crimp has changed a little and you cut the moly coating or it also could have been the weather. They probably always smoke a little and maybe some high humidity or dense air?

[joshxdm9]

Was the air real heavy that day? Reason I ask I had the same issue with one of my loads. Normal day loads were fine little smoke but no issue until one day overcast with a light drizzle and heavy air, smoked so bad could not see in front of my gun at all (not good when shooting steel)

[wgj3]

These guys have you fixed already Jason. Coating damage or weather conditions.

[darkvibe]

BBI changed coatings about a year ago. The old one is gray. The new one is darker and more glossy. Are you shooting the old ones? They smoked more than the new ones.

[Butterpuc]

This stash is the last of my old BBI moly coated bullets. All the new ones are the poly HiTek.

The weather was certainly colder than I normally shoot in. The Saturday morning match was facing south, directly into the sun, probably didn't help.

The match last night was indoors and cold also.

My memory isn't the best, I just didn't remember any smoking in that batch previously. But heck this batch will soon be history.

Thanks for the replys. And I think I will go ahead and pull a bullet or two to see. I do remember changing from a Lee FCD to a Redding Taper Die and some point during that last batch.

[GJGary]

After shooting HiTec, plated or jacketed the moly coated smokes much more.

You will notice this with your new loads.

I always pull a bullet at the beginning and end of a big reloading session just to check and peace of mind.