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Making major in a GT V12 9mm?


Absocold

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I'm wondering about the difficulty in making major with a new Elite Gold Team in 9mm without getting near dangerous case pressure levels. I'd prefer to see no signs at all, not even a flattened primer. I'm sure it's most likely possible, just wondering how hard it is to actually do it and if anyone has a pet load they'd share.

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I started with 7.3, then 7.5 and ended up with 7.7

I used the chrony for each batch and shot at 500 feet elevation. I bought the powder about a month ago, the bullets 2 weeks ago, and have had the primers a lot longer :)

Now that said, if I'm shooting in a level 2 match, I'd probably go to 7.9 to give a little cushion.

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I have some 3N37 and some Autocomp that I will also be testing with the Precision Delta 135gr RN. Probably have something to post in 2 weeks.

The HS6 load was 1.140 OAL and fed/ extracted perfectly for the 200 I loaded up. As these were pretty much the first rounds through the gun I thought that was a good sign.

Edited by selecw
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  • 2 weeks later...

I used 8.0gr of HS6 today with 124gr Xtreme RN jacketed rounds at an OAL of 1.140. I was using S&B small rifle primers.

My average velocity was 1376.2

If my math is correct that means a power factor of 170.6

No pressure signs.

I'm going to test other powders, and use the HS-6 as my default match round.

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I'm working on batches of test reloads today. I decided that I don't want to mess (literally) with compressed powders. So here are 2 that I had on the shelf, that might have worked, but won't be used as they were compressed:

Vectan/Nobel D20

Vectan/Nobel GM3

I have loaded a small batch with VV 3n37, even though the powder is compressed as I've heard so many things about the powder. Similarly, I have loaded a few with Vectan BA9 as this appears only "slightly' compressed. I highly doubt I will continue with them, but I will chrony them at least.

So far, HS-6 and Winchester Auto Comp are the front runners....

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I'm talking mostly out of my ass, but my experience leads me to believe faster powders are much harder on your pistol (and your joints) than compressed, slower powders at the same PF. I've been stuffing more than 9gr of SP2 in 9x19 cases for three years now and I've gone as high as 10gr. The only issue I've seen when packing that much powder in is more powder resulting in less velocity, not even flat primers.

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The reason I don't want to pack powder in is that it spills out as my Dillon 650 shellplate rotates and its a real PITA.

I have a cut down spring on the press, polymer detent "ball" (I forget the actual name of the part), upgraded bearings and it still happens.

That said, I'm certainly all for sparing my joints - my hands in particular are suffering from lots of Limited Major practice. I'll start of by seeing how the semi compressed 3n37 and BA9 work out. SP2 doesn't seem to be available anymore in the US which is a pity as I'd like to give it a try. I've been using A0 and A1 in my Limited gun and it works pretty well.

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The reason I don't want to pack powder in is that it spills out as my Dillon 650 shellplate rotates and its a real PITA.

I have a cut down spring on the press, polymer detent "ball" (I forget the actual name of the part), upgraded bearings and it still happens.

That said, I'm certainly all for sparing my joints - my hands in particular are suffering from lots of Limited Major practice. I'll start of by seeing how the semi compressed 3n37 and BA9 work out. SP2 doesn't seem to be available anymore in the US which is a pity as I'd like to give it a try. I've been using A0 and A1 in my Limited gun and it works pretty well.

I had a similar problem on my 650 loading 10.4gn of 3N38 and near 11gn of N105 in 38 super.

I also have the spring cut 3/4 of a coil, low mass detent ball, shell plate bearing and washer. that stuff all helped but what stopped it snapping at all was spending an extra 5-10min really fine tuning the tension on it. once you get it just right (very light drag on the bearing) there'll be no snap. another way to achieve that is stick an O-ring on one of the locator buttons to create drag (I personally didn't like that option).

here's my 650 running about 10.8gn of N105. not a drop spilled. :)

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yeah the MBF is 100% reliable. it did take a little tuning though. at first I just slapped it on and it was only about 95% reliable. and 5 in every 100 upside down sucked. now it's 99%+ reliable. the GSI toolhead looks great but their collator apparently sucks. the MBF is great but you do sacrifice a station just to 'feed' the bullet. I really love it though. it runs so smooth now.

with the tension the issue is when you get it just right with the shell plate bolt doing up the grub screw in the side places more tension on it. so you need to sneak up very close to the point where it's almost right, hold your allen key in the shell plate bolt so it doesn't move then do up the grub screw (don't need to overtighten that one).

it takes quite a few go's to get it spot on. it's half a bees dick between too loose (snap) and too tight (shell plate hard to turn). once you get it right do what I did and paint on a white line right at 9 oclock so it's easy to see if it's moved and easy to reset (or at least get very close).

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Here are the results of the first round of my additional load testing. 70 degrees. 500 ft elevation. 1.140 OAL. S&B rifle primers. Mixed headstamp brass. 124gr Xtreme RN jacketed bullets. My goal was a starting load for each powder that would get close to "major", and I did:

VV 3n37

8.0gr

1350fps average velocity - 167 PF

Winchester Auto Comp

6.9gr

1362 fps - 169 PF

Nobel/Vectan BA9

7.4gr

1280fps - 159 PF

Qualitative feedback:

3n37 .. left the most unburned powder residue but not bad. Felt recoil was the softest but there was not much difference across all the loads.

Ba9 .. left very little residue, and was the best for this across all the loads. However, none of the loads left a lot.
WAC .. also left very little residue. It and HS6 gave snappiest recoil, but not by much.
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